Imsa SportsCar Championship - Encouraging début for the 488 GTE in Daytona

Daytona Beach, 31 January 2016 – The racing journey of the 488 GTE started with a fourth place earned by the Scuderia Corsa team. The 24 Hours of Daytona was a true baptism of fire and the new Ferrari intended for GT competitions displayed great speed, finishing at the top among the first-time participants, as two other models of competing manufacturers had their début in the same race.   The race. As is often the case in Daytona, the first hours of the race were not especially meaningful, although they were enough to demonstrate the potential of the 488 GTE: in fact, all three Ferraris competing in the GTLM class led for at least one lap during the first 12 hours of the race, and this although car number 68 of Scuderia Corsa did not have an easy start, due to a fuel pressure problem that forced Alessandro Pier Guidi to start from the back of the field. On the other hand, the 488 number 72 of SMP Racing team had a great start: after disappointing qualifications, Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni was able to gain one position after another, even taking the lead a number of times while being driven by Bruni himself, but also by James Calado, Viktor Shaytar, and Andrea Bertolini. Car number 62 of Risi Competizione team was also constantly among the leaders, being able to keep first place for several laps with Toni Vilander, but also being competitive with Giancarlo Fisichella, Davide Rigon, and Olivier Beretta. The race of this car was affected by a rear-end collision caused by one of the Fords early in the morning. The accident wrecked the Ferrari’s diffuser and caused a long stop at the box that irreparably compromised the final outcome. In the end, it finished sixth, a useful result in terms of the championship. On the other hand, the car of SMP Racing did not finish the race, which seemed to lead to a certain podium position until it was interrupted by the breakdown of a turbine. The Chevrolet of Gavin-Milner-Fassler won the race.   GTD. Two Ferrari 458 Italia raced in the other GT class and turned out to be very competitive. However, both crews were unlucky in their strategies, as they ended up paying too heavily for some pit stops made under the green flag. Both car number 63 of Scuderia Corsa and number 51 of the Spirit of Race team led the race for at least one lap, but slipped to the back of the field towards the end of the race. At the finish, the car driven by Christina Nielsen, Jeff Segal, Alessandro Balzan and Robert Renauer was in seventh place, while car number 51 of Peter Mann, Raffaele Giammaria, Marco Cioci and Matteo Cressoni was just out of the top ten. The Ligier of Sharp-Brown-Van Overbeek-Derani won the overall race. The second event of the championship is scheduled for mid-March, when another great classic of American motorsport will take place: the 12 Hours of Sebring.