Maserati finished fifth in the GT1 class and in eleventh place overall at the third round of the American Le Mans Series held at Mid-Ohio yesterday.

The tyre change after Saturday’s qualifying session meant that the car had to start from the back of the grid. This meant that De Simone had to mount an immediate comeback, one not devoid of incident. After only five minutes of the race, the Maserati driver clashed with Michele Rugolo’s Viper at Turn 7. A few minutes the later the race officials hit De Simone with a stop-go penalty. The time lost at this early stage made it very difficult to make up ground later.

Twenty minutes into the race the MC12 was in fifth place, a minute down on class leader Oliver Gavin in the Chevrolet Corvette C6R. De Simone still held fifth in the GT1 class after half an hour and made routine stops for tyre changes and refuelling after 31 and 57 minutes. Unfortunately, after 1 hour and 19 minutes of racing, another collision put paid to any chances of closing the gap on the leader. This time De Simone clipped Frank Biela’s Audi R8 at Turn 11 and went into a spin. The safety car was called for on lap 53 to allow officials to remove a car positioned dangerously on the track. While it was on, Frank Biela had a stop-go penalty to deal with. The yellow flag was withdrawn on lap 57, a point at which the Maserati found itself in 19th spot overall. A less eventful drive by Andrea Bertolini saw him climb the field and finish in fifth position.

Victory in the GT1 class went to Fellows and O’Connell in the Chevrolet Corvette C6R. They were followed across the line by their team mates Gavin and Beretta. Third went to the ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R driven by Mowlem and Borcheller, while in fourth were Figge and Dalziel in a private Corvette. At the end of the race, the Maserati MC12 was penalised by 20 seconds as a result of an irregularity during a refuelling stop, a visor on a helmet was raised.

The fastest lap clocked by the MC12 was on lap 32, in a time of 1:20.042. The winners of the other categories were: LMP1 J.Weaver and B.Leitzinger (Lola-AER EX257), first overall; LMP2 J.Bach and G.Cosmo (Courage-Mazda C65); GT2 T.Bernhard and R.Dumas (Porsche 911 GT3-RSR).
 

The next Le Mans Endurance Series event will be held between 1-4 July at Lime Rock Park at Lakeville in Connecticut.

Andrea Bertolini: "This was a difficult race for our team. On one hand we are pleased to see continued improvement of the car, but on the other we encountered a difficult situation this weekend. We felt that third place was well within our reach if we were able to come through the field without incident. Unfortunately the Viper braked very hard and Fabrizio could not avoid contact. The later incident with the Audi was the end of our chances. I remain confident for the direction of the car and appreciate the work of the Risi team and Pirelli Tires which have given us great support.”

Fabrizio De Simone: “We knew that coming through the field would put us in many dangerous positions on this course. The Viper locked up its brakes in front of me and there was nowhere to go.

"I feel for all who support us, most notably Pirelli, as we were looking for progress from our excellent result from last race. We can take away that development on the car continues and that we are quite competitive within our class.”

ALMS Rd3 - Mid Ohio - GT1 Class Result: 1st (no 9) Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Ron Fellows, Canada; Corvette C6-R (6, GT1), 112 laps; 2nd (8) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6-R (5, GT1), 112; 3rd (11) Johnny Mowlem, England; Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Saleen S7R (7, GT1), 112; 4h (12) Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Corvette C5-R (8, GT1), 110; 5h (21) Fabrizio De Simone, Italy; Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Maserati MC12 (10, GT1), 109.