Maserati is one of Italy’s most-loved and heritage-filled brands, chiefly as a result of its impressive record in grand prix racing during the 1950s with the mighty 250F. Securing a total of eight wins during its tenure, it also carried the great Juan Manuel Fangio to the 1957 Formula 1 world championship.
After over a decade out of the GT racing space, since the MC12 GT1 machine was retired, Maserati made a welcome return in 2023 with a car built to the fledgling GT2 regulations. Based on its MC20 road car, the Maserati GT2 weapon recently joined Assetto Corsa Competizione’s vehicle roster as part of its GT2 DLC Pack.
This guide will run you through the ins and outs of the machine and will help you judge whether it’s the right car for you to conquer the high-power category.
Introducing The Maserati GT2
Making its debut during the 2023 motorsport season, the Maserati GT2 signals the storied marque’s GT racing return in commanding fashion. Electing to focus on the growing need for a car more suited to gentleman drivers, its focus was to build a dynamic vehicle that provided its pilots with an approachable balance.
The brand hit off its brief in impressive style, as it managed to finish on the podium in its first-ever race in the GT2 European Series. The machine took to the grid in the series season finale at Paul Ricard, with Leonardo Gorini and Luca Pirri guiding the car to second behind the victorious Mercedes-AMG GT2.
The Maserati GT2 is eligible for any events that feature the GT2 class within Assetto Corsa Competizione, though the best way to find a competition to run it in is by visiting The SimGrid, where you can use the search bar to find GT2 races based on single-class or multi-class formats.
The Basic Car Setup
Despite being mid-engined like the Audi R8 LMS GT2, the Maserati GT2 tends to oversteer more often than it understeers. The latter can generally strike if changing the weight balance of the car mid-corner, so smoothness and patience are key to ensure you extract its maximum potential.
Whereas the R8’s chassis and setup are geared more towards understeering on corner exits, the Maserati’s rear end is more playful. Its natural rotation in some ways feels like that of the Porsche 992 GT3 R, though with significantly more room for error.
Placing the brake bias forward can help reduce some of the initial rotation if uncomfortable, though be warned this will likely cost momentum through the corner. Tweaking the aero balance can also help, though go too far and you’ll find your foot hovering off the throttle more often than you’d like as the car starts to push from the front.
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Aerodynamics and Bodywork
Maserati’s engineers did an impressive job of making their GT2 vehicle feel like a GT3 to drive, particularly in terms of its balance in high-speed corners.
The Maserati suffers very little understeer when driven carefully, and compared to its GT2 rivals it is possible to carry huge corner speeds. It feels similar in nature to the immensely popular Ferrari 296 GT3 in how it drives, though a little more unpredictable due to the reduced aero levels of GT2 machinery.
- Smooth steering inputs are needed through high-speed corners, otherwise, the rear could snap and force you to lift off the power
- This will cost momentum down the next straight, and also potentially overheat the rear tires if done continuously
Steering and Cornering
The Maserati GT2’s mid-engine configuration means that carrying the most corner speed possible is the key to a strong lap time. It has an impressive amount of natural rotation, meaning less steering angle needs to be used to get the nose to tuck in towards the apex of the bend.
It remains exceptionally stable though, resulting in a balance that makes it feel the most like a GT3 car out of any of the GT2 field.
It can take time to trust the rear depending on the driver, though when the feeling has been acquired the Maserati is very intuitive.
- Allow natural rotation of the Maserati to carry you to the apex so you can focus on getting on the power as early as possible
- Not quite as good over curbs as the Audi GT2, but not far off and can be driven fairly aggressively
- Focus on arresting the momentum of the car before turn-in to prevent mid-corner braking or coasting, which will unsettle the car and cost lap time
- Maserati is one of the weakest GT2 vehicles on the straights, so achieving optimal corner exit speeds is crucial
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Power Delivery and Braking
The Maserati GT2, like its GT2 competitors, features ABS and TC systems to help its driver keep the facing in the right direction.
In the current build of ACC, the fastest method is to use the lowest setting of both systems as possible. Running with TC off prevents the system from cutting the power when you don’t need it, although for newer drivers keeping it on is smart to begin with. In terms of braking, using level one is ideal. From there, tweak the brake-bias settings to change the balance of the vehicle under braking.
The three-litre twin-turbocharged V6 motor is surprisingly usable for a forced-induction powertrain. Those with a right foot made of lead can run into trouble on the corner exit, especially if the TC is turned off. Compared to the likes of the monstrous Mercedes and Porsche GT2s though, the Maserati is relatively easy to get off the corner.
- Twin-turbo engine can catch the driver out, but the Maserati has smoother engine behaviour than other similar cars
- The light rear end makes the car slightly less stable under braking than other GT2s, but not uncontrollably, and can make the car faster once properly tamed
- Moving brake bias forward or backward can help decrease/increase rotation under braking toward the apex
Final Thoughts
While not being as easy to control for newcomers as the Audi R8 GT2 due to its bias towards oversteer, especially in mid and high-speed bends, the Maserati makes up for this by feeling the closest in terms of outright downforce and balance to a GT3 car of the GT2 crop.
This makes the Maserati GT2 the ideal pick for any experienced GT3 racers dipping their toe into the category as the Maserati will feel the most familiar. Its lack of understeer makes it the easiest to extract lap time out of and represents the best chance of achieving great lap times for most.
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