Introducing the Maserati MC12 for Assetto Corsa

[Paul Jeffrey]

The third 'Ready to Race' Assetto Corsa DLC reveal is a bit of a peach... introducing the sublime Maserati MC12 from the glory days of GT racing.

Evoking memories of the legendary GTR 2 from Simbin Studios, the announcement that Kunos Simulazioni will be bringing one of the all time most beautiful GT machines ever created in the form of the Maserati MC12 has got many a sim racers pulse rate just that little bit higher than is normally healthy...

Coming to the game as a welcome playmate to the equally venerable Porsche 911 GT1, this new inclusion to the steadily growing garage of road and race machines comes from an era that many believe was the very peak of modern day sportscar racing. Making it's competitive debut in the then top tier FIA GT Championship, the MC12 has seen a big name racing stars take to the wheel of this incredibly successful GT car. Drivers of the calibre of Britain's Jonny Herbet and fellow Formula One refugees Mika Salo, Eric van de Poele and Karl Wendlinger, plus GT stalwarts Thomas Biagi and Fabio Babini, the MC12 was very much at the height of modern technology throughout the mid 2000's.

Thanks to the now legendary GTR 2 racing sim, the car also holds a special spot in the heart of sim racers the world over, with many of us having cut our teeth with this car in both the GTR and GTR games that depicted the 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championship seasons. With the car now coming to a modern simulation in an official capacity, it will be interesting to see how sim game technology has improved the driving experience over the last 10 plus years since GTR 2 was a big deal in PC sim racing.

As part of the reveal post from Kunos, the Italian developers had the following to say of the stunning machine:

The Maserati MC12 entered production in 2004 as a base for the racing variant to compete in the GT Championship. In fact, one requirement for participation in the GT Championship was the production of at least 25 road cars; so 25 cars were produced in 2004 and another 25 in 2005.

The car was based on the Enzo Ferrari chassis and gearbox, mounting a variant of the Ferrari V12 engine.

The racing results of the racing version were magnificent. The Maserati MC12 GT1 team managed... to finish second and third in their debut race and went onto winning the next round's race. In their second year, Maserati won the Manufacturers Cup with a great point gap, and continued to compete at great level in the years which followed. In total, it participated in 94 races, winning 40 of them.

Ready to Race DLC Contents:

• Audi R8 LMS 2016
  
• Audi R18 e-tron Quattro
  
• Audi TT Cup 2016
  
• Audi TT RS (VLN)
  
• Lotus 3-Eleven
  
• Maserati MC12 GT1
  
• McLaren 570S
  
• McLaren P1 GTR
  
• Toyota Celica ST185 Turbo
• Toyota TS040 Hybrid

Alongside the new DLC pack will come the version 1.14 game update which looks set to contain a number of new and improved features. As a little teaser Kunos have revealed some of the following changes will be included in the new build release:

• Added wind algorithm
  
• Added AI Aggression selection
  
• More AI differences within a single lap to generate more battles
  
• Added AI wing setup variations
  
• New AI algorithms for understeer detection and downshifting
  
• Improved Downshift Protection
  
• Updated Steam statistic reader to synchronize steam achievement

Assetto Corsa is a racing simulation designed by Kunos Simulazioni and is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The 'Ready to Race' DLC is scheduled to launch on Thursday 18th May.

Oh boy do we like mods! If you do too then we have you covered with our fantastic Assetto Corsa modding archive. From downloads to a place for mod discussion, we have it all for you to enjoy, check it out today! If you don't fancy trying out some of the awesome community created tracks and cars then drop in on our Assetto Corsa sub forum to chat about the game with your fellow fans. Interaction and threads make forums fun, so start one today!

We hold regular league and club racing events across a variety of content found within the game, however to celebrate this mega new inclusion to Assetto Corsa we are holding a very special on off GT1 specification race on Sunday 21st May. Sign up here and get yourself in on the action.

Looking forward to the MC12? Would you like to see other mid 2000's FIA GT Championship spec cars such as the Ferrari 550, Lister Storm, Saleen S7, Chrysler Viper etc? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[eatyoubrocookie]

Good old ballast, and you can definitely run the two GT1 cars together

trying to BOP two different cars with ballast isnt working really well, imo.. often you ruin the performance on the long run for instance, causing the penalised car to shred their tires or other unexpected downsides.
ballast has influence on so many factors that you cant really use it effectively and take laptimes as the only guide for the amount of it.

 

[Celestiale]

trying to BOP two different cars with ballast isnt working really well, imo.. often you ruin the performance on the long run for instance, causing the penalised car to shred their tires or other unexpected downsides.
ballast has influence on so many factors that you cant really use it effectively and take laptimes as the only guide for the amount of it.

80% of all AC club races (or rather every class where it's necessary, e.g. DTM'93 or GTE) use ballast to BOP cars and it works perfectly.

