Latest news with #Misano
Al Bawaba
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Al Bawaba
Maserati Corse announces 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection': the new collection dedicated to racing enthusiasts
The collaboration between Maserati and Sparco continues, as part of Maserati Corse. The two brands, outstanding Italian undertakings in the world of performance and innovation, have launched the new 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection' line of clothing and accessories, to convey the Trident's competitive racing spirit even away from the track and into its fans' everyday lives. The collection is made foe fans and inspired by champions; there could be no better setting for its launch than the GT World Challenge 2025 stage at the Misano circuit, the perfect venue for the Trident's 'home race' as part of the GT2 European Series calendar, between the Maserati GT2s that have racked up successes and the MCXtrema that has captured the attention of all comers to the paddock. The new capsule collection forms an integral part of the partnership launched last year, which has already led to the creation of the 'Maserati Corse Replica' and 'MCXtrema' Racing Kits, complete with suits, helmets, shoes, gloves and technical accessories. Therefore, having kitted out drivers and teams, the two brands have now decided to involve the general public by creating the 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection', to transfer the spirit of the track into everyday life. Specifically, the new line offers distinctive and functional garments that adapt perfectly to every season: from blue and white T-shirts to blue and yellow sweatshirts, from the technical softshell jacket to the ultra-resistant backpack with adjustable shoulder straps and external and internal pockets, all the way to the inevitable baseball caps. The basis of the partnership is the shared principles that mark the excellence of both brands, including artisanship, constant research, the quality of materials and the prestige of Made in Italy. All the products in the new collection bear the colours and logos of Maserati Corse and feature a high level of design and quality, exclusively reflecting the identity and design of the House of the Trident and that unmistakable technical elegance that distinguishes both Maserati, synonymous with high-performance Italian luxury globally, and Sparco, a world leader in the field of technical clothing and motorsport equipment. From the stands to the starting grid. Each garment and accessory in the 'Sparco X Maserati fan collection' thus serves as a bridge between spectators and team, between performance and identity, as a tangible sign of belonging for all those who share the same passion for racing and who wish to proudly wear a genuine emblem of a legendary brand that for almost a century has echoed the roar of its cars on circuits all over the world. Maria Conti, Head of Maserati Corse, stated: 'As Maserati enthusiasts are well aware, our brand was founded on the racetrack and is characterised by an intrinsic vocation for performance. With Sparco, we share a vision based on excellence, innovation and Italian style. To follow the professional racing kits, we wanted to offer garments and accessories that maintain the same spirit of our racing cars and our drivers. This collection represents an authentic extension of the Maserati Corse world, in its natural environment of the track for almost 100 years." Niccolò Bellazzini, Sparco Brand Manager, added: 'Together with Maserati, we share a vision deeply rooted in Italian tradition and common values of design, performance, comfort and elegance. With the new fan collection, we wanted to reflect the meeting of these two personalities, bringing back the visual identity of Maserati Corse in a line tailor-made for anyone wishing to express their passion in everyday life, even off the track."
Al Bawaba
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Al Bawaba
Maserati domineers Misano GT2 European Series
On its home track of the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in round 4 of the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli, Maserati took two runner-up positions overall and one pole, two victories in the Am Cup and second place in the Pro-Am Cup. The double was completed in the LP Racing team's number 1 Maserati GT2 by Philippe Prette, who was also the runner-up and took the overall pole position in Race 1. The Maserati GT2 number 7 of Dinamic Motorsport with Mauro Calamia and Roberto Pampanini took second place overall in a comeback in Sunday's race, also the equivalent of the runner-up position in the Pro-Am Cup. In Race 1 on Saturday, starting from pole position Prette managed to defend himself and maintain the lead until the mandatory pit stop. When he returned to the track, the Frenchman with an Italian licence resisted the attacks of his rivals, giving in only five minutes from the chequered flag when he surrendered the leadership to a Pro driver. However, Prette crossed the finish line in runner-up position overall, with victory in the Am Cup class. The other Maserati GT2, number 7, kept Pampanini busy in the first stint before he worked back up to third position after starting from seventh. Ahead of returning to the pits, in an attempt to defend himself Pampanini lost grip and careered off the track. When he got back on, he found himself in tenth. At the wheel, Mauro Calamia attempted to recover and managed to cross the finish line in the final position during the second round on the Romagna track on Sunday morning saw the two Maserati GT2s start from fifth and sixth, as numbers 7 and 1 respectively, with the latter in pole in the Am class. With the Calamia at the wheel, the Dinamic Motorsport car was the first to move up to fourth, responding promptly to attacks from number 115. Fifteen minutes from the start, Calamia took virtual third place. After the driver change, Pampanini found himself in second having profited from an issue in the pits, then maintained his placing until the chequered flag to celebrate with a podium on his home track. In the Am Cup, Prette obtained his second victory on the Misano circuit after Saturday's win, starting from pole and remaining in the lead for the entire hour of the race. He also rose to fourth place overall, consolidating his leadership in the class Thursday's trials, Niccolò Pirri – son of Luca who drove the car at its debut in 2024 to a podium at Paul Ricard – also gained confidence in the Maserati GT2, to mark the Modena-based manufacturer's return to closed-wheel racing after years of absence. At only 16, Niccolò, is the youngest driver to have ever test driven a Maserati car on the Trident manufacturer's focus on young people is becoming stronger and stronger, partly down to its involvement in the new SRO GT Academy project announced last June at Spa-Francorchamps. The Academy offers the best-placed under-30 driver at the end of the 2026 season (at the wheel of a Maserati or a car from another marque) the opportunity to race in 2027 – with no budget required – in the GT World Challenge Europe, in a team to be created specifically for that Misano, in the GT2 European Series and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races, the Leading Car was an MCXtrema kitted out in a special livery created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Maserati MC12's first victory at the 24 Hours of Spa. That specific configuration had already been seen at the Belgian the summer break, the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli returns from 19 to 21 September for its penultimate round, due to take place in Valencia, Conti, Head of Maserati Corse, noted: 'Winning this weekend at Misano is even more important for us. We would like to dedicate our pride to Claudio Bortoletto, a fundamental member of our team and a historic figure in Italian motorsport, who recently passed dedicate to him a weekend of powerful emotions and an extraordinary haul: Philippe Prette's double victory in the Am class both in Race 1 – having started from pole – and in Race 2, as well as the Calamia/Pampanini duo's runner-up position in the Pro-Am class on Sunday. At our 'home race' at Misano, we have added another chapter to the Trident's glorious history in motorsport, one made up of extraordinary cars but above all of invaluable people. We look forward to celebrating more victories ahead of next year's major anniversary: Maserati's century in racing'.
Times of Oman
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Al-Manar Racing's Al Zubair, Klingmann finish fourth in second Sprint Series race at Misano
MISANO (ITALY): Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and German colleague Jens Klingmann overcame the disappointment of a first-lap retirement from race one to finish fourth in the Gold Cup category in race two at the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series on Sunday. At the wheel of their BMW M4 GT3 EVO, the duo performed well in the practice and qualifying sessions at the demanding Misano track in Italy, but Al-Zubair was handed a 10-place penalty on the starting grid for race two after the disappointment of the premature retirement from race one. The second race was red-flagged in the early stages and there was a significant delay while circuit armco was repaired. It developed into the longest one-hour race in history and took 3hr 18min to complete by the time the safety aspect of the circuit run-off area had been secured. Al-Zubair eventually handed over to Klingmann for the final 30 minutes but the Al-Manar Racing duo could not make further in-roads and had to settle for fourth place in the Gold Cup category and 20th overall behind the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, the Saintéloc Racing Audi and the race one-winning Garage 59 McLaren. Oman-based Al-Zubair said: 'It was a long race and I think it was a bit difficult because we had a grid penalty to start. We started P32 (overall) but the car felt mega the whole race. We made it up to P21 in my stint but, unfortunately, we lost a bit of time in the pits, about seven seconds, and that dropped us out of P3 in Gold Cup. 'We finished P4. After collecting no points in the first race on Saturday, it was difficult and not the best weekend for us. We hope to collect more points at the next one and continue the fight for the championship. 'In race one, there was a bit of contact at turn six between my team-mate Jens, Chris Lulham and Maxime Martin. We were out of the race but we also got a penalty, so to finish P4 today is a result we should be happy with. Having the car working so well all weekend made it even more frustrating.' Al-Zubair and Klingmann made the perfect start to their race weekend by topping the times in the free practice session on Friday afternoon. They ran for 49 laps with a fastest run of 1min 33.026sec to lead the way from Emil Frey Racing and Saintéloc Racing. They then went on to top the Gold Cup times in the evening's pre-qualifying session. Klingmann finished first qualifying in second place behind Lulham in the Emil Frey Racing Ferrari and would line up in second place in the Gold Cup category and eighth overall on the grid for the first of the one-hour races. The Garage 59 McLaren was third. But lady luck determined that Klingmann's challenge for honours in the first of the races would be short-lived: after a twilight start, the German was clouted from behind after a few turns of lap one and was only able to limp to the pits with rear suspension damage before the Al-Manar Racing BMW was sidelined. The incident also took out pole sitter Lulham and the Briton's demise paved the way for Louis Prette to secure victory in the Gold Cup section for the Garage 59 McLaren after 36 laps of racing. The Monaco driver came home just ahead of Gilles Magnus in the Saintéloc Racing Audi and Leonardo Moncini in the Tresor Attempto Racing Audi. Ricky Collard retired the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini after 11 laps. The race one disappointment left Al-Zubair with it all to do in Sunday morning's qualifying for the second race. Magnus claimed pole for Saintéloc Racing and the Omani settled into fourth place with a best run of 1min 32.952sec after the BMW had been repaired by Team WRT technicians. Unfortunately, Al-Zubair was then handed a five-place penalty on the starting grid, as a result of the incident involving his team-mate in race one. A team appeal had successfully reduced the penalty from an original 10-place drop on the starting grid. The 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series resumes with round four at Magny-Cours in France on August 1st-3rd.
Times of Oman
16-07-2025
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Al Manar Racing's Al Zubair and Klingmann aim for sprint success at Misano in Italy
MUSCAT: Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT's Al-Faisal Al-Zubair and German team-mate Jens Klingmann return to Sprint Series racing action this weekend when they tackle the third round of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Series at Misano in Italy. The pair are tackling the Gold Cup category in their BMW M4 GT3 EVO and currently hold second in both the Drivers' and Teams' Championships following a fifth place and a victory in the two one-hour races at Brands Hatch in England and a pair of third-place finishes at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Emil Frey Racing leads the way in the Teams' Championship on 60 points with Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 18.5 points behind in second place and three clear of a tying Saintéloc Racing and Tresor Attempto Racing. Oman-based Al-Zubair said: 'I am really looking forward to going to Misano. It will be my first time racing there. My first time driving there was in March during testing and it was a track that I enjoyed. But I want to see what the racing is like there. We are currently second in the championship, so the most important thing is to collect points and make sure that we are completing the races. 'The target, as always, will be to go for the wins. The competition in Gold Cup has been extremely strong this year but I hope that we can give our rivals a good fight and also push for the overall positions as well.' This weekend's race meeting at Misano on the Italian Adriatic coast has attracted a record 44 entries across the various classes. It is the 11th consecutive year that the circuit has hosted the Sprint Series. Misano is officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in memory of the local MotoGP rider, who lost his life in a crash in 2011. The 4.226km circuit is located close to the town of Misano Adriatico in the Rimini province and also hosts the MotoGP World Championship. Competition for Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT in Misano comes from the Saintéloc Racing Audi R8, the Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, Emil Frey Racing's Ferrari 296 GT3 and Tresor Attempto Racing's Audi R8 LMS GT3. Free practice takes place on the Italian circuit from 13.40hrs on Friday (July 18th) and precedes an hour of pre-qualifying from 19.20hrs. The first of the two qualifying sessions gets underway at noon on Saturday (July 19th) with Q2 following at 12.15hrs. The opening one-hour gets the green light at 20.15hrs. Sunday's action sees the second qualifying sessions scheduled for 10.25hrs and 10.40hrs, respectively, with race two getting started at 14.45hrs. TEAMS – latest Gold Cup standings 1. Emil Frey Racing 60pts 2. Al-Manar Racing by Team WRT 41.5pts 3. Saintéloc Racing 38.5pts 4. Tresor Attempto Racing 38.5pts 5. Garage 59 25.5pts 6. CSA Racing 9pts DRIVERS – latest Gold Cup standings 1. Chris Lulham/Thierry Vermeulen 60pts 2. Al-Faisal Al-Zubair/Jens Klingmann 41.5pts 3. Gilles Magnus/Paul Evrard 38.5pts 4. Sebastian Øgaard/Leonardo Moncini 38.5pts 5. Louis Prette/Adam Smalley 25.5pts 6. Arthur Rougier/James Kell 9pts
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ferrari F80
The Ferrari F80 is the Prancing Horse that's too fast for Fiorano. It's the latest limited-run, extreme-performance Ferrari of the kind that appears once a decade, a lineage featuring the GTO (aka 288), F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari, and it is the first that hasn't been demonstrated at Ferrari's home test track. Instead, it was presented at Misano, a wider and longer circuit than Fiorano and more suitable for a car with the F80's astonishing performance. Misano is popular with motorcycle racers and looked as expansive as Silverstone on the video I watched of an Audi R8 GT3 lapping it. The F80's speed made it feel about half the size in reality. Stay tuned for a review of Ferrari's fastest-lapping car it has ever fitted with with numberplates. To the details first, though. The F80's development timeline almost mirrors that of the 499P Le Mans-winning race car. The two are different – this is not a road-going competition car – but there are similarities both in ethos and with some mechanicals. The F80 has a two-seat carbonfibre passenger tub, 5% lighter but 50% stiffer than a LaFerrari's (the next most recent special), with the passenger slightly offset behind the driver so they don't bang shoulders in a cabin that's 50mm narrower. At the front and rear are mostly extruded aluminium subframes, from which hangs double-wishbone suspension all round, with 3D-printed upper wishbones and active Multimatic spring and damper units similar to those that made their Ferrari debut in the Purosangue, mounted horizontally to maintain a low centre of gravity. As well as having adjustable damping, they extend or withdraw to control pitch and roll, so there are no separate anti-roll bars. The car is 4.84m long, 2.06m wide and just 1.14m tall, and it has a 2.67m wheelbase. It comes with carbonfibre wheels as standard (you can buy forged alloys to supplement them), wearing 285/30 R20 front and 345/30 R21 rear tyres, either Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s or stickier Cup 2Rs. Brake discs are a new carbon-ceramic material, 408mm in diameter at the front, 309mm at the rear. In the car's middle is the latest iteration of Ferrari's 3.0-litre 120deg V6, which made its debut in the Ferrari 296 GTB and also powers Ferrari's Le Mans challenger. But it has been tweaked here to levels not even found in the 499P. More than 200 components have been changed from the 296's version of this engine, so it makes 888bhp at 8750rpm – Ferrari's meteoric target of 300 metric horsepower per litre. Its two in-vee turbochargers also include a small electric motor to get them spinning quickly rather than waiting for the boost (which I think technically also makes them electric superchargers, but we know what an e-turbo means). The V6 engine is supplemented by an 80bhp crank-mounted electric motor, sited beside the engine so there's only 100mm between the crank centre and the bottom of the sump, in turn meaning the engine can be mounted much lower. The top of it is about knee height. This all drives through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox with no reverse. At the front is an e-axle with two electric motors of 141bhp each (they do the reversing), and when everything is firing at once, the total system output is 1184bhp (or 1200 continental horses). Then there are the F80's aerodynamics. Three bargeboards split air at the front and direct it either over the top of the car or underneath to a diffuser that, at 1.8m long, constitutes more than half of the underbody. There's a rear wing that raises by 200mm and through a 22deg angle. In total, at 155mph the F80 makes 1050kg of downforce, split 460kg front and 590kg rear, which is twice as much overall as LaFerrari. You don't get a choice about which aero mode it's in. The car can easily predict what's best, and apparently 'it's not so nice' if available downforce disappears mid-corner. The engine is canted 1.2deg upwards to the rear, to give the diffuser more room to work. Stitching all of this together is what must be some heinously complex software and subsequent tuning. There's no rear-steer, but there is torque vectoring via braking on both axles, plus a rear electronically controlled limited-slip differential and yet another iteration of 'Slide Slip Control'. Braking is by-wire, with regeneration from all three electric motors, including from the crank-mounted motor, which can drag on the engine as a form of traction control. Should you opt to record yourself over a hot lap, the car will decide for itself when it would be best to boost the motors to give you as fast a lap time as possible. The interior is excellent. Buttons are back, the driving position raises your legs so that air can pass beneath the tub and the steering wheel pulls so close you could almost lick it. It's heavily squared but entirely in keeping with the Le Mans-adjacent view out. Paddles are still attached to the column, which usually I like in Ferraris, but here it feels like they would be better on the wheel. The supportive driver's seat adjusts but the passenger's pads don't. It's more hospitable than, say, a McLaren F1 or GMA T50, which seat their passengers further behind the driver. This gives just enough space to clear shoulders while leaving it easy to chat across the cabin, so it is a sociable car too. There's only a tiny amount of luggage space behind the occupants' heads, mind. This, it's fair to say, is not a hybrid system designed for economy. It's 'for performance and nothing else', according to Stefano Varisco, Ferrari's manager of dynamics and energetics. The battery, which sits crosswise just behind the passenger cell, is only 2.3kWh. If you tried, and there's a Qualifying mode in which you can, the car will flatten the battery within a lap. Our first go is on track. The first thing of note is that this car is extraordinarily, rocket-ship fast. With motors helping spin the turbos and boost low-rev torque gaps, there is no turbo lag. The engine, regardless of whether you're at the 900rpm idle or near the 9200rpm rev limit, surges. There are no Bugatti-like delays while it takes a breath. It's more like a McLaren P1 or McLaren Artura, or a 296 GTB, but more so in its immediate punch forwards. Ferrari's numbers say it will go from 0-62mph in 2.15sec, but rather more significant is the 5.75sec 0-124mph time: LaFerrari took 6.9sec. Ferrari's gearshifts (and the paddles that enable them) are usually the best in the business, and there's no exception here. Upshifts are immediate, downshifts impeccable. The engine, a variant of the 'piccolino V12' – a six that is meant to sound as good as one with twice the cylinders – is engaging, although it headbutts the rev limiter with alarming ease. I don't mean that as a criticism. I just feel clumsy, until better drivers than me say they repeatedly do the same. What's odd is how quiet the car is from the outside. Towards the end of the pit straight, where the car must be pulling 140mph, all you hear is the whoosh – vast quantities of air moving, like a fast jet entering the Mach Loop, according to photographer Jack Harrison. A least that will make it easy to adhere to track-day noise limits. There is a very fast corner at Misano. 'It doesn't look like a corner on the track map,' they say in the briefing, 'but when you get there, it is.' Even I can feel the aerodynamics working as I take it faster than I feel I should. Pitch, dive, roll: all are brilliantly contained. Just a little of each is allowed, for feel, to lean against. With this suspension it would be possible to tilt the car into a corner, which would feel weird. Bump absorption is first-class. The steering is medium-weighted and consistent, and although it's only two turns between locks, as Ferraris tend to be, it is linearly responsive and neither nervy nor over-sensitive. Lower-speed corners need less faith than aero-heavy ones, but this car likes precision. Brake feel is brilliant on corner approach, and you can detect something somewhere easing back an inside wheel to help it turn, but it's not an open-book hoon machine like other Ferraris. It wants to put power to the front wheels, wants you to ease open the steering and get it into a straight line, because that way is fastest. And it likes going fast. Still, if you do turn all the assistance off, it will move around. There's a touch of steady-state understeer as you begin to turn, but it boosts through that easily and adopts a benign slide, until I think the front axle decides it has had enough of this and starts to pull it back straight because it would like to accelerate, thank you. So while it will slide – unlike, say, a Ferrari F8 Tributo – that's not its natural state. If it feels like anything else I've driven, it reminded me of an Audi R10 TDI Le Mans prototype. They share a snug high-foot driving position, precise medium-weighted controls, a steering wheel on which your hands never leave the 2:45 position and immersive and unburstable but perhaps undramatic performance. At eight-tenths effort, an F80 will go twelve-tenths faster than almost any other production car. It's a brilliant car, but it's the performance and the capability rather than the drama that impresses. Given all of that, I don't expect it to be a great road car, but it surprises me. Ferraris tend to ride well and, with three damper settings, the F80 eases over even the gnarliest surfaces. I remain aware of, but not daunted by, its width. Ferrari has sold 799 F80s and they're €3.1 million a pop before local taxes. If it hits the spot, it could boost the allure of the hybridised SF90 and 296; miss, though, and it's another sports car that carried more cables and fewer cylinders than it should have. I wonder if there are more than just 799 F80s riding on how it performs. Lapping 5.0sec faster than a LaFerrari around Fiorano is one achievement; making you buy it is a different one. If all of this sounds like a very nuanced and complicated car, given that Ferrari has a V12 that could quite easily blow customers' minds, you would be right. And if it had used it, Ferrari would have had 'very happy' customers, according to Matteo Turconi, Ferrari's senior product marketing manager. 'But we'd have lost a lot of aerodynamic efficiency.' The V12 is a big engine and eminently charismatic, but Turconi says Ferrari has stopped using it for the 'top-performing' cars: 'We have to be honest to our heritage. This is the best car,' he said. Should best be in air quotes? There is a good argument that the F80 is true to Ferrari's heritage. Each of the previous specials has a link, of sorts, to Ferrari's motorsport stars of the time. But the decision to run a hybrid V6 shows a continued commitment to electrification, a willingness to make a nuanced performance car and even, perhaps, a little bravery. As a road car there's enough for luggage space for 24 hours, they say. But whether on the road or, like its 499P stablemate, on track, the F80 feels ready for both. It may not be the most dramatic Ferrari, but I think it is the 'right' one. ]]>
