Press Release
Risi Competizione
Race Public Relations Barbara J. Burns BurnsGroup PR [email protected] Tel: +1 770 329 7134 Ferrari of Houston Donald Pierce [email protected] 6100 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas USA 77057 Tel: +1 713 772 3868 www.risicompetizione.com
RISICOMPETIZIONELOOKSTOADDTOTEAMHISTORYATSEBRING12HoursofSebringSiteforManySuccessesforRisiTeamRisiCompetizioneFerrari488GTLMNo.62:GiancarloFisichella(ITA) ToniVilander(FIN) DavideRigon(ITA)
Sebring, Florida (March 16, 2016)…The popular Houston, Texas based RisiCompetizioneTeamreturns to the smallCentral Florida townwith theirnewFerrari488GTLMinanattempttoaddtotheirimpressivehistoryatthe3.74-mile 17-turn circuit. Round two of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCarChampionshipserieswillseethe465-horsepowerPrancingHorseofGiancarloFisichella,ToniVilanderandDavideRigoncompeteagainstthelikesofPorsche,BMW,CorvetteandFordforthe64thAnnualMobil1TwelveHoursofSebringFueledbyFreshfromFloridarace,March19.SixtyyearsagoFerraricelebrateditsfirstof12victoriesatthehistoricFloridacircuit when four-time Formula 1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio andEugenioCastellottidrovetheirFerrari860Monzatovictory.Fangiowentontowin two additional Sebring classics, onemore in a Ferrari. Phil Hill was alsothree-time Sebring winner, all with Ferrari. Mario Andretti drove Ferraris tovictoryatthefamousFloridacircuitin1970and1972.TheFerrari333SPwastheoverallSebringwinnerin1995,1997and1998.ThatlastFerrarivictoryatSebring in1998wasat thehandsof thepopularMOMOFerrariofGianpieroMoretti,MauroBaldiandDidierTheys,whoisstillactivelyinvolvedwithIMSAandFerrariintheU.S.
Press Release
Risi Competizione
Race Public Relations Barbara J. Burns BurnsGroup PR [email protected] Tel: +1 770 329 7134 Ferrari of Houston Donald Pierce [email protected] 6100 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas USA 77057 Tel: +1 713 772 3868 www.risicompetizione.com
Risi Competizione's rich history at Sebring includes three victories (in 2007,2009,2010)andfouradditionalpodiums(2006,2008,2013,2015)in14yearsand19entriessince1998.Oneofthemostexcitingracefinishesinthehistoryof Sebring International Raceway was in 2007 with a classic Ferrari versusPorschebattle. In thewinner-takes-all last lap showdown JamieMelo, in theRisi Ferrari 430GT, bested Joerg Bergmeister in a Porsche 911 RSR by .555-seconds.This year Former Formula 1 star Giancarlo Fisichella will bemaking his fifthstartatSebringandthirdentrywithRisiCompetizione.HisbestfinishwaslastyearforsecondplaceintheGTLMclass.Finnish Ferrari factory driver Toni Vilanderwillmakehis third appearance atSebring, with a best fifth in class in 2012. He previously drove with RisiCompetizionein2011.ItalianFerrarifactorydriverRigonwillbemakinghisinauguralrunatSebring.HeandVilanderparticipatedintheofficialSebringTestDaysinlateFebruary.RickMayer,RisiCompetizioneRaceEngineer:Howwilltherecenttestpreparetheteambetterforthisweek's12HoursofSebringrace?"Thetestwasneeded.Wehaven’trunthecarotherthanattheraceinDaytona,andSebringissuchadifferenttrack.Weneededthistesttolearnwhatthecarlikes.WeshouldhaveaverygoodbasesetuptostarttheeventtestingonThursday."
TheGTLMcompetitionatSebringismorefiercethanever.Howdoyoupreparetogoupagainstsomemanyformidablecompetitors?
Press Release
Risi Competizione
Race Public Relations Barbara J. Burns BurnsGroup PR [email protected] Tel: +1 770 329 7134 Ferrari of Houston Donald Pierce [email protected] 6100 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas USA 77057 Tel: +1 713 772 3868 www.risicompetizione.com
"Unfortunately,wedidn’tgetanymorepower(turboboost)inthelatestroundofBoP(BalanceofPower)sowewillstruggleabittobehonest.Weweretheslowestcarinthestraightatthetestthatwillcarryovertotherace.Andthere’salotofstraightsatSebring.Ithinkwehaveagoodcar,driversandcrewbuttherulesarecurrentlynotinourfavor.Butwewilltryourbestandwithsomeluckwehopeforagoodresultafter12hours."RisiCompetizionehashadsomegreatsuccessesatSebring.What'sthesecrettovictoryatthischallengingcircuit?"Welovethistrack.It’sateamfavoriteandmypersonalfavorite.Thereissomuchhistoryhere.It’ssuchademandingtrackwiththechangesinthesurface.Asateamwe’veracedheresomanytimes.Thegeneralsetupphilosophydoesn’tchangeyeartoyear;youjustadaptwhatyou’velearnedovertheyearstothecaryouhave.Youneedareliable,fastcar,goodpitworkanddriversthathavegoodjudgmentwiththeamountofrisktotake.Andhopefullywe’llhaveallofthese."
