A year after the presentation of the car and the sports project, Maserati returns to Spa-Francorchamps for the third round of the GT2 European Series.
During the weekend that also hosts the 24 Hours of Spa, the three Maserati GT2s were protagonists on Friday, achieving a splendid one-two in Race 1 with the victory of the #1 LP Racing car driven by Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini, who finished ahead of teammate Philippe Prette who took victory in the AM Class.
In the same category, the third Maserati, the #24 of the TFT Racing team, driven by Alexandre Leroy, crossed the finish line in second place (fifth overall). In Race 2, the Belgian climbed to the last step of the class podium.
At the end of qualifying for Race 1, the Maseratis occupied the first three places with Leroy taking his first pole position of the season.
Action on the track
At the start, the #24 took advantage of its advantage to maintain the lead of the race but was forced to give way to the #1 Maserati GT2 entrusted to Gorini, who after a few laps managed to gain a significant advantage over its opponents.
Having handed the wheel over to Tamburini, the latter then made a mistake at ‘Les Combes’ allowing his teammate Philippe Prette to get significantly closer, without however losing the lead.
Tamburini was the first to cross the checkered flag, with Prette finishing 2.8 seconds behind, confirming the Maserati one-two and its third win of the year in the AM Class.
#24 TFT Racing, Maserati GT2: Alexandre Leroy
Photo by: Maserati Media Center
Leroy remained in the fight for the overall podium throughout but then dropped to fifth place and was now second in the Am class.
In the second 50-minute test held on Saturday morning, Prette was forced to return to the pits due to a puncture in the early laps, compromising the rest of the race.
Tamburini, who got off to a good start, found himself in fourth position, but after about twenty minutes he slipped to eighth place after contact with an opponent.
At the end of the mandatory pit stop window, Gorini, who had replaced Tamburini, began to make up positions, but unfortunately he was forced to return to the pits again due to a puncture and then finished in tenth place.
Leroy, with a consistent pace throughout the race, finished sixth overall, third in the AM.
#2 LP Racing, Maserati GT2: Philippe Prette
Photo by: Maserati Media Center
“Our streak of successes with the Maserati GT2 continues: I couldn’t have hoped for anything better this weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, despite a bit of bad luck in Race 2,” said Giovanni Sgro, Head of Maserati Corse.
“The first and second place in Race 1 underline, once again, that we have developed an excellent car for motorsport customers, professional race teams and gentleman drivers.”
“Maserati’s racing vocation, recently celebrated with the two special editions MC20 Icona and MC20 Leggenda for the 20th anniversary of the debut of the MC12, in both the GT1 and Stradale versions, is the common thread that links all our cars.”
“Starting from the MC20, passing through the Maserati GT2, up to the MCXtrema, our Brand underlines its intent to develop cutting-edge technologies and respond to the requests of our customers, both on the road and on the track”.
“We are looking forward to being on the starting grid at the next round of the 2024 GT2 European Series in Hockenheim.”
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