It was a tale of two halves for Ferrari at the 24 Hours at Daytona, one of the most eagerly awaited and historically rich races in the world of GT racing. In the GTLM class Alessandro Pier Guidi took seventh position at the end of the 15-minute qualifying session, while in the GTD class Jeff Westphal finished second.
GTLM. Alessandro Pier Guidi finished seventh in the GT Le Mans class after a difficult qualifying session at the wheel of the Risi Competizione 488 GTE. The driver from Tortona, despite a continuous progression in every step of his attack to the pole, was unable to set a time faster than 1:43.668 which earned him the fourth row. Pole position was taken by Nick Tandy, in a Porsche 911 RSR. "We are far from having an ideal set up" commented Pier Guidi at the end of qualifying "so we are not able to exploit the car's potential. We are struggling to get the tyres up to temperature and we have problems in several sections of the circuit. We will try to improve the car in the next free practice sessions to be competitive in the race".
GTD. Jeff Westphal took to the track in the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for the Daytona GT class qualifying session. The Scuderia Corsa driver posted his best lap time on lap four when he covered the 3.56 miles of the track in 1:45.713, 476 thousandths off Canadian Zacharie Robichon, who took pole position. "It was a good run,” Westphal said. “The car was instantly comfortable, even on cold tires, which is a good sign in the changes we are making for a better race car in all conditions. That is essential for a 24-hour race. The Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 is a machine that is a pleasure to drive. To be able to put it on the front row for the opening race is a special feeling. We have a good position but it is a long race. We are happy for our success today, but Saturday is a new day”.
Free practice and race. The Daytona 24 Hours programme today includes a free practice session under artificial lights, at the end of which the first race of the 2020 Ferrari Challenge season will start. Tomorrow will be the fourth and final free practice session, while on Saturday the classic Florida endurance race will start at 13:10 local time.