Maserati is ready to return to sports activities automobile racing this 12 months with a brand new GT2-spec race automobile primarily based on its MC20 supercar.
The brand new race automobile is formally known as the Maserati GT2, and it made its debut on Friday on the sidelines of the 24 Hours of Spa, the spotlight of the SRO-sanctioned GT World Problem Europe.
Whereas that sequence is open to GT3-spec vehicles, the Maserati is ready to contest SRO’s GT2 European Sequence. The sequence is open to buyer groups and contains race vehicles primarily based on the Audi R8, KTM X-Bow, Mercedes-Benz AMG GT, Porsche 911, and extra.
Maserati’s GT2 will begin racing on the tail-end of 2023 and take part within the full 2024 season, the automaker mentioned.
2023 Maserati GT2 race automobile
The GT2 is carefully linked to the MC20 highway automobile. It runs the identical twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 (output depends on Stability of Efficiency guidelines), although the race automobile adopts a a lot wilder aerodynamic design with bigger aspect intakes and an adjustable rear wing hooked up by way of swan-neck struts. It additionally has its personal entrance splitter and rear diffuser, and in keeping with Maserati a completely flat ground helps enhance airflow.
The race automobile’s complete physique shell is constituted of light-weight composite supplies. The physique panels function a quick-release design to make sure new elements might be swapped in shortly, Maserati mentioned. The fenders sport a brand new design to accommodate a wider observe. They function louvers up entrance and the aforementioned bigger aspect intakes on the rear, the latter aimed toward radiators.
Different elements particular to the race automobile embrace the adjustable dampers, adjustable anti-roll bars, 6-speed sequential transmission, quick-release steering wheel, and 6.5-inch driver data show. The ABS system can be particular to the race automobile and might be calibrated by the driving force from behind the wheel.
2023 Maserati GT2 race automobile
The GT2 has some massive footwear to fill. Some readers will recall the MC20’s predecessor, the Ferrari Enzo-based MC12, competed within the FIA GT Sequence throughout the 2000s and gained three 24 Hours of Spa races (2005, 2006, and 2008).
Maserati’s return to motorsports kicked off this 12 months with a factory-backed staff competing within the Components E World Championship. The automaker can be engaged on an MC20 observe automobile that is primarily based on the MC20 and will doubtlessly be a precursor for a race automobile designed for the GT lessons of the IMSA SportsCar Championship or FIA World Endurance Championship.
“Our DNA and our spirit have all the time lain in racing,” David Grasso, Maserati’s CEO, mentioned in a press release. “Now greater than ever we need to rekindle and nourish that aggressive ardour that has all the time characterised and motivated us to attain main milestones.”