The Trofeo Maserati is a single-marque motorsport championship that was started by Maserati Corse in 2003, with the introduction of the Maserati 4200. Its title is commonly confused as Maserati Trofeo, which in fact refers to the name devised for the 4200 Coupé built for the series. However, in recent years Maserati themselves have been very inconsistent regarding the name of the championship, making it hard to define what is officially correct. In this article, the series will be referred to as Trofeo Maserati.
It is very similar to the Ferrari Challenge, although not on such a large scale. The concept is simple: customers purchase or rent a Trofeo car which is for track use only, register themselves and their team for a season or race and compete. Teams are not allowed to tune their engines, but can adjust suspension, brakes etc. Entrants can also use Maserati in-house teams at an additional cost.
Series
Originally, the Trofeo Maserati consisted of only one series, based in Europe. This was until 2010 when the Maserati Granturismo MC (not to be confused with the GranTurismo MC Stradale) was introduced. Today, there are several series. The Trofeo Maserati is regulated by the National Sporting Authority (ASN) of an involved country and FIA. If there is any argument during a race weekend, the ASN has a higher ruling than the FIA.
Trofeo Worldwide
This new season format was introduced in 2010 alongside the new GranTurismo MC. The 2012 calendar encompasses seven events spanning the globe, including circuits in Italy, China, Portugal, France, Spain, and the USA. A new twist made in 2011 is the inauguration of "endurance" events. This gives the season a 3+3 format, with three regular race weekends and three endurance race weekends. The difference is explained below.
Trofeo European Series
This is a sub series to the Worldwide series which only encompasses the events in Europe, thus keeping the costs down for those who do not wish to bring the car to China and USA. This saves the entrants approximately €40,000 in entry fees alone, but they still compete in 5 of the 7 Worldwide series' events.
The regular events precede as follows:
2 free practice sessions of 45 minutes each.
2 qualifying sessions of 20 minutes each.
2 races of 38 minutes + 1 lap each.
The endurance events precede as follows:
2 free practice sessions of 45 minutes each.
2 qualifying sessions of 20 minutes each.
2 races of 28 minutes + 1 lap each.
1 race of 48 minutes + 1 lap with one mandatory pit stop.
Trofeo Middle East
The JBF RAK Middle East championship is an unusual race series because it is run during the Northern Hemisphere's winter months. The season starts in November and ends in March. It is run on circuits in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar. A season comprises seven events, just like the worldwide series. The Middle East series has yet to adapt the Worldwide Series' 3+3 season format. Technically, since the Worldwide Series ends in November and stars in April, those wishing to can race in the Trofeo-series all-year around. This is one of the only race series in the world which allow this unique possibility, and it is possibly the only GT Racing series.
Competitors
Upon joining the series, entrants can choose to participate in the Trofeo Racing Academy which is Maserati's own racing school.[5] Furthermore Maserati Corse supply a season package called "fly & drive", this includes full hospitality and technical support at all the events over a season. The per-race cost for the old 4200 Trofeo was approximately $20,000.
Today, entrants can choose to compete in single or multi driver lineups. Those choosing to compete with two drivers effectively split the race weekend 50/50. With the first driver competing in the first race, and the second driver competing in the second race. In recent years this form of competing has become very popular in gentleman GT racing, because the drivers can split the costs.
