Blancpain GT World Challenge Americas – Ferraris to the Front in Texas
Posted: 04.03.2019
Source: Ferrari
Austin, Texas, 4 March 2019 – Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina once again raced to another victory with the Ferrari 488 GT3 on Sunday. For the second time in as many visits, the Ferrari duo were victorious in Texas following a dominant overall victory in Sunday’s Round 2 of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America on Sunday at Circuit of The Americas.
PRO. Despite starting fourth, Toni Vilander needed only two laps to take the overall lead in the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3. Once he took the lead, he never looked back before pitting. Co-driver Miguel Molina cycled back to the lead following the round of pit stops, and held a 14-second advantage when a full-course caution waved late in the race. The Ferrari driver was under attack at the restart by Saturday race winner Andy Soucek with less than ten minutes remaining. Soucek went to the inside and took a brief advantage, but Molina fought back and regained the lead in the Esses. From that point, the Ferrari went unchallenged all the way to the checkered flag, winning the 40-lap event by 1.249 seconds.
PRO-AM. Winners on Saturday, Jeff Segal and Wei Lu were well on the road to a second consecutive victory in the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Segal started on the overall pole but fell back to fifth on the opening circuit. He fought back to the overall lead before his pit stop near the end of the pit window. Lu returned to the fray second in the Pro-Am class, and needed only six laps to regain the class lead. Lu enjoyed a four-second lead when the late caution closed the gap. However, Lu was hit and knocked off course on the restart, resulting in a ninth-place finish. Matt Plumb and Alfred Caiola led the Ferrari contingent in the category, finishing seventh in the No. 99 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3.
AM. Picking off where they left off with their run to the title in 2018, Ferrari Challenge graduates Martin Fuentes and Caesar Bacarella completed a weekend sweep in defense of their championship following a come-from-behind drive in the No. 7 Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3. The opening lap was tough for Fuentes, who lost 11 positions at the green flag. The chaotic start forced him off track and deep in the pack. But he was able to consistently outpace the competition to move to the lead after 15 laps of hard racing. A smooth turn-over to Bacarella saw the duo lead the rest of the race. Ferrari Challenge racers Rich and Trevor Baek continued to make progress in Blancpain GT competition as they bettered their finish from Saturday one position, placing fourth in the No. 8 Vital Speed Motorsports Ferrari 488 GT3. Fifth went to Pierre Mulacek and Anthony Lazzaro in the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3, one position ahead of Christopher Cagnazzi and Brian Kaminskey in the No. 19 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3.
NEXT UP: VIR. The next action for the Blancpain GT America championship will be on April 26-28 at Virginia International Raceway.
Blancpain GT World Challenge America – Ferrari Takes Two Wins in Season Opener
Posted: 03.03.2019
Source: Ferrari
Austin, Texas – 3 March 2019 | Ferrari teams won two of the three classes in the opening event of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge America on Saturday at Circuit of The Americas.
The weekend will continue with Round 2 on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, with Ferraris on the pole for two of the classes for Sunday’s 90-minute race.
PRO. Miguel Molina and Toni Vilander combined to finish fourth in the overall standings, co-driving the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3.
Molina was involved in a heated battle early in the race. After falling to fourth on the start after qualifying third, he managed to regain the position on lap 12. Molina pitted with the lead on the 17th circuit. Vilander returned to the race in fourth, and fought for a spot on the podium all the way to the finish line but came up less than a second short.
PRO-AM. Wei Lu continued to impress at COTA as the former Ferrari Challenge racer once again delivered a huge performance at the Texas track. After starting from second on the Pro-Am grid, Lu took the class lead on the opening lap and cruised to a dominant victory with Jeff Segal in the no. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Segal will start on the class pole for Sunday’s race.
“I had a really good car to drive, and the team did the best pit stop ever,” Lu said. “My coach (Segal) is trying make me a better driver. This is the best weekend I can ever hope for.”
Lu debuted at Circuit of The Americas last year, finishing third with Segal in the opener before winning the Sunday finale.
