Grand-Am Road Racing 2013 – Round 1 – Rolex 24 at Daytona

A new challenge for Ferrari at Daytona

Posted: 24.01.2013
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 24 January –This weekend sees the 51st edition of the Daytona 24 Hours, which dates back to 1966, although as far back as 1962, it ran as the Daytona Continental, the first three hour endurance race. It is a legendary event, run over a 5.73 km track using part of the high speed Nascar tri-oval, that features banked curves and a very twisty in-field street section.

This American weekend is significant for Ferrari which has always had close ties to Daytona: the Maranello marque has taken overall victory twice, three over the shorter distance and eight class wins, the most famous coming in 1967, when it took a clean sweep of the podium, with a car that that one year later gave birth to the Ferrari 365 GT4, or as it is better known, “the Daytona.” It is the ancestor to the current 458 Grand AM which was a winner in last year’s American series, in which Ferrari took the Constructors’ title in the car’s debut season.

There are six Ferraris entered in the GT category in this race, which as usual is also the opening round of the Grand AM series, including two AIM Autosport cars, the Number 61 machine run in collaboration with the Canadian dealer, Remo Ferro, in the hands of the trio made up of Giancarlo Fisichella – Max Papis – Toni Vilander – Jeff Segal. Also at the wheel of a Ferrari is one of the stars of Nascar, Clint Bowyer, crewed with Rui Auguas – Robert Kauffman – Michael Waltrip, flying the flag for AF Corse, the only Italian team running in the GT class, while Ed Brown – Mike Hedlund – Scott Sharp – Johannes Van Overbeek will be driving the Extreme Speed Motorsport car. The second car is in the hands of Emil Assentato – Guy Cosmo – Anthony Lazzaro – Nick Longhi – Craig Wilkins from AIM Autosport, previous winners in this marathon event. There are two more cars entered by Scuderia Corse, who first raced in Grand AM last year and these are crewed by Olivier Beretta – Alessandro Balzan – Marco Frezza – Alessandro Pieguidi and Chico Longo – Rafa Matos – Xandinho Negrao – Daniel Serra.

The race gets underway on 26 January and is a major challenge for the Prancing Horse, especially in light of new technical regulations which in the GT class impact on the power output, the tank capacity and the time taken at pit stops. The first 15 minute sprint qualifying session starts on Thursday 24 January at 16.55, then comes a further hour of practice on Friday 25th at 10.30, the final session before the race which starts at 15.30 on Saturday 26. Providing a high class start to the weekend’s activities, the Stars and Stripes Ferrari Challenge is a curtain raiser, giving competitors their now traditional opportunity to race their cars on a historic and thrilling tracks.

Ferrari on the podium at the Daytona 24 Hours

Posted: 27.01.2013
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 27 January – Ferrari’s adventure in the 51st Daytona 24 Hours ended with one car on the podium and three places in the top ten, at the end of the legendary endurance race held at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway.

The long and closely contested race began yesterday afternoon and the 458 Grand AM was taking part in the event for the second time, after last year’s debut appearance.

Of the six cars flying the Maranello marque’s colours in the United States, the best result came from AIM Autosport, the reigning Grand AM champions with a crew made up of Emil Assentato- Anthony Lazzaro – Nick Longhi – Craig Wilkins, who took the third place on the podium on the very last lap, behind the two Sport Customer Racing Audis.

Fourth at the flag, the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari in the hands of Monegasque driver Olivier Beretta, along with the Italians, Alessandro Balzan – Marco Frezza – Alessandro Pieguidi, who were very competive in this team’s first attempt at this race, although, with four hours remaining they took a penalty because of a collision after the umpteenth appearance of the safety car, which compromised the Los Angeles based team’s legitimate aspirations to victory. The AF Waltrip and Extreme Speed Motorsport cars finished eighth and ninth respectively, while the second AIM Autosport car, run in conjunction with Canadian dealer Remo Ferri and crewed by Giancarlo Fisichella – Max Papis – Toni Vilander – Jeff Segal had to retire. In fact, right from the start this no. 61 car suffered with electrical problems which spoilt its chances of getting to the podium, although the crew showed great potential and usually were the fastest on track.