FIA WEC - Ferrari to field three cars in Mexico

Mexico City, 1 September 2016 – The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) resumes this weekend on an unfamiliar racetrack, Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a circuit rich in tradition, which has been entirely renovated after being left almost unutilised for years. The circuit, almost 5 km long, was for a long time the venue of a Formula 1 Grand Prix and also hosted the world Sports Prototype Championship for several seasons. The race is held at an altitude of 2,300 metres and this could give a slight advantage to the turbocharged engines like those that power the Ferraris 488 GTE.   GTE-Pro. As usual, three Ferraris will be in the race: two 488 GTE and one 458 Italia GTE, all entered by the AF Corse team. Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni and James Calado will be at the wheel of car No. 51.  After a start of the season difficult to say the least, they won at the Nürburgring and are attempting a comeback which is entirely