“I can’t say enough about these TR3 Racing guys,” Segal said. “Everything came together pretty late, but we knew what we had, and it showed. The car was fantastic, but I have to say that the star of the day was Wei. Last year he raised some eyebrows, but he’s made an amazing transformation over the winter to get even better. Today, we were in the pro race. I can’t ask for a better co-driver.
Matt Plumb and Alfred Caiola finished eighth in the class in the No. 99 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3, with the team expanding from Ferrari Challenge to enter Blancpain GT America with a two-car effort.
AM. Ferraris swept the podium in the Am class with a strong performance from drivers competing for three different Ferrari squads.
2018 Blancpain GT World Challenge champions Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes opened the defense of their title with a dominant victory in the No. 7 Squadra Corsa Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3. The victory for the former Ferrari Challenge racers continued their impressive string of results in their Ferrari 488 GT3 dating back to last season’s championship.
“I love Austin, and we love this track,” Fuentes. “We always come here to test. Caesar drove amazing. He drove aggressive and gave me the car in P1. I just kept it there.”
“We’re super-excited to come back here so strong, because we love this track,” Bacarella said.
Pierre Mulacek and Anthony Lazzaro placed second in the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3, followed by Christopher Cagnazzi and Brian Kaminskey in the No. 19 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3.
The No. 8 Vital Speed Motorsports with the father-son combination of Ferrari Challenge graduates Rich and Trevor Baek finished fifth.
Red flag. The one-hour, 30-minute race was red-flagged for 50 minutes on the fourth lap due to an incident that required barrier repairs. However, race officials stopped the clock so that competitors had another one-hour, 17-minutes remaining when the incident was cleared.
Race 2 on Sunday. The opening weekend of the season concludes with Race 2 on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Ferraris will return to action at the next round of the Blancpain GT America series at Virginia International Raceway on the 26-28 of April.
Blancpain GT World Challenge America – Ferraris in Contention at COTA
Posted: 02.03.2019
Source: Ferrari
Austin, Texas – 2 March 2019 | Ferrari teams turned competitive laps at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, putting the brand in promising starting positions for the opening races of the Blancpain GT World Challenge America season.
Qualifying consisted in a pair of 15-minute sessions on the 3.4-mile track, which was drying out following rain earlier in the morning. The opening group set the grid for Saturday’s opening race at 3:40 p.m. (all times Central), with the co-drivers getting behind the wheel next to set the field for Sunday’s race two at 2 p.m.
PRO. Ferrari factory driver, Miguel Molina saved his best for last in the opening session, turning in a time of 2:11.835-seconds on his final lap to secure the third starting position for the opening race. Molina, who led earlier in the session, is driving the No. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3.
Fellow factory pilot Toni Vilander then took over the car for the second session, and was fourth overall but second in the Pro class with a lap of 2:07.691.
PRO-AM. Wei Lu took the outside front row in qualifying for the opening race, running a lap of 2:18.433 in the No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Jeff Segal took third in the second session, running a 2:07.754. The duo are no strangers to victory lane at COTA, having won together here in 2018, as they look to repeat the result for this year’s race.
Matt Plumb took the seventh position in qualifying for the Sunday event, running 2:09.009 on the No. 99 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3. Alfred Caiola placed ninth in the opening session, turning a best lap of 2:23.455.
AM. Ferraris swept the top four positions in the second AM qualifying session and thus put the marque in an excellent position to achieve a strong result in Sunday’s race.
Martin Fuentes earned the pole in the second qualifying session with a lap of 2:07.957 in the No. 7 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3. Caesar Bacarella qualified second for the first race, with a lap of 2:23.744.
Anthony Lazzaro took the second position for Sunday’s race, running a lap of 2:09.011 in the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3. In the opening session, Pierre Mulacek qualified sixth, running 2:27.375.
Taking third for Sunday’s event was Christopher Cagnazzi with a 2:10.247 in the No. 19 One11 Competition Ferrari 488 GT3. Brian Kaminskey was also third in the opening session, running 2:24.972 on the damp track.
Vital Speed Motorsports has the father-son combination of Rich and Trevor Baek. The younger Baek qualified fourth for Sunday’s race, 2:11.298, while Rich Baek ran fifth in the opener, 2:26.267.
