Ferraris Finish mid-pack at virtual Road America

Competing in the fourth round of the IMSA iRacing Pro Invitational series at the virtual Road America circuit, Ferraris finished in the middle of the 50-car field, led by Joel Miller and Risi Competizione who finished 25^th.  Jeff Segal, representing Scuderia Corsa led home Augustin Canapino of Juncos Racing who finished 28^th and 29^th respectively, while Matt Griffin came home in 31^st, but several laps down and Alessandro Balzan suffered a very difficult race, finishing in 45^th.

A strong start doesn’t last. Racing in a Ferrari 488 GTE for the first time, virtually or in the real world, Augustin Canapino of Juncos Racing surprised and delighted with a stand-out qualifying performance, starting just outside of the top ten and holding that position for much of the opening stint of the race.  As the pit stop window opened and different drivers cycled through, he even led the race briefly, the first time a Ferrari has led the virtual series since its inception.  Once the Argentinian driver pitted, he cycled back just outside the top ten before a competition caution closed the field back up for a final sprint to the flag.  While Augustin was certainly well on his way to the best ever finish for a Ferrari in this series, it was not to be.  Contact late in the going relegated Canapino to his ultimate finishing position, 28^th.

Strategy backfires for Joel Miller. Joel Miller – also making his virtual racing debut for Risi Competizione – took a bit of a different strategy from the other Ferraris, running incredibly long on his first stint before pitting for fuel.  Unfortunately for Joel, he did not get his pit stop done before the competition caution period, meaning that he had to do so under yellow flag conditions, and when the vast majority of the other competitors had already stopped, leaving him with significant work to do to catch back up.  A strong charge through the field in the closing minutes, while carrying less fuel, saw the California-based driver finish in 25^th.

Difficult day for Scuderia Corsa. It was a difficult day for the two drivers representing Scuderia Corsa as both Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Segal did not enjoy particularly easy races.  Alessandro Balzan, this time driving the no. 63 Weathertech branding Scuderia Corsa Ferrari came home in 45^th, several laps down, though his teammate Jeff Segal, in the no. 64 Hublot branded Ferrari 488 GTE fared slightly better, keeping his nose fairly clean and ultimately finishing 28^th.