Six Ferraris to line up for IMSA iRacing at VIR

Six virtual Ferrari 488 GTE cars will line up for the fifth round of the IMSA iRacing Pro Series, to take place on May 28^th at the virtual version of Virginia International Raceway. While there are a number of familiar faces, several newcomers will also take their first crack at mastering the Ferrari and delivering a first podium for the brand in what has been an incredibly competitive series thus far.

Scuderia Corsa drafts Indycar ace. Scuderia Corsa will again field two cars in this Thursday’s competition, with Jeff Segal leading the charge in the no. 63 Ferrari.  Jeff has participated in all but one of the rounds to date, while his teammate for this round will be Ed Jones in the no. 64 car.  Ed is perhaps better known in Indycar circles where Scuderia Corsa also entered a car last year.  He will have a lot of work to do, however, as he has never driven the virtual Ferrari in this series before, and will have to lean on Jeff to bring him up to speed.

Strength in Numbers for Risi Competizione. Risi Competizione will be represented by three top drivers, Matt Griffin in the no. 62, Joel Miller in the no. 82 and new entry Jules Gounon in the no. 89.  While Joel and Matt first joined the series at the previous round at Road America, this will be Jules’ first attempt at the IMSA iRacing Pro series.  Gounon, based in Lyon, France, is already very familiar with the Risi family and the Ferrari 488 GTE, however, having run the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Ferrari last year, and is once again planning to do so in 2020 with an all-French line up.  Certainly the French driver will be looking to turn the team’s fortunes around in this virtual competition, as the team endured a frustrating end to their race last weekend.

Canapino Returns. Agustin Canapino will return in the no. 66 Ferrari 488 GTE after his impressive debut at Road America.  Canapino, an Argentinian native, was the best qualifying Ferrari by far and ran steadily in the top ten before late race shenanigans cut him from contention.  In a series where qualifying performance is critical, Canapino’s pace cannot be denied and he will almost certainly factor into the final result.

Schedule. A 20 minute qualifying session will open the proceedings at 6pm ET, followed by 90 minutes of racing.  The race may be streamed live on iRacing’s youtube channel.