ALMS
Mosport: Maserati MC12 qualifying report
The No. 35 Maserati MC12 will start third on the GT1 grid for the American Le Mans Series race at Mosport International Raceway, after a strong practice and qualifying effort on Saturday. Andrea Bertolini opened the day with the fastest GT1 lap in ...
Published: Sep 12, 2005, 6:15 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The No. 35 Maserati MC12 will start third on the GT1 grid for the American Le Mans Series race at Mosport International Raceway, after a strong practice and qualifying effort on Saturday. Andrea Bertolini opened the day with the fastest GT1 lap in morning practice, then followed with a flying qualifying lap of one minute 13.885 seconds on the 2.459-mile road course, just four-tenths of a second off the class pole-setting Saleen and one- tenth behind the leading Corvette.
Bertolini and his co-driver Fabrizio de Simone benefitted from two days of testing earlier in the week, plus a new tire construction from team partner Pirelli. Maserati Corse and the drivers are new to the American Le Mans Series this year, so the extra track time was valuable for car development and setup.
Maserati competes with an MC12 in compliance with the rules of IMSA and matches FIA GT Championship GT1 specifications. The team will not score points in the American Le Mans Series championship.
Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati Corse technical director: "We had a very good day despite the fact that we didn't collect all that we could, because we had traffic in our good lap. Having two days of testing here has been a benefit because we didn't start with the usual disadvantage compared to the others - we came to the weekend prepared to challenge. Pirelli brought some new material which helped us a lot, and I think we are seeing the results of the work of the year. For us it was a good day, but we share the sorrow of the American nation for the [hurricane] disaster that hit them this week."
Andrea Bertolini: "Qualifying was good for us because the lap times were very close. Pirelli prepared a new construction of the tire that is quick, and it's good for the race because it is very consistent. I am very happy today. On the quick lap time, I had to overtake one Porsche, so it was possible to be two- or three-tenths [of a second] better. But anyway, it's good for Maserati and for Pirelli."
Fabrizio de Simone: "Andrea did a good job. He had some traffic in his best laps, so it could have been a little better. But third is good. It means we have good consistency for the race, which is the main point. We'll see what happens tomorrow."
-www.maseraticorse.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Mosport: Flying Lizard Motorsports qualifying report
Next article Mosport: Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing qualifying report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrea Bertolini
Friday favourite: The “exciting” Ferrari that lifted a BTCC star to the next level
European Le Mans
European Le Mans
Friday favourite: The “exciting” Ferrari that lifted a BTCC star to the next level
Pier Guidi, Bertolini complete Ferrari Le Mans line-up
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Pier Guidi, Bertolini complete Ferrari Le Mans line-up
Ferrari commemorates first Sebring victory with first win for 488 GT3
IMSA
IMSA
Sebring
Ferrari commemorates first Sebring victory with first win for 488 GT3
Latest news
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 12 min
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 30 min
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 47 min
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IndyCar driver and Fox Sports reporter Jack Harvey announces cancer diagnosis
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 56 min
IndyCar driver and Fox Sports reporter Jack Harvey announces cancer diagnosis
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe