BLUE FUNDAY

The road-going Maserati MC20 was evo Car of the Year 2022, so great things are expected of the GT2 race version. We head for the Autodromo di Modena to find out if it delivers

- HENRY CATCHPOLE

THERE'S A FLEETING CLATTER OF gravel in the nearside arches. It's Monday morning and most people seem in a hurry, including our driver. 'Pronto' is the pace, the fat Chrysler people-carrier threading its way surprisingly quickly along the narrow country roads outside Modena. No one is pausing politely, so occasionally a wheel drops off the tarmac and onto the loose stones of the verge, the Chrysler squeezed aside by the off-kilter line of a preoccupied Panda or commuting Giulia coming the other way.

A thin mist is hanging over the fields and farm buildings on either side of the road, waiting patiently for a spring sun to burn off its ethereal cloak. Our driver is well prepared, dark glasses already in place. The surrounding Emilia-Romagna landscape is flat, and through the windows I can see a fair way into the distance despite the mist. But I can't spot anything that looks like a pit complex for the Autodromo di Modena. To be honest I had no idea there was a circuit near Modena, other than Fiorano of course.

Given that I'm going to be driving a Maserati race car, perhaps it's appropriate that we should be travelling to a track that lives in the shadow of Ferrari's famous test facility. After all, pretty much since the 250F, the Trident has lived in the shadow of the Prancing Horse. To some, that's part of what makes it a much cooler company.

The MC20 road car fits that mould too. A non-hybrid supercar with no wild downforce claims, it doesn't initially jump out as the latest and greatest. Yet, as eCoty 2022 proved, it's a fabulous car that should be high on anyone's - real or fantasy - shopping list. And now there is a racing version; not in the GT3 category, obviously, as that would tread on the 296 GTB's hooves, but in the slightly lower, GT2 class.