[FIA GT] Fia and Maserati

[simon c]

congratulations imho to the fia for refusing to accept Maserati's proposed new racer in current guise.

common sense has prevailed.

[19dodge]

yep, im happy. Otherwise, the series would have been dominated by the Maseratis, and it would have turned boring

[steve nielsen]

It is'nt a GT since you can't buy a road version(well, you can, but that is called the Ferrari Enzo)

[Adam43]

Great car though

[Patrick B]

I think this is more proof how messed up FIA is. Im sure that FIAT(Maserati Corsa) was in contact with FIA through out the MC12's build process and with Ratel saying he would have let it in...

It would appear to me that FIA was leading Maserati on so they could get some publicity out of the whole project. Id be VERY ****ed off if i was the head of the project, even if it is eventually let in getting jerked around isn't fun.

[nobster]

I and a lot of other motorsport fans thought that FIA stood for
Ferrari International Aid, but maybe we were wrong after all....

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by steve nielsen
It is'nt a GT since you can't buy a road version(well, you can, but that is called the Ferrari Enzo)

Yes you can. Maserati are producing both Competizione and Stradale versions of the MC12 - the Stradale has supposedly already sold out many times over.

[FIRE]

It was the right decision to ban the car. It's difficult to say who (Maserati, Ratel or FIA) to blame for this blamage.

[Dani Filth]

it's a ****ed up situation . IMHO .. i wanted that car to tace ASAP .. it was strange thing with the dimension thing . didn't they know when they designed the car that it was over the limits ??? or were the rules changed after they designed it ??
i hope they will be back with a vengence ..

[Nordic]

I would like to see Maserati back in sports cars, but however much I liked the MC12 I think it would wreck the FIA series.

I do not think the Aston GTS project would have gone ahead and new Lambo' that has shown so much promise in the A/LMES would have been out of date, the 575 & 550's would have gone too.

IMHO Maserati designed the car outside the rules in the expectation that the rules would then have been changed to let them in. I hope the car can be reworked so that it complies & helps to build the series rather than distroy it.

[FIRE]

Originally posted by Dani Filth
it's a ****ed up situation . IMHO .. i wanted that car to tace ASAP .. it was strange thing with the dimension thing . didn't they know when they designed the car that it was over the limits ??? or were the rules changed after they designed it ??
i hope they will be back with a vengence ..

And outpace the rest of the field in Fia GT? Remember GT1 in late 90s....That's not the way to go.

I would prefer a Maserati LMP/GTP. (With Ferrari, Saleen, Corvette, Aston Martin and Lamborghini GTS has already many different brands)

[Dani Filth]

all i want is a great car to race .. if they knew from the beginning it will not be eligible .. they would not have built it for GTS .. and build directly a GTP .. but just because the FIA got scared . i'm not gonna see this baby race . i hope they will be able to race it at least in GTP .. but i'm afraid that it will be as slow as the Panoz GTP .. as it is not originally built for GTP

[gi_gav]

I'm fascinated by this car, although i have to say i'm glad it's not racing yet.

I remember a little moment on Radio Le Mans this year when, with 4 hours to go, the lead Corvette and lead 550 exited the pits almost simultaneously. The comment referred to the fact that "this is what GTS is all about" - real road cars, stripped down in true GT style, with the 'vette coming off the normal production line and the Ferrari being bought (so it was said) as a second-hand road car...

The point is that while budgets have increased with the ferocity of the 'vette-550 battles, they are still modest compared with the GT1 era, proven by the fact that top private teams can compete with the Chevrolet factory effort at LM.

Right now i believe sportscars and endurance racing are very much in the ascendant. Nonetheless, even in terms of prototypes there simply isn't the infrastructure (i mean sponsors, trackside & TV audience and global range of manufacturers) to support a more expensive form of racing. This is doubly true for GTS, and FIA GT.

Perhaps once sportscars have grown and established a more solid base we can accommodate advanced GTS cars and more factory involvement.

For now, it would be ludicrous to abandon the privateer base that has made the FIA GT series so successful and this is what i fear the Maserati would lead to.

For all that, I'm glad the FIA has at least altered the course of the Maserati's introduction to LM and FIA GT.