Blancpain GT World Challenge America – Ferrari Teams Well Represented in COTA Opener
Posted: 25.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Englewood Cliffs, 25 February 2019 – Ferrari teams will be well represented in all three Blancpain GT World Challenge America classes in this weekend’s 2019 season-opening round at Circuit of The Americas. The Blancpain GT America event will feature a pair of 90-minute races in an exciting two-driver format.
Pro. R. Ferri Motorsport returns to the GT Pro category with the No. 61 Ferrari of Ontario/Toronto/Alberta Zekelman Industries Ferrari 488 GT3 co-driven by Ferrari factory drivers Miguel Molina and defending series champion Toni Vilander. Miguel and Toni shared this same car in the SprintX portion of the 2018 championship, clinching that title as well.
Pro/Am .Two teams will campaign Ferraris in the GT Pro/Am division. TR3 Racing will return with Wei Lu and Jeff Segal in the the No. 31 Ferrari 488 GT3 for the season-opening races. The pair finished second in the final 2018 Pro-Am standings, missing the championship by only four points. The 2018 campaign was Lu’s first season competing at this level after building his racing resume in the North American leg of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli. Lu and Segal won the final two races of the campaign, ending the year with three victories, five runner-up finishes and nine podiums in 10 races.
“I’m really looking forward to being back at TR3 Racing in the Ferrari and racing alongside Wei (Lu) at COTA,” said Segal. “We’ve got really good memories from there last year— it was kind of our coming-out party. We were rookies and Wei did a great job to put it on pole. We had two really strong races including the win in the second race. Now we’ve both got a whole season together under our belts and after winning both races to end the season last year we are going from strength to strength to be opening the season at COTA.”
A new team, One11 Competition will have long time Ferrari Challenge competitor Alfred Caiola joined by Matt Plumb in the No. 99 Ferrari 488 GT3 as part of its two-car entry.
Am. Four teams have entered cars in the GT Am class, including Squadra Corsa Garage Italia with defending champions Caesar Bacarella and Martin Fuentes sharing the No. 07 Ferrari 488 GT3. The pair won nine of 10 races in capturing the 2018 Am title by 66 points.
“It was an incredible season last year and I’m thrilled to be returning to race for Squadra Corsa,” said Bacarella. “Martin (Fuentes) is a great co-driver and the team is very strong. Racing the Ferrari 488 is incredible, and I am looking forward to defending our championship from last year and competing in this new format with the longer races.”
One11 Competition completes its two-car entry with the No. 19 Ferrari 488 GT3 for Christopher Cagnazzi and Brian Kaminskey.
“I met Chris (Cagnazzi) racing in (Ferrari) Challenge, and when we started to talk about this opportunity to race a Ferrari 488 at the GT3 level, I have to admit it was kind of a dream come true for me,” said Kamiskey. “I feel really comfortable with Pete’s (Spinella) guidance and he’s already built a family environment with his team. I wanted to take the next step, and Ferrari has been great to us so it is very exciting to be racing this car.”
Veteran Risi Competizione will have Pierre Mulacek and Anthony Lazzaro co-driving the No. 82 Ferrari 488 GT3.
Vital Speed Motorsports has the father-son combination of Rich and Trevor Baek in the No. 8 Metier Studio/Cinder/Novitec/Sift/Con10gency Ferrari 488 GT3. This will be the second Blancpain GT America appearance for the Baeks, who placed on the podium in both races at Portland in their debut last July.
Defending winners. Ferrari dominated the 2018 season-opening weekend at Circuit of The Americas, finishing on the top step in five of the six classes. Vilander and Molina won both Pro races for R. Ferrari Motorsport, paving the way for their championship run, while Bacarella and Fuentes had a similar two-race sweep in the Am category.
Lu and Segal finished third in the opening race, but bounced back to win the Pro/Am category in the Sunday finale.
Weekend schedule. The event opens with promoter’s testing on the 3.4-mile circuit on Thursday. Friday includes one-hour practice periods at 11:40 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. (all times CT). Qualifying begins at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday, followed by Race 1 at 3:40 p.m. The weekend wraps up with Race 2 at 2 p.m. on Sunday.