Fifth Place For Light At The Miami GP

02/29/2004
Miami

The Maserati Trofeo 'Light' finished its second Grand American race at Homestead, Florida, when Nick Longhi, Emil Assentato and Stephen Earle crossed the line 2nd overall and fifth in the GT class.

The three drivers finished three laps down on the class-winning BMW of Boris Said and Bill Auberlen after more than two-and-a-half hours of racing.

The race was won overall by Andy Wallace and Venezuelan lady driver Milka Duno, who became the first woman ever to win a Grand-Am event. Wallace took the car for the final run to the flag, and was sitting third after the final full-course caution just ten laps from the end in his Howard Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford.

Max Papis in the Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus and Jan Magnussen in the Doran-Lista Lexus led the race but collided several times, culminating in them both spinning out.

The two drivers were summoned before the stewards after the race to explain themselves but their collision allowed Wallace to take victory by 1.9 seconds from Cort Wagner, Kelly Collins and Brent Martini in their G&W Motorsports BMW Doran.

Trofeo Light's Progress Awarded In Miami

02/29/2004
Miami
Courtesy of Scuderia Maserati of Washington.

SFoW Maserati drivers Emil Assentato and Dr. Steve Earle earned the “Improve Your Position” award for driving their Maserati Trofeo Light to a strong fifth place finish in the GT class today at the Grand Prix of Miami at the Miami-Homestead Speedway. The award, sponsored by Sun Trust Banks, is presented to the team in each class which most improves its position during the race. Earle had qualified the Maserati 11th in GT after the team faced a variety of problem during practice.

" It was really a good race for us," exclaimed Earle after the race. "I tried to keep us in the hunt, and Emil did a wonderful job. Glenn and the crew were outstanding, as usual. Our times were within a second or so of the (winning) BMW, and we’ve got some changes coming, so we’re getting there -- the Maserati is going to be a great racer.

After Daytona we needed a good solid finish to get our momentum back, and this was it".

" The guys really did do a great job," said Team Manager Glenn Marquis. "We had a lot of extra work after an incident with a Daytona Prototypes in practice -- problems from that cost us a couple of practice sessions, so we were still improving during the race. Moving up from 11th to fifth was a good race for the Maserati, and I’m glad we were recognized with the Sun Trust award. With a new sequential gearbox on the way and a few other changes we’re allowed to make, we’re about ready to start hunting for podiums".

The Miami Grand Prix was the second race in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series; the next race will be the Phoenix 250, on April 10.

Encouraging Result For Maserati At Daytona

02/01/2004
Daytona

Maserati brought one of its two Trofeo cars to the finish of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in a race beset by heavy rain.

Matteo Bobbi, Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro brought their Maserati Trofeo Light GT-class car to the chequered flag at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida at the weekend.

The three drivers had struggled with overheating problems from Saturday night through to the end of the race. The second Trofeo, driven by Fabrizio de Simone, Stephen Earle, Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi in the GT class, retired in the 22nd hour after changing the radiator failed to cure the overheating problem. "We ran it round for two laps without any water in it, and that was the end of the engine," said Maserati's customer racing manager Claudio Berro.

"One of the Maseratis has finished the race," said the Italian. "I am very happy. The Maserati is a very new car and not prepared to a very high level. It was important for us to have one car there at the end, and that is what we have achieved".

De Simone was delighted with the performance of the car compared to the pre-race test in January. "We are consistently four seconds per lap faster in the race than in the trials," said the Italian.

Berro ruled out an entry for the new Maserati MCC. The carbon-tub car that will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show next month is expected to race in the FIA GT Championship in the second half of this year. Instead, it is the Trofeo that will fly the Trident flag in the championship as it is ideally priced and placed to run in the Grand-American Road Racing Championship in the SGS and GT classes.

The race was one of the toughest on record on the Florida track, and it was stopped for nearly three hours on Sunday morning due to torrential rain that swept the circuit for the second time.

The first brought out the safety car during the night. It was only the second time in the 42-year history of the race that it had been red-flagged, the first and only other time was in 1989 when fog limited visibility.

Despite the extensive delays during the 24-hours, including three hours behind the safety car during the night, the Daytona Prototypes again struggled to make it to the flag. Britain's Andy Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Junior and Tony Stewart looked certain to take a well-deserved victory in the race before a rear suspension failure caused Stewart to spin into the wall with less than 20 minutes remaining.

The three drivers had taken the lead in the sixth hour and held it through the night against some spirited opposition that included the Chip Ganassi Racing team, making its debut in the series. Wallace had gone up against Scott Dixon, who was a last minute entry to the team.

The pair traded fast laps in the wet, and it was Wallace's Chevrolet-powered Crawford that led the field at dawn shortly before the race was stopped.

Not only was there too much water on the track, but tyre manufacturer Goodyear, which supplies the Daytona Prototype category, underestimated the amount of rain, and the low attrition of the DPs and ran out of 2004-spec tyres.