ToniVilander,driver,No.62Ferrari488GTLM:YouarereturningtoSebringafterparticipatingintheTestlastmonth.HowwillthethingsyoulearnedfromtheTestbenefittheteamthisweek?"Itwasgreattohaveafirstrealtestwiththecarandteamtogether.WemadequiteafewsetupchangesandwearestartingwiththebestcombinationforPractice1onThursday.WearenothappywithcurrentBoPandspecialpower/topspeedwearegivenbytheIMSA.Thatwillbeoneofourmostdifficulttaskstomanage."Sebringisaverydifferentcircuitthanmostintheworld.Talkaboutsomeofitsuniqueaspects."ThefactthatSebringhassorichhistoryinsportscarracingmakesitalreadyspecial.Turn1andTurn17aresomethingparticular;concreteandrealbumpy
Press Release
Risi Competizione
Race Public Relations Barbara J. Burns BurnsGroup PR [email protected] Tel: +1 770 329 7134 Ferrari of Houston Donald Pierce [email protected] 6100 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas USA 77057 Tel: +1 713 772 3868 www.risicompetizione.com
surfacemakethemagreatchallenge.AswithmanyoftheracetracksinNorthAmerica,Sebringhasalotofcharacter."ThecompetitionintheGTLMclassintheIMSAWeatherTechseriesissecondtonone.HowdoyouprepareforanenduranceraceofthisnatureagainstthebestGTdriversintheworld?"Idoquitealotofphysicaltraining--running,bikingandcrosscountryskiing.IspendtimedoingsomebriefingswithRick(Mayer,RaceEngineer)tochangeopinionsonsetupandhowtoimproveourspeed.Duringthepracticesessionsitisimportanttostartstraightawaywithgoodspeedandfeelingwiththeracecar.ThiswaywecanbereadyfortheraceonSaturday."GiancarloFisichella,driver,No.62Ferrari488GTLM:YouarereturningtoSebringforthefourthtime.WhatmakesSebringsuchauniqueandchallengingcircuit?"I'mprettyconfidentwewilldowell.Weweresecondlastyear.Wewilltrytowinbutitisdifficultbecausealltheotherdriversareverystrong.WearealittledownonBoPbutwewilltrytoscorethebestresult.Dependingonweatherconditions,whicharenotpredictedtobedry,wewillsee."Yourecentlydidaveryuniquething--droveyourformerFerrariF1caronthesnowinNorthernItaly.Whatwasthatlikeandhowdidtheideacomeabout?"Itwasafantasticeventandshow.Iwasveryproudtobepartofthisday.ItwasmyfirsttimewiththeFerrarionthesnow.Itwasn'teasybecauseitwasveryslippery.TherewerelotsofpeoplearoundthecircuitIdrove.I'mreallyproudofit."Talkaboutthechallengesofenduranceracesandhowyoupreparementallyandphysicallyforthem."Igotothegym.Ilikecyclingalot.Idosomerunning,swimmingandmanythingswhichIdidforFormula1preparation.Regardingmentally,Ijustjumpinthecar,closemyvisorandgodomybest."DavideRigon,driver,No.62Ferrari488GTLM:YourecentlydroveonthehistoriccircuitforthefirsttimeintheSebringtest.Whatdidyouthinkaboutitandhowwillthetestbetterprepareyoufortherace?"Yes,thecircuitisverydifferenttotheEuropeancircuits.IwasveryhappytodriveandlearnitduringtheTestandhadthetimetolearnwell.Itisdifficult,butIreallyenjoyitandcannotwaittodriveagainthisweekend."AsarookieatSebring,whatdoyouseeasthemostchallengingaspectsofthecircuit?"Itwillbeveryimportanttolearnquicklytheovertakepointofthistrackbecauseinsomeplaceit'sverytightandalsothesurfaceofthetrackisverybumpy,soyouneedtostayconcentratetobeveryfastallthetime."
Press Release
Risi Competizione
Race Public Relations Barbara J. Burns BurnsGroup PR [email protected] Tel: +1 770 329 7134 Ferrari of Houston Donald Pierce [email protected] 6100 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas USA 77057 Tel: +1 713 772 3868 www.risicompetizione.com
ThecompetitionintheGTLMclassintheIMSAWeatherTechseriesissecondtonone.HowdoyouprepareforanenduranceraceofthisnatureagainstthebestGTdriversintheworld?"Yesthisistrue.Thecompetitionwiththeotherdriversandotherteamsisveryhigh,soIpreparewellathomeinthegymformybodytobereadytoanystressfromthecar.DuringtheraceweekendToni,Giancarloandmeandalltheteamwillstayveryfocusedinallthedetailsandtrytouseallourpotential!"
PracticesessiononebeginsThursdaymorning,March17at10:00a.m.EDTwithtwoadditional practice sessions on Thursday and one on Friday, March 18. GTLM classqualifying scheduled for Friday from 3:55-4:10 p.m. EDT. The race starts Saturday,March19at10:40a.m.EDTfor12hours.Livetimingandscoringisavailableforallon-tracksessionsatIMSA.comandtheIMSASmartphoneapp.Tune-InInformation:The64thMobil1TwelveHoursofSebringFueledbyFreshfromFloridagetsunderwayat10:40a.m.EDT.Livecoveragebeginsat10:30a.m.onFS1(FOXSports1)andtheFOXSportsGOapp.TelevisioncoverageshiftstoFS2(FOXSports2)fromNoonto7:00p.m.;continuesonIMSA.comandtheIMSAmobileappfrom7:00-10p.m.,andconcludesonFS2from10:00-11:00p.m.,includingthecheckeredflagandwinnersinterviews.AliveinternationalbroadcaststreamisavailableonIMSA.tvandIMSAmobileapp.For more information, please go to www.risicompetizione.com and follow us onFacebook/RisiCompetizioneandTwitter@RisiComp.
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