Maserati Project GT4 arrived at Goodwood this week. GranTurismo underneath. Everything else stripped out.
Leather seats — out. Touchscreens — out. Sonus Faber audio, the one Maserati puts in the brochure — out. Roll cage, six-point harnesses, racing yoke. 690 horsepower, rear wheels, AWD deleted.
Maserati Corse. GT4 from 2028.
What the Maserati Project GT4 Actually Is
Body from the GranTurismo. Engine from the GranTurismo — the 3.0-litre twin-turbo Nettuno V6. Maserati Corse put the GT2 programme experience behind the Maserati Project GT4 build.
Trofeo road car: 582 horsepower, full AWD. The Maserati Project GT4 version of the same engine produces 690 horsepower — through the rear wheels only. Four hundred kilograms lighter.
Weight reduction accounts for the rest of the performance story. Stripping the interior of every luxury item — the electronic seats, the screens, the audio, the road car’s material and insulation choices — drops around 400 kilograms compared to the standard GranTurismo. 881 pounds off a road-going grand tourer is a serious number. It changes what the car is capable of more than the power increase does.
The Exterior Changes Are Functional, Not Decorative
The Maserati Project GT4’s bodywork looks aggressive because it needs to be, not because someone in the design studio wanted it to look fast. Every exterior modification is GT4 regulation compliant — front splitter, dive planes, braking system, 18-inch wheels.
GT4 regulations specify what teams can and cannot do to their cars, and everything visible on the Maserati Project GT4’s exterior fits inside those rules. Buyers do not get to choose how the aero works. What Maserati has done is develop a package that maximises what the regulations permit.
100 Years of Maserati Racing — Marked on the Bodywork
A century of racing. Mid-1920s through Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, Indianapolis, Formula 1, Formula E. The Maserati Project GT4 is the machine Maserati Corse chose to mark that anniversary in 2026.
The anniversary livery on the Maserati Project GT4 reflects that history directly. A large blue trident sits on a white background at the front of the car. Behind the front wheels, 100 smaller tridents run across the bodywork — one for each year of racing. It is the kind of detail that takes five seconds to explain and considerably longer to actually notice on a car moving at speed.
Why GT4 and Why 2028
GT4 runs below GT3 — lower cost, customer teams buying from manufacturers, global series coverage. Porsche, BMW, McLaren, Aston Martin sell GT4 cars to private racers right now. From 2028 the Maserati Project GT4 joins that list.
A Maserati in GT4 from 2028 means private teams will be able to buy the Maserati Project GT4 and race it in GT4 series worldwide — exactly the same way teams buy GT4 entries from Porsche, BMW, McLaren, Aston Martin, and others. The revenue model for manufacturers is straightforward: sell race cars to private teams, support the programme, and build brand credibility through competition results.
The 2028 start date is two years away, which gives Maserati time to develop and homologate the car through proper testing before customer teams take delivery.
Maserati’s Racing History and Where the GT4 Fits
The Maserati Corse GT programme has been building toward this. The GT2 car — which competes in the European GT2 Series — showed that Maserati could produce a credible race car from the MC20 platform. The Maserati Project GT4 extends that capability to the GranTurismo and a different category of competition.
GT4 reaches more races, more series, and more countries than GT2 currently does. A customer racing programme at GT4 level puts Maserati cars into regional championships across Europe, Asia, and North America simultaneously. The road car marketing value of that visibility is the point.
The GranTurismo as a road car is already associated with the kind of buyer who cares about performance history and brand heritage. A race version competing globally reinforces exactly that positioning. Maserati knows what it is doing here.
The GT2 Programme That Made the Maserati Project GT4 Possible
Maserati did not walk into GT4 cold. The GT2 programme — running since 2023 with the MC20-based race car in the European GT2 Series — gave Maserati Corse real data on what it takes to build a competitive GT race car from a road platform.
GT2 is a more extreme category than GT4. Higher power, more aero freedom, faster lap times. Running a programme at that level and then developing the Maserati Project GT4 means Maserati’s engineers came to the GT4 project with experience rather than theory. Weight distribution, cooling management, brake development under sustained race conditions — these are things the GT2 programme tested in competition before the GT4 project started.
The MC20 and the GranTurismo are different cars with different platforms. The engineering knowledge transfers regardless. How an engine behaves under sustained race loads, how the team manages tyre degradation, how the support structure around a customer programme needs to work — none of that is platform-specific.
How the Customer Racing Programme Actually Works
2028 is not a launch date for a road car. It is the year private teams can start buying the Maserati Project GT4 from Maserati Corse and entering it in GT4 series.
How it works: a team contacts Maserati Corse, purchases the car, runs it themselves. Maserati provides parts and technical support. The team does the racing. This is the standard customer GT4 model — Porsche, BMW, McLaren, and Aston Martin all run it the same way.
Maserati has not published pricing yet. GT4 customer cars from established manufacturers run roughly €250,000 to €400,000 depending on spec. The Maserati Project GT4 will land somewhere in that range.
The ADAC GT4 Germany, GT4 European Series, British GT Championship, and national series across Asia and North America all accept GT4 cars. One Maserati Project GT4 purchase can go racing on multiple continents. For Maserati, each car sold to a private team is a marketing presence at circuits the road car advertising budget does not reach.
How the Maserati Project GT4 Fits Into the Brand’s Current Direction
Maserati is going through a significant commercial period right now. The brand cut its lineup and reduced production capacity for 2027, and the commercial pressure the company is under makes the GT4 programme’s timing notable rather than incidental.
Motorsport investment during a difficult commercial phase is a deliberate choice. Racing programmes generate press coverage, brand conversation, and customer engagement that advertising spend rarely replicates efficiently. The 100th anniversary of Maserati racing gives the GT4 reveal additional narrative weight that would not exist in another year.
The GranTurismo road car is also one of Maserati’s stronger performers in the current lineup. A GT4 race version of the GranTurismo reinforces the road car’s positioning as something more than a luxury grand tourer — it connects the vehicle to active competition. Buyers of the road car can attend a race and watch a vehicle that shares its engine and body competing at a professional level. That connection between road product and race programme is something manufacturers pay for and Maserati is building deliberately.
Whether the Maserati Project GT4 programme generates the commercial returns that justify the investment depends on how many customer teams take the car and how it performs against established GT4 competitors. Porsche’s GT4 customer programme has been running for years and is deeply embedded in global GT4 racing. BMW, McLaren, and others have built similar positions. Maserati is arriving late to a competitive category with an established hierarchy.
The car itself looks credible. The 100th anniversary timing is right. Whether that is enough to build a GT4 programme that delivers real results for both the racing teams and the Maserati brand is what the 2028 season will start to answer.
FAQs
What is the Maserati Project GT4?
Maserati Corse’s GT4 race car built on the GranTurismo. 690 horsepower, rear-wheel drive only, racing from 2028.
How much power does the Maserati Project GT4 have?
690 horsepower. The road car Trofeo makes 582. Same engine, different tune.
Is the Maserati Project GT4 rear-wheel drive?
Yes — AWD gone, rear wheels only.
How much lighter is the Maserati Project GT4 than the road car?
Around 400 kilograms lighter. Seats, screens, audio, insulation — all gone.
When does the Maserati Project GT4 go racing?
GT4 category competition starts in 2028.
What is the livery on the Maserati Project GT4?
White base, large blue trident at the front, 100 smaller tridents running across the body. One for each year of racing.
What is Maserati Corse?
Maserati’s racing division. GT2 programme running since 2023 with the MC20. Now adding the Maserati Project GT4 for 2028.
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