WEC - The 488 GTE of Rigon and Bird on pole in the 6 Hours of COTA

Austin, 15 September 2017 – The Ferrari no. 71 of AF Corse recorded a second consecutive pole position and a third of the season. Davide Rigon and Sam Bird were the fastest in qualifying for the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas (COTA) which will set off on Saturday at 12 pm local time (7 pm CET). The 488 GTE no. 71 will start in front of the Ford of Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx. Car no. 51 of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi will start in fourth, while in the GTE-Am class the two Ferraris will be in second and third on the grid with car no. 54 of Spirit of Race in front of no. 61 of Clearwater Racing.   GTE-Pro. In the GTE-Pro class Davide Rigon started the session in no. 71 and Alessandro Pier Guidi in no. 51. On his first pass Davide stopped the clock at 2:03:075, which he cut to 2:02:993 on the second lap, the fastest overall. At that point Sam Bird took the wheel and recorded a time of 2:03:122, which brought the combined time to 2:03:057. In car no. 51, Alessandro Pier Guidi had to abort the first lap due to a little problem with the pedals, but at the second attempt recorded a good 2:03:484. Meanwhile, James Calado stopped the clock at 2:03:622 for a combined time of 2:03:553, good for fourth place on the grid behind the Ford of Tincknell and Priaulx and the Aston Martin of Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim.   GTE-Am. In the GTE-Am the Ferrari 488 GTE no. 54 of Miguel Molina and Thomas Flohr was second fastest behind the Aston Martin of Dalla Lana-Lamy-Lauda (2:06:031). The Spanish Ferrari driver recorded a best time of 2:05:184 before handing over to Flohr who achieved a good 2:09:223 for a final total time of 2:07:203. Car no. 61 of Clearwater Racing also enjoyed a satisfying qualifying, recording the third fastest time of 2:07:532 thanks to the 2:09:114 of Weng Sun Mok and the 2:05:951 of Matt Griffin. Overall pole position went to the Porsche of Tandy-Jani-Lotterer in 1:44:741.