 |
|
The Maserati Quattroporte will be seen in
racing action this weekend when the
super-sedan prepared by Swiss Team joins the
Italian Superstars championship for
its first round at Imola in the hands of
former F1 racer Andrea Chiesa. |
|
 |
|
|
|
The
Maserati Quattroporte will be seen in racing action this
weekend when the super-sedan prepared by Swiss Team joins
the Italian Superstars championship for its first
round at Imola in the hands of former F1 racer Andrea Chiesa.
It is a prestigious new entry that joins the list of
Superstars Series contestants for 2009 that includes BMW
M5, Mercedes-Benz C63, Audi RS4, Jaguar S-Type R and
Chrysler 300C STR8. Chiesa, who has built up plenty of
experience in sports car racing since his brief F1 career
faded out, except for a few fleeting appearances, will be
for the first time in his career at the wheel of a touring
car.
Swiss Team
is based in Lugano and headed by the experienced Guido
Bonfiglio. Set up at the end of 2008 but with a twenty-year
background in motorsport, the team aims to line up with a
second car in the Superstars series, which is
reserved for V8 engined touring cars, during this season,
with another driver of proven experience in the pipeline.
Amongst the team members is chief mechanic, Giovanni
Albertin,
a rally engineer since the first half of the seventies and
more recently involved with several key
roles in
Ferrari Challenge and in GT series both in Italy and abroad.
“Ours is a
triennial program, mainly supported by E-Light sponsor,"
explained Guido Bonfiglio. "The choice to take part in
Superstars series championship originates also from the
fact that in this category the public is directly involved,
because it is induced to identify its own every day car with
those on track. The idea, after first races, is to line up a
second car too. We favoured the Quattroporte pushed by
Maserati, also if we will have to work at once on weight
distribution and reduction. Sadev is developing expressly
for us a sequential gearbox.”
Andrea
Chiesa, born in 1964, competed in three grands prix with
Fondmetal-Ford in 1992, but claims also a glorious past in
F3 (in which he distinguished himself in 1987 by taking the
runner-up spot in the Italian F3 Championship) and in F3000
in which raced for three years, with his highlight being
winning the Mediterranean Grand Prix on the Enna-Pergusa
track in 1989. After leaving single-seaters, more recently
he was crowned Italian N-GT champion in 2004-2005 and took
also part in several editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
" Superstars
has grown year by year thus becoming, in my view, a valid
alternative to GT," stated the experienced driver. "Both
related to more affordable costs
and for the appeal resulting
from the presence of many models in addition to an
attractive international openness and media coverage. For
2009 I can only say that, with the exception of the
circuits, we will have to discover time by time almost
everything. I haven’t seen the car yet and both I and the
team will be able to have an idea of the available car
potential only when we will bring it on track. The objective
is to reach a good level of competitiveness and reliability
which for sure are not missing to the others, being present
in the championship since long time. The occurrence of
driving again a rear drive car encourages myself because I’m
convinced that the kind of driving won’t be so different
from that of GTs I had in my hands in the last years,
besides of course the dimensions, the weight and the
aerodynamic load. Further on, speaking about the team, I
already knew the people working on this project and their
soundness. All this will allow me to face my coming
commitment with more tranquillity."
The
Maserati Quattroporte in a rear drive car with a front
mounted V8, 4.200 cc engine able to develop about 450 HP in
the racing version. The weight, without the handicap due the
use of a sequential gearbox (a Sadev fitted at the rear) is
1.430 kg. Tyres are supplied Pirelli, according to
regulations, while the bodywork, for an explicit choice,
mirrors almost totally that of the road version with just a
few small aerodynamic changes. The team will make its debut
at Imola this weekend for the first round of Superstars
on April 19.
|
|
|
