Ferrari Teams Return to Blancpain GT World Challenge America Action at VIR

Ferrari teams will field contenders in all three classes as the Blancpain GT World Challenge America returns to action with Rounds 3 and 4 at Virginia International Raceway this weekend. The weekend features a pair of 90-minute races with a two-driver format on the rustic 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit. Qualifying for both races takes place on Saturday morning and racing action will be split between Saturday and Sunday.  

PRO Defending champion R. Ferri Motorsport headlines the Pro category with the No. 61 Ferrari of Ontario/Toronto/Alberta Zekelman Industries Ferrari 488 GT3 co-driven by Miguel Molina and Toni Vilander.  

Vilander and Molina won race 2 at Circuit of The Americas after finishing fourth in the opening race of the season and share the lead with Rodrigo Baptista with 37 points a piece.  

PRO-AM One11 Competition will represent the Ferrari contingent in Pro-Am, with former Ferrari Challenge competitor Alfred Cailoa racing alongside his coach, Matt Plumb in the No. 99 Ferrari 488 GT3. 

Plumb and Caiola finished eight in Saturday's action in Austin, and followed that performance up with a seventh place finish in race 2.  

AM Two seasoned Ferrari Challenge graduates, 2018 World Challenge America champions Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes, will continue their defense of the 2018 AM crown this weekend, racing the No. 07 Ferrari 488 GT3 that swept the season-opening weekend at COTA.  

A year ago, the pair won nine of 10 races in capturing the 2018 Am title by 66 points. The solid start to the season leaves them 22 points ahead of the competition with 12 of the 14 races remaining.  

Rounding out the Ferrari entry in the Am category is One11 Competition, which completes its two-car entry with the No. 19 Ferrari 488 GT3 for Christopher Cagnazzi and Brian Kaminskey. 

The pair earned a podium finish in their first ever GT3 race in Austin in race 1 and will look to continue their strong performances at VIR.  

MIXED RESULTS IN 2018 VIR proved to be the lone Pro weekend of the 2018 campaign where title-bound Vilander and Molina failed to win a race. The R. Ferri Motorsport duo finished second in the opening event, but placed seventh in class and eighth overall on Sunday.  

It proved to be a typical weekend for the Squadra Corse’s Bacarella and Fuentes, who swept both races in their march to the championship.  

WEEKEND SCHEDULE Friday’s schedule includes one-hour practice periods at 11:45 a.m. and 5 p.m. (all times ET). Qualifying will be held on Saturday at 10:35 a.m. for Race 1, followed at 10:55 a.m. with qualifying for Race 2. Saturday’s opening race is set for 2:10 p.m., with the final race on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. Both races and qualifying will be streamed live on gt-world-challenge-america.com, with Sunday’s contest live on CBS Sports.