 

[Nico]

Couldn't care less about what people may think, this is my most anticipated car on this pack. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[Albert McSaltens]

The 911 GT1 has the same pace as the GT3 cars.. its pretty slow for being a GT1 class car, because of its era.

i reckon the MC12 GT1 will be a bit faster than that, not by that much though.

For instance, Lap Times at Spa

2016 GT3 class --> 2:20
2010 MC12 GT1 --> 2:18

GT3 cars 2:16 at spa
porsche gt1 can do 2 or 3 seconds faster easily

 

[Albert McSaltens]

So this is the 2005 version?

MC12 GT1 did 1:45.699 at Monza in real 2005 FIA race.

That will make it 4-5 seconds quicker than GT2/GT3 cars in AC.

Probably bit quicker than Porsche GT1 98.

that makes it 1 or 1.5 sec faster than GT3 cars in ac

 

[eatyoubrocookie]

GT3 cars 2:16 at spa
porsche gt1 can do 2 or 3 seconds faster easily

the 2:20 was from last blancpain season tho.. i compared real life laptimes

 

[Cheesenium]

Another car with nothing to race with. Why is Kunos keep licensing cars for the sake of the having them?

The 911 GT1 is a fantastic car to drive yet it has nothing to race with. Same goes for Mclaren F1 GT1. With the MC12, there is 3 GT1s in the game that are not remotely competitive with any of them.

 

[Feliciano da Silva]

We need the Prodrive 550 GTS

 

[Torcano]

We need the Prodrive 550 GTS

And the Murcielago R-GT/SV. don't forget that one. That sound is . Italian V12 buddies... caman Marco, you can do it. I believe.

On topic though, MC12 hype!!!1one

 

[Mapu]

the car that got me into gt sim racing

 

[Ernie]

I'd love to see a 2004/2005 GT1-class. With the MC12, Murcielago R-GT, Saleen S7R, Ferrari 550 & 575, Viper, Lister Storm ........

 

[eatyoubrocookie]

I'd love to see a 2004/2005 GT1-class. With the MC12, Murcielago R-GT, Saleen S7R, Ferrari 550 & 575, Viper, Lister Storm ........

so basically a remake of GTR2... oh boy, i would throw all my money at Kunos

"FIA GT Pack" - we need dis

 

[cr4wl3r0]

"Looking forward to the MC12? Would you like to see other mid 2000's FIA GT Championship spec cars such as the Ferrari 550, Lister Storm, Saleen S7, Chrysler Viper etc? Let us know in the comments section below!"

Oh Yes, definitely Yes ! Please Kunos do it !!!!!

 

[Tberg]

"Looking forward to the MC12? Would you like to see other mid 2000's FIA GT Championship spec cars such as the Ferrari 550, Lister Storm, Saleen S7, Chrysler Viper etc? Let us know in the comments section below!"

Oh Yes, definitely Yes ! Please Kunos do it !!!!!

Too bad it is not a quote from Kunos

 

[Albert McSaltens]

the 2:20 was from last blancpain season tho.. i compared real life laptimes

and what laptimes did you compare with the 911 gt1? since those cars ran on a completely different layout

 

[Albert McSaltens]

Another car with nothing to race with. Why is Kunos keep licensing cars for the sake of the having them?

The 911 GT1 is a fantastic car to drive yet it has nothing to race with. Same goes for Mclaren F1 GT1. With the MC12, there is 3 GT1s in the game that are not remotely competitive with any of them.

Agree, they keep adding cars with no competitors like this is a hotlaping game. let's hope they add other gt1 cars from the same period, Ferrari 550, Lister storm, murcielago, Saleen, etc

 

[eatyoubrocookie]

and what laptimes did you compare with the 911 gt1? since those cars ran on a completely different layout

i just used my own experience with the 911 GT1 in game, which was roughly the same pace as the GT3 class...
however someone came with actual data which shows the GT1 is indeed faster that the GT3 class, so my point is not valid anymore.

 

[dctoe]

On par with a few of the last comments, yes it is tough sometimes to have a car that doesn't fit into a class comfortably. But I do look forward to it as the first piece of what looks like it could be a very good sandwich!

And hopefully some modders will step up to give us some usable competition while we wait.

 

[Leynad777]

The 911 GT1 has the same pace as the GT3 cars.. its pretty slow for being a GT1 class car, because of its era.

i reckon the MC12 GT1 will be a bit faster than that, not by that much though.

For instance, Lap Times at Spa

2016 GT3 class --> 2:20
2010 MC12 GT1 --> 2:18

The fastest lap around Spa in the Porsche GT1 is a 2:14,1 according to RSR LiveTiming. but all other times are above 2:15. I once looked for the real GT1 lap times around Spa (between 2005 to 08 i think) and in qualifying there were about the same range (2:15-2:16), so it seems for me both GT1 cars should be very close in pace, at least around Spa.

 

[Jorge Villar]

So, if for some reason no "competitors" of the MC12 can be licensed, would you prefer not having it at all?

If the answer is no, why all the complaining?