Maserati Sets Legendary Corners on Fire: For the First Time in History, the Trident Parades Through the Streets of Monte Carlo [Photo Gallery]

On Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4 in the Principality of Monaco, before taking to the starting grid for rounds 6 and 7 in season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Maserati spectacularly began its celebrations to lead up to next year’s commemoration of its first 100 years in motor racing.

In 1926, the Maserati Tipo 26 – the first car in history to bear the Trident logo on the bonnet – took part in and won (in its class) the Targa Florio with Alfieri Maserati at the wheel.
A major milestone that marks the first of the Modena-based company’s many racing successes, in a centennial history of transferring technology from the track to the road.

To begin the countdown to a century in racing, Maserati featured in a spectacular parade of the most iconic models of its racing past and present during the Monaco E-Prix weekend, hosting a double-header for the first time in the history of the Formula E championship.

The Rascasse, the Casino Square, the hairpin bend of the Grand Hotel: these are some of the corners that evoke the legends of motorsport and which, during the Maserati Parade, were taken by the historic Maserati 250 F, a Formula 1 single-seater that triumphed right here in Monte Carlo in 1956 with Stirling Moss and with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957, together with the glorious MC12 that reaped 22 victories between 2004 and 2010 (including 3 overall successes at the 24 Hours of Spa) and 14 titles in the FIA GT between Constructors’ Cups and both Drivers’ and Team Championships.

The Maserati MC20 road coupé was also seen in the parade, as a symbol of the brand’s return to racing in the modern era, a car powered by the powerful patented Twin Turbo 3.0 L Nettuno V6 engine and based on the pre-chamber technology adopted on Formula 1 engines; its successor in racing, the Maserati GT2, which has brought the Trident back to victory in the covered-wheel championships and is racking up unprecedented success in the GT2 European Series, and its road-legal version the GT2 Stradale.

Finishing off the parade were the absolute masterpieces of Trident performance: MCXtrema, the track “beast” and ultimate expression of performance with its 730-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 engine derived from the Nettuno and the flagship Tipo Folgore single-seater, accompanied by the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, the epitome of the spirit of the open-air “Italian grand tourer,” with a 100% electric powertrain system based on 800V technology and developed with cutting-edge technical solutions derived from Formula E.

Maria Conti, Head of Maserati Corse, noted: “The track is our home. It all began for us in racing and in just under a year we will reach the major milestone of a century of racing history. It is extraordinary to revive the competitive spirit of our DNA today on the roads of the most iconic and famous street circuit in the world. Seeing our cars parade in Monaco is therefore a unique emotion! These corners have made motorsport history, and we have triumphed in Formula 1 here three times.  Nino Farina in 1948, Sir Stirling Moss in 1956 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957: we hope to add more successes to this special trophy haul soon.”