Another triumphal weekend for the Maseratis involved in the GT2 European Series, now at the second round of the season in Misano.
On home soil, the Trident cars prepared by LP Racing and TFT Racing did not disappoint expectations, winning pole positions, podiums and successes as already happened on their debut at Paul Ricard.
Already since Thursday in the Romagna paddock there were several curious people stopping in front of the tents of the two teams, located just to the left after the entrance and with the MCXtrema making a fine display not far away among the various supercars on display.
Philippe Prette immediately showed excellent speed by taking the Pole Position for Race 1, stopping the clock at 1’35″561 at the end of Q1 which saw the Monegasque from LP Racing put his Maserati #2 ahead of everyone also in the AM Class, beating the Mercedes of Gilles Vannelet (Akkodis-ASP) by just 0″085 and with his teammate Leonardo Gorini third at +0″214 as the best of the PRO/AM.
Alexandre Leroy also did very well at the wheel of the Maserati #24 of TFT Racing, fourth in Gorini’s wake and third in the AM Class, thus completing the first two rows of the grid with all three Emilian cars present, leaving behind us are the fearsome KTMs.
For LP Racing the satisfactions continued shortly afterwards, when in Q2 it was Carlo Tamburini’s turn to take Gorini’s place on the #1 machine and fly to Pole in 1’34″404, beating Reinhard’s KTM #812 by just 2 thousandths Kofler (Team MZR), in addition to the very close Mercedes of Loris Hezemans (#98 Motorsport) and Audi of Eric De Doncker (#18 LP Racing), plus the Mercedes of Ludovic Badey (#61 Akkodis-ASP) for an all PRO Top5/ AM.
Prette instead continued to dictate the law in AM, lapping in 1’35″363, beating Jörg Viebahn (Mercedes-NM Racing) and Leroy by a matter of very few hundredths.
#2 LP Racing, Maserati GT2: Philippe Prette
Photo by: SRO
RACE 1: Gorini-Tamburini comeback
In the first 50′ test Prette initially lost the lead at the hands of Vannelet, capable of overtaking him in the first corners, while Gorini held third place in his hands, fending off the attacks of his rivals and Leroy took 5th place.
A brief interruption by the Safety Car to recover Jan Krabec’s KTM which had been knocked out did not cause any disruption on the restart and most of the protagonists waited for the window to open to make the pit stop for refueling and driver change, returning on lap 12 .
Prette, who had managed to overtake Vannelet on lap 10, was the last to take the pit lane on lap 17, followed by his rival’s Mercedes, and at the exit found himself once again behind Akkodis’ AMG #87 -ASP, passed into the hands of Jean-Luc Beaubelique.
In the meantime, Tamburini had found himself in first position thanks to excellent laps out of the pits and the second part of the race was quite heated to fight for the remaining positions on the overall and category podium.
Beaubelique lost ground and Prette took advantage of this to get back in front of him, but towards the end of the race he had to cross arms with Kofler’s KTM, who then got the better of him by crossing the finish line second overall behind a jubilant Tamburini and escaping at +21 “882.
Prette was still able to rejoice with third place overall and the success in Class AM, where Beaubelique defended the place of honor from the arrival of Leroy in the final moments.
“It was a real team effort, the team did very well, as did Leo and me, winning with LP and the Maserati here is truly fantastic”, commented Tamburini at the end of the race.
Gorini added: “I got off to a good start, staying calm behind a couple of cars and we made it!”
#1 LP Racing, Maserati GT2: Leonardo Gorini, Carlo Tamburini
Photo by: SRO
RACE 2: what a sprint for Leroy
Sunday morning, with the cloudy sky threatening rain (without any injuries, however), the start was immediately thrilling with a multi-carambola at the first chicane triggered by a bad mistake by Badey who hit Beaubelique, who got inside and was involved in the accident even the innocent Prette and Viebahn. The LP Racing Monegasque emerged unscathed, but understandably upset given the blow he received.
Safety Car on track which kept everyone grouped together for three laps, then Tamburini (who had been caught out for an early start with a 5″ penalty to be served at the end of the race) resumed as leader, but found himself attacked by Kofler who completed the overtaking on lap 12, immediately before the LP Racing standard-bearer returned to the pits for a driver change.
The 5 extra laps that the MZR boy completed subsequently allowed his partner Martin Koch to come out in the lead with a large advantage and stay there, despite the left window being open and dirtying the aerodynamics of his X-Bow and a wild Gorini who first overtook three cars and then tried them all to catch him, but arrived at the checkered flag 2.5 seconds behind his opponent, however with an excellent second place PRO/AM and precious points in the standings.
With Prette out of action, the success in Class AM went to the equally cold Leroy, author of a good recovery and a strenuous defense on the last lap from the attack of Olbert’s KTM, defeated in the sprint by just 0″077!
“I’m really happy because I’ve never raced at Misano, so winning already in the second race is a great result,” said the Frenchman.
“How do I plan to continue the season? Obviously I will try to learn a lot more and train well physically, because a rider must be in good shape if he wants to perform well.”
#24 TFT Racing, Maserati GT2: Alexandre Leroy
Photo by: SRO
Great satisfaction also for Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse: “Another weekend of great success for the Maserati GT2, it is the demonstration that our car is capable of collecting excellent performances. Maserati’s commitment to motorsport is driven by the desire to involve our customers, making available products designed and created without compromise.”
“Together with the Maserati GT2, developed starting from the MC20, an example is also the Maserati MCXtrema, our racing car not approved for road use dedicated to gentleman drivers: the most extreme of the track Maseratis.”
“The victory and third place in Race 1, combined with second place in Race 2 at Misano consolidate our ability to develop superior technology, combined with exceptional performance to make our mark on the track and on the road.”
“We can’t wait to repeat ourselves in the next rounds of the championship when other teams, who have already purchased our car, will be added to the grid.”
#GT2 #Maserati #triumphs #home #races #Misano
