The MC12 fielded by Doran Racing and with Fredy Lienhard, Didier Theys and Andrea Bertolini on board finished second at Road Atlanta behind Beretta/Gavin/Papis in the Corvette C6R.
The performance of the MC12 crew was made even more special by Andrea Bertolini? s splendid pole position in Friday? s qualifying session, beating the second official Corvette by a second. Runner-up position in this event confirmed how competitive the Modenese car is in endurance races. Other famous wins came at the 24 Hours of Spa in the FIA GT International championship (in 2005 and 2006) and at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga (2005 and 2006).
In the ten-hour Petit Le Mans race held at Road Atlanta, the number 27 MC12 took second place in the GT1 category and 19th overall (this category includes much more powerful cars from the LMP1 and LMP2 classes). The aim of the MC12 crew was to make it to the finish as they knew that it would be hard to take the class win against the official Corvettes.
In front of more than 100,000 spectators, the Maserati MC12 was roared on by fans and insiders alike and it did not let anyone down. The Doran Racing MC12 confirmed the good form that it had shown when Theys and Lienhard had taken it to third place in the Road Atlanta race.
The MC12? s race ended after eight hours and fifty-five minutes after an accident involving Andrea Bertolini. Happily, Bertolini was unhurt in the crash. The Maserati driver lost control of the car at turn 12 due to a technical problem that the engineers are now looking into. However, driver error has been ruled out. As the Maserati MC12 had already covered 70% of the race (won by Capello/Dumas in the Audi R10) it was placed second.
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