Maser Fast Murcie Slow

Times are coming down... sure the track conditions are very important to compare the different times... but the main goal of the list is to have a rough comparison. The final verdict will be on the track!


From Maserati site :
The Maserati Reparto Corse test driver completed 50 laps today. His best time was a 1’12”354.

Circuit: Fiorano track, 2.976 km – short course 1.413 km
Driver: Andrea Bertolini
Car: MCC
Weather: air temperature 2/9 °C, track 2/9 °C. Clear skies, then cloudy.
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I agree with Napolis that things may be getting out of hand, but we could solve the problem by taking a look at the past and learning from it. We need to put some sense back into the rules, and quit racing cars in "production" classes that are not available in quantity, or run non-standard equipment, like engines that are not readily available in that chassis, reconfigured brake systems, bodies that have very little to do with what you see on the street, etc. That's the way it was in the heyday of the Trans-Am Series, and it improved the breed considerably. The Z-28 and the Boss 302 were built to homologate certain pieces for competition use. Spoilers first showed up on production cars because they had to build a certain number of cars that way to make them legal to race, not because they looked cool. Somehow we got away from that. It started with Jo Hoppen, the Porsche race honcho who was able to convince the rule makers to open loop holes that gave his brand an advantage. What we ended up with are V-8 powered BMW 3-series and Toyota Trucks running in NASCAR with pushrod V-8s that aren't available in any Toyota vehicle. If Ford bought Pratt & Whitney we could conceivably see a jet-engine Mustang running in the ALMS Series! Sure it's silly, but it points out the fallacy of the current system.

Any manufacturer should be able to build and race anything they wish, provided that they build and sell at least 250 street legal units. 250 units make sense because it is a financial burden and eliminates the probability of creating a minimum run of specials that are 'legal' in some third world country that doesn't have the roads, infrastructure or wealth to put the vehicles to use on the street.

In order to prove the viability of the manufacturer's street cars modifications would be strictly limited. Body configuration would have to be similar to the street legal car. Wings would only be allowed if they were on the street car, panels couldn't be massaged, etc. Engines could only be modified within certain limits; brakes would have to be of the same configuration as on the street car, etc. All cars would have to be modified street cars rather than tube-frame replicas. Is this a step backward? Maybe, but wouldn't it be great to end the debate over which brand is better once and for all? It seems every manufacturer is building a supercar these days, yet there is no racing benchmark to judge them against. The result is that Allan can come on Ferrari Chat , or one of us can go on a similar Lambo site, and spout off about our brand versus theirs and there is no definitive way to back up the claims.

There are many downsides to this plan, not the least of which is that I don't believe their is a sanctioning body alive with the guts to resist factory pressure and enforce the letter of the law; but if there were someone willing to put sport above profit they could end up with the most profitable series over time.