The company offered teams a choice of used tyres or 2003-spec rubber, which was of a harder compound and completely different tread pattern. Teams opted for the former but the issue may go some way to explain the length of time under caution.

Max Angelelli, Emmanuel Collard and Wayne Taylor may well have taken overall victory in their Sun Trust Racing Pontiac Riley, but they too suffered in the final hour first when Angelelli had to be rescued having run out of fuel, and then a drive-shaft failed, putting them out of the race in the final hour.

That left Christian Fittipaldi, Terry Borcheller, Andy Pilgrim and Forest Barber to take an unexpected victory, their Pontiac Doran having developed an overheating problem during the night and had to be nursed through the final half of the race.

They were being out under pressure by the leading GT cars and, but for the lengthy stoppages, may not have been able to fend them off.

Other Ferraris struggled to make it to the flag, Mauro Casadei, Francois Labhardt, Manfred Jurasz and Jim Michaelian eventually bringing their Mastercar Ferrari to the flag in 32nd position overall while Luca Drudi, Matteo Meneghello, Ferdinando Monfardini, Joe Colasacco and Ross Fonferko were classified in 36th position overall having stopped in the 19th hour.

Diego Alessi had a terrifying accident in his JMB Racing Ferrari 360 when he lost control heading into the chicane on the back straight, between turns two and three. The Italian spun between two other cars, and then hit the wall head-on and at speed, causing extensive damage to the car at the end of the fourth hour.

The next round of the Grand-Am series will take place at the end of February at the Homestead-Miami circuit.

The Trofeo Light Debuts At The Daytona 24 Hours

01/30/2004
Modena

The new Maserati Trofeo Light will make its race debut this coming weekend in the Daytona 24 Hours (Florida) at the opening round of the American Grand-Am championship.

The Trident marque will field two cars for the endurance race which starts tomorrow, Saturday, 31 January, at 13h00 local time (19h00 C.E.T.) The Risi Competizione team has a crew made up of Germany’s Ralf Kelleners, the American, Anthony Lazzaro and Italy’s Matteo Bobbi. Scuderia Maserati of Washington’s driver line-up consists of Italy’s Fabrizio De Simone and the Americans, Stephen Earle, Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi.

The Maserati Trofeo Light is the product of a collaboration between the Modena racing department and Italtecnica and is a development of the car used in the company’s one make series, which in turn is based on the road-going Coupé Cambiocorsa.

Fiorano Shakedown For Maserati Trofeo Light

12/18/2003
Fiorano

Today at Fiorano, the Maserati Trofeo Light had its final shakedown in Europe, prior to making its competition debut in the Daytona 24 Hours (31st January – 1st February 2004,) the opening round of the American Grand-Am championship.

This new racing car from the Trident marque will compete in all rounds of the series in the GT class, wearing the colours of Scuderia Maserati of Washington.

The car will be shipped to the United States tomorrow and today it was driven by Matteo Malucelli, who completed ten laps. Along with five other drivers, Malucelli had already taken part in testing last week at Issoire (France) where the car completed a total of 4 200 trouble-free kilometres.

The Maserati Trofeo Light is produced by the racing department at Modena, in collaboration with Italtecnica and is a development of the car used in the one-make series, which in turn is derived from the road-going Coupe Cambiocorsa.

Maserati Strengthens Its Sporting Hand With The Trofeo Light

11/21/2003
Modena

Hot on the heels of the successful Trofeo Maserati, the House of the Trident now offers a new version of the racecar: the ‘Trofeo Light’.

The model, recently ratified for use in the Italian GT Championship (CSAI National Trofeo category) derives from the Maserati Trofeo but has undergone significant developments to increase its performance and bring down its weight.

The 4200 cc V8 90° degree V-angle unit develops 430 bhp at 7000rpm (compared to the 413 bhp at 7000rpm of the Trofeo). It boasts a specially designed (4-2-1) exhaust system with a side outlet. The dry multi-disc transmission is based on a transaxle system. There is a choice of manual sequential or F1-type gear change.

The work carried out to reduce the weight was extensive: the new model now comes in at 1150kg (without the driver and with an empty tank). In order to achieve this lighter weight, a composite body (roof excluded) was adopted and all the windows, with the exception of the windscreen, are of polycarbonate.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the aerodynamics of the ‘Light’. The wings have been widened by 50mm on each side, a splitter and an adjustable rear spoiler with supports anchored to the chassis added. Increased cooling for the engine is assured thanks to the extractor grilles and air extractors set into the bonnet behind the front wheels.

The braking also underwent revision in order to up its performance. The new system is controlled hydraulically through two driver-adjustable cylinders.

The suspension too is new. The tubular steel arms have been mounted on front and rear steel frames with a ball-joint mechanism.