Insight: Developing the Car for Maserati’s GT Racing Return

Inside the development of the GT2 car that will bring Maserati back to sports car racing…

Maserati’s motorsport revival is almost complete as the Italian manufacturer’s new GT2 car nears its race debut later this year.

The Maserati GT2, based on the MC20 road car, was unveiled at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa last month, almost one year after it was first announced at the same event.

Having established a flagship program with its name in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Maserati is now gearing up for the customer element of its racing return that brings it back into the sports car arena where it achieved huge success with the MC12 GT1 in the 2000s.

The time between Spa announcements has been busy for the GT2 project, but as chief engineer Vincent Biard explains, the process was aided by simulation-driven groundwork.

“The fact that we are ready with this car in only one year, is that the first development on the dynamic simulator was virtual,” Biard tells Sportscar365. “It helped us to speed up the testing a lot. We could prepare for different tracks on the same day. It is noticeable how this tool can predict what happens on the track.

“To demonstrate this, the virtual sign-off for the setup of the suspension, dampers, springs and anti-roll bars was defined prior to March. If you compare it to what we release in terms of hardware for these track sessions, it is surprisingly close.”

According to Biard, the simulator testing enabled Maserati to “fast-track” the vehicle dynamics and facilitated a physical shakedown in March.

Since then, it has been to several circuits in Europe including Vallelunga, Misano, Monza and the Stellantis proving grounds at Balocco. The mileage figure is understood to be no more than 10,000 km but testing will continue in the coming weeks as the car’s homologation and post-summer race debut loom.