They are back, and with a vengeance. Thirty-seven years after Pedro Rodriguez won the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper T81 powered by a 12-cylinder Maserati engine, two works Maseratis made the company’s official comeback to motor racing on September 5. The exciting new MC12 almost pulled off a win on its first outing at the Imola, Italy, circuit in the World GT Championship by finishing 2nd in the hands of factory test driver Andrea Bertolini and ex-Ferrari F1 pilot Mika Salo of Finland. Another F1 winner, Britain’s Johnny Herbert, and Italy’s ex-world kart champion Fabrizio De Simone, drove the other official MC12 into 3rd place.
Idolized by more than 20,000 who were at Imola to witness the Maserati comeback, Ferrari-Maserati Group president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said after the race that Maserati held an important place in the history of F1 and is the only Italian constructor to have won the 500 Miles of Indianapolis twice. He confirmed that there would be no overlap between Ferrari and Maserati, with Maranello continuing in F1 and Modena competing for GT honors.
“It is certainly great to see Ferrari and Maserati battling it out on the same circuit once more”, said Montezemolo. A reference to the Ferrari 550 Maranellos that also compete in the GT championship, the highest placed of which at Imola was the Cappellari-Gollin car in 4th place.
Montezemolo was the darling of the crowd at the Italian circuit. Banners and signs brandishing messages like “Viva Luca, You’re the Best”, “You’re our Number One” and “You’re handsome, Mr. President” earned waves and chuckles from the new head of the Fiat Group.
Submitted by Robert Newman
