Circuit Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
Date 21.09.2013
Laps 83
Distance 545,060 km / 282,200 miles
No Driver Ferrari S/N Team Result
23 Bill Sweedler
Townsend Bell
458 Italia GT F 142 GT xxxx Team West/ AJR/ Boardwalk Ferrari 20. overall / 8. in class GT
           
62 Olivier Beretta
Matteo Malucelli
458 Italia GT F 142 GT xxxx Risi Competizione 18. overall / 6. in class GT

 

ALMS – Malucelli and Beretta sixth in Austin

Posted: 22.09.2013
Source: Ferrari

A great fightback but nothing more

Maranello, 22 September – Yesterday afternoon didn’t turn out to be a particularly great day for the two 458 GT cars entered in the American Le Mans Series at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, the eighth round of the season. The American West/AJR/Boadwalk team’s entry, in the hands of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell, started from twentieth place overall, tenth in the GT class, while the RIsi Competizione car, with its experienced crew of Olivier Beretta and Matteo Malucelli, having set the eighth fastest time in class was relegated to the back of the grid, for failing to conform to the rule regarding minimum driving time for the two drivers. In this situation, it was going to be difficult to achieve a good result in what was the home race for the Houston team, especially as the two and three quarter hour race went off without a single safety car period which might have jumbled up the order. However, the AF Corse duo put on a great display, moving up the order so that they ended the race in eighteenth place overall, sixth in class, one lap off the winners, Magnussen-Garcia (Corvette.) Malucelli starred, managing to even get into the lead of the class at the first run of pit stops. Unfortunately, Beretta’s second stint was not as fast and the third, again with the Italian at the wheel, was too short to aspire to a higher placing, even if it was the best since the start of the season in Sebring. Bell and Sweedler took the chequered flag in twentieth place overall, eighth in class.

 

An unforgettable day with AF Corse: thanks Ansys!

Posted: 22.09.2013
Source: Ferrari

Austin, 22 September- It was a special day for Mike Miller and Luke Koczwara, two young engineers who work alongside Tony Asghari, winner of the “Tweet from the seat,” organised by Ansys to celebrate its partnership with Ferrari in GT racing. In fact, Asghari decided to hand them the prize he won – a day with the AF Corse team at the Austin 6 Hours, even if he didn’t pass over the chance to “sign” the two 458 GT2 cars with his name, as can be seen in the pictures of Amato Ferrari and Gilles Eggenspeller, Senior Fluids Product Manager of Ansys, that go along with this story.

“For an engineer working in the car industry it’s fantastic being able to experience at first hand an important event like this race, practically as part of the AF Corse team along with its drivers,” said Luke and Mike. “It’s like touching the sky. If we are engineers, much of that is down to our passion for sport on four wheels and Ferrari is definitely the highest expression of that.” The experience enjoyed by Asghari and his colleagues with Ansys is very important, not just because it allowed them to be part of this weekend’s event. “In our group, we use Ansys software all the time for our applications, mainly linked to thermal analysis and vibration dynamics: it gives our work added value, just as I am sure it does for Ferrari. And just as Ferrari expresses the state of the art in the field of the automobile, with its road and sports cars, so too Ansys represents the most powerful and reliable computer simulation tools in the automotive field. For us, it has been very interesting and fun to study the simulation of air flow over the profile of a Formula 1 car, the work that resulted in us winning this competition!

“Thanks to Ansys, Ferrari and AF Corse, we have really enjoyed an unforgettable day, in a very professional atmosphere, but at the same time, felt like one big family,” concluded the two engineers in unison. “Oh and a special thanks to Tony who let us come here instead of him J!”

 

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