(all the above is because i haven't yet posted my views on the Maser and i thought it was about time to do so. All is obviously IMHO... )

[alfasud]

But shouldn't the FIA have said something much earlier.... it's not as if the car was developed in secret and we only just heard about it last week.

Maserati have been encouraged to build this car... as Patrick B points out, they would have been in contact with the FIA throughout and now under pressure... mainly from from Ford (Aston Martin) it would seem, they are told they can't run.

Now they have a car that would need major modifications (read complete redesign) to run in FIA-GT or ACO-GTS, and would not be competitive (or legal?) in LMP.... in other words a complete redesign would be required to run as LMP/GTP too.

I'm not sure what the moral of the story is, but it's not a good one for anyone building a new FIA-GT/ACO-GTS car.... do too good a job and you'll be shown the door.

[alfasud]

Originally posted by gi_gav
I remember a little moment on Radio Le Mans this year when, with 4 hours to go, the lead Corvette and lead 550 exited the pits almost simultaneously. The comment referred to the fact that "this is what GTS is all about" - real road cars, stripped down in true GT style, with the 'vette coming off the normal production line and the Ferrari being bought (so it was said) as a second-hand road car...

I'm wondering which bits of the Corvette are remaining from the car they took off the production line.... wouldn't it have been easier to walk into a GM spare parts warehouse and carry out the parts you needed under your arm?

Can believe the story about the 550 road car as I'm told the chassis is at least based on the production car's tubular frame.

[RM40]

Prodrive buys the 550s and then modifies the road car to the racing specs, I believe.

[Nordic]

Maserati have been encouraged to build this car... as Patrick B points out, they would have been in contact with the FIA throughout and now under pressure... mainly from from Ford (Aston Martin) it would seem, they are told they can't run

If it complied with the rules, no matter what pressure ford or anyone else put on the fia, it would have been able to race.

There is something not right with the car, I don't think the fia would take the discision to advise Maserati that the car needs revisions lighty.

[alfasud]

If it had not complied with the rules, then why didn't the FIA act earlier?

And which rules do you refer to?

Reading a copy of Appendix J, Article 258 (Technical Regulations for Grand Touring Cars) there doesn't seem to be a problem.... mind you, it's a copy of Article 258 I downloaded some months ago and the latest one might have been updated since the MC-12 program.

The only relavent section would appear to be where it says the front and rear overhangs should be the same as the road car... and since Maserati will be building a production run of road cars (and have no problem selling them) that shouldn't be an issue.

The problem would not seem to be rules, but politics.... which brings us back to pressure by Ford (and others).

Understandable maybe... but not a good way of encouraging new marques to enter the series.

[Nordic]

and since Maserati will be building a production run of road cars (and have no problem selling them)

The key point here is 'will be building a production run', until this happens, then I and suspect everyone else is in the dark about overhangs.

As I said earlier, if the car was fully inside the rules, then ford, dispite there magic powers within the FIA, would have been powerless it get the car banned.

BTW I doubt Ford has anymore power within the FIA than FIAT.

but not a good way of encouraging new marques to enter the series.

Nor is allowing in a car that would strech the performace levels way beyond that of the of the existing cars in the class and the majority of the new cars coming along.

[JAG]

The ACO and FIA refused to allow the Maserati for different reasons.

The Maserati did not conform to the latest ACO GTS regs regarding dimensions etc. so was refused.

The Maserati did conform to the FIA regs, but the FIA have a clause that allows them to refuse entry to a car if it does not adhere to the spirit of the regulations.

Even if the Maserati was allowed into FIA GT, it would still have to be changed for the 2006 season, when the ACO/FIA joint regulations come into force.

[alfasud]

Originally posted by Nordic
As I said earlier, if the car was fully inside the rules, then ford, dispite there magic powers within the FIA, would have been powerless it get the car banned.

I find myself asking again "which rules?". The car would appear to meet all the FIA GT technical rules.... once the production cars are available. My understanding is that the first 25 are already sold (or at least firm orders) and they have decided to build another 25, so there shouldn't be a big wait to see the road cars.... not when there are customers eager to part with their money.

But until there is some stability, with the series, Fiat would be better to put their money into Alfa Romeo's entry to the 2005 WTCC and wait to see what the latest combined FIA/ACO regs require for 2006.

JAG, did those latest ACO rules exist before the MC-12, or were the rules written after the general specification of the MC-12 became known?