Super GT(JGTC) Maser MC12 Progress...

[RacingManiac]

From dailysportscar.com, whats interesting is not really the car, but the content of the article on just how fast the GT500 cars are these days.....

Team Goh Maserati Progress
With the Super GT season starting in just two weeks’ time, pre-season testing is in full swing.

The preparations for the introduction of Maserati to the domestic ranks have presented the opportunity for some fascinating comparisons between the MC12 and the leading GT1 racer from an ever so slightly earlier era.

Whilst the Team Goh MC12 tested only on the longer configuration of the Vallelunga circuit before being shipped out to Japan, circuit sources were prompted to recall some interesting statistics.

With the original MC12 being prepared to hit the tracks in 2004, Mika Salo produced a best lap of 69 seconds on the short circuit at Vallelunga. That compared very favourably indeed to the best time set back in 1998 by a Mercedes CLK-GTR, with 1999 updates, pedalled by Mark Webber, who set a best of 68 seconds in a car rightly regarded way back then as the cream of the GT1 crop. Remember of course that in 1998 terms the MC12 is a GT2 machine!

There is a similarly interesting comparison to be made between the Super GT spec car being shaken down for Team Goh on the long circuit and the FIA GT spec car when it tested on the same track configuration.

The FIA car with Pirelli rubber and the narrower wing set a best of 1:30.9, while the Team Goh-run Super GT spec. car, on Bridgestone rubber, set a best time an astonishing 2.8 seconds faster.

That's a telling difference, but it is unlikely to be enough for the big Maserati to trouble the factory backed Nissan, Honda and Lexus cars in GT500.

Kazumichi Goh had set the team a target of being a full 5 seconds faster than the FIA spec car if they were to take the fight to their Japanese competition, and there is still work to be done in order to close the gap.

The first Suzuka test with the Goh car saw that point of view very firmly endorsed, Seiji Ara posting a best effort of 1:55 in the Maserati, which compares unfavourably to the best posted by a team running one of the Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 racers - with a 1:52.4.

Perhaps more ominously still, sources suggest that a new spec. Honda NSX has posted a lap in an astonishing 1:51.6. Putting that in perspective it matches the pole time set by the Team Goh Audi R8 at the Suzuka 1000kms in 2001!

The pace of improvement in the GT500 cars is remarkable: the leading cars are now 2-3 seconds per lap faster than 4-5 years ago.

Mr Goh though is not downhearted: "I think we can find most of the difference. There is a little bit of work that can be done on aero with the rear gurney and a deck gurney and by modifying the dive planes a little. What we do have though is a very good car in the rain."

The work continued this week at T.I Aida but progress was slowed for Team Goh with an oil cooler failure, possibly linked to a minor vibration problem, or perhaps because the Italian thoroughbred responded badly to the almost freezing weather conditions.

Japanese customs officials haven't helped matters either, with a 3-4 day delay in the import procedure for the oil supply for the car.

A phone call to the Maserati importer revealed that the standard spec. of lubrication for the Ferrari Enzo, which of course shares the MC12’s basic DNA, would suffice.

You’ll be reading much, much more on the Super GT season to come here on dsc.
GG

Suzuka Test - Unofficial; Best Lap Times (22/23 February)
23 NISMO Z 1:52.34
22 AUTECH Z 1:52.72
8 ARTA NSX 1:52.79
12 IMPUL Z 1:53.05
66 Supra 1:53.35
1 CERUMO SC 1:53.51
350 NISMO Test Car(Z) 1:53.62
100 RAYBRIG NSX 1:53.78
430 TRD Test Car(SC) 1:54.35
6 Mobil 1 SC 1:54.57
51 MC12 1:55.03
32 EPSON NSX 1:55.66
25 Supra 1:55.69

[Dino Scuderia]

How odd that is.

[kingofthering]

amazing that the NSX was as fast as a R8

[NSXType-R]

Holy crap !!! The NSX ties an Audi? It shows how great that car really is!

[RacingManiac]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Holy crap !!! The NSX ties an Audi? It shows how great that car really is!

More appropreately, how little NSX is left in that car.....

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

More appropreately, how little NSX is left in that car.....

That's what happens when Dome gets a hold of an NSX

[5zigen]

do you have any images for thr masser mc12 jgtc??

[carsnut]

if the GT500 cars(have lots of fins.........) weren't limited to 500hp(haha, a 500hp MC12 quicker than a FIA MC12 with like 600hp or something), the MC12 would destroy the other cars in JGTC

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by carsnut

if the GT500 cars(have lots of fins.........) weren't limited to 500hp(haha, a 500hp MC12 quicker than a FIA MC12 with like 600hp or something), the MC12 would destroy the other cars in JGTC

I have a solution: take off some weight.

[RacingManiac]

So they are withdrawing as the MC12 is not going to be competitive at all against the factory cars....

From Dailysportscar.com

Team Goh Maserati Update
Whilst an official GT Association statement confirmed yesterday that the Team Goh Maserati MC12 will not contest the opening round of the Super GT series this weekend at Suzuka, the reality appears to be that team Goh will not now contest the 2006 championship.

The core reason appears to centre around the aerodynamic disadvantage inherent in the MC12 against the factory GT500 cars, a team source explaining that in corners faster than 175km/h the Maserati has a major disadvantage, losing a full half second to the Nissans, Lexus and Hondas through turns 1 & 2 at Suzuka for instance and a further half second through the famous 130R.

The Japanese cars more aggressive front splitters and diveplanes together with a more radical floor than the flat floored Italian supercar are currently just too much of a disadvantage and with the required aerodynamic work (including considerable wind tunnel work) requiring a major further investment that would certainly take a number of weeks to complete, it seems certain that the privateer Team Goh will withdraw the car.

The task of course is made even more taxing with the factory teams allowed to run a development car throughout the season, the resources available to the Maserati squad would, quite simply be not enough to counter their potentially crushing advantage. It’s an issue that the GT association seem increasingly concerned with as they acknowledge the near impossibility of an FIA spec car being competitive in the current climate, a situation that perhaps bodes ill for the medium term health of a series that relies heavily on manufacturer patronage.

There is further bad news with the suggestion that a potential move across to the ALMS with the car now looks certain not to come about, the timing of the decision to withdraw the car from Super GT forcing the team to miss Sebring and a Championship campaign in the USA is therefore not now an option.

[cp01ae]

You gotta think about it this way: the JGTC cars were design to fit one set of rules. Therefore, they are gonna be optimized to fit into those rules. the MC12 was designed for something else, now they are adapting it to fit into JGTC. Same thing when there was a McLaren in JGTC, it wasnt competitive because it wasnt designed for this serries.

[RacingManiac]

McLaren won JGTC in 1996....original JGTC rule were set to follow the FIA GT1 rules, back in 1996/1997. Then it got snowballed and became what it is today. The fact that most factory teams have purpose built car, vs people like Team Goh who brings cars from elsewhere to compete, is why they are so behind. Thing is the MC12 doesn't really fit the mold of the FIA GT/ACO/ALMS rules neither, which is why it has so little place it can actually run, as it was designed to an envelope that's above the current FIA GT rules, then was dumb down to fit the rule(or not). But it is apparently still a league behind the cars in JGTC, despite its quite sophisticated and purpose built base car, the Enzo....

[Niko_Fx]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Holy crap !!! The NSX ties an Audi? I

It doesn't just tie an Audi, is way more specific than that. It ties a racing car with way less weight and about 100+hp more.