American Le Mans Series

Maserati MC12 to compete in 2005 ALMS

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today announced that it has invited Maserati to enter the MC12 in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) as a guest of the sanctioning body. The invitation to Maserati contains several limitations that Maserati has accepted and intends to complete immediately.

© Maserati

This announcement clears the way for the MC12 race car to participate in the opening round of the American Le Mans Series at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 19, and each of the remaining ALMS races in 2005. The new Maserati MC12 ALMS endeavor marks the first time in 48 years that Maserati has fielded a full factory race car in the United States. The last time a factory Maserati appeared on the grid at Sebring, Juan Manuel Fangio drove it to victory in 1957.

“The Maserati does not completely comply with the Automobile Club de l’Quest (ACO) requirements, and as such, has not yet been homologated for competition under ACO regulations,” said IMSA Chief Operating Officer, Tim Mayer. “IMSA will bear the final responsibility to regulate the performance of the car in the interest of ALMS competition, such that the race car operates within the accepted performance envelope of cars within the GT1 category,” added Mayer.

The homologation process is the system by which a race car is derived from the road car through technical specifications set by the ACO or the Federation Internationale De L’Automobile (FIA). Because the MC12 race car complies with the FIA’s homologation but not with the ACO’s homologation requirements, it will not be eligible for points in any of the American Le Mans Series championships, including the driver and team championships which run under the ACO regulations. The car will also not be eligible for any other races run under the ACO regulations.

“There is no question that this race car is the subject of much speculation,” said ALMS President and CEO, Scott Atherton. “However, we have a very technically savvy audience and we expect that the inclusion of the Maserati in the full season of ALMS races will create great interest for our fans, both at the tracks and on television. We expect that our fans, competitors and event promoters will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this extremely exciting and competitive new ALMS race car entry.”

Source: http://www.americanlemans.com