Herbert and Salo will go all out in pursuit of top FIA-GT honours
Briton Johnny Herbert and Finland's Mika Salo indicated that they would be racing each other for victory and emphasised that a good result for their team was paramount.
There will be no team orders at Maserati for the final round of the FIA-GT Championship race at Dubai Autodrome on Friday.
Briton Johnny Herbert and Finland's Mika Salo indicated that they would be racing each other for victory and emphasised that a good result for their team was paramount.
Former Grand Prix winner Herbert will partner Italy's Fabrizio de Simone while former Formula One ace Salo will have, another Italian, Andrea Bertolini as his co-driver.
The two-car Maserati pairing, run under the AF Corse banner, are favourites to take top honours in the 500-km race.
Speaking at a press conference at the Autodrome yesterday afternoon, all four drivers spoke highly of Dubai's new circuit and said they were looking forward to the challenge of driving at the complex.
They were particularly impressed with the facilities and safety features at the Autodrome.
Commenting on the heat Salo said: "Its extremely hot here but we are confident that the Maserati will cope well with the conditions. I have raced in similar heat when I contested Champcars at Miami last year."
The records show that he finished third on a scorching day so the Dubai temperatures should not be a factor for the flying Finn.
The marque will run as a non-championship entry in the Dubai round as the cars are not yet homologated and are ineligible to score Championship points.
They were granted special permission to run at Imola, Oschersleben and Dubai by the FIA, with the agreement of the teams concerned. A major onslaught on the championship is expected from the team in 2005.
The Maserati MC12 which has been developed for GT racing by engineer Giorgio Ascanelli is derived from the manufacturer's road going Grand Tourer.
The result is that 37 long years after its last victory in an international championship (1967, Cooper Maserati F1, South African Grand Prix), the Trident badge returns to the track.
The MC12 boasts of a powerful naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 465 kw at 7500 rpm.
The car is designed for high level road use, it can exceed 330 km/h at full throttle, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
The GT version, which will take to the track in Dubai, is a spruced up derivative of the road car with a great deal more muscle under the hood.
Nevertheless, race fans can expect the spectacular sounding Maserati's to provide a welcome challenge to the dominance of the 2004 FIA-GT championship by Ferrari without the inhibitions of team orders. They will be out to repeat the win scored by the Salo-Bertolini combination at Oschersleben two weeks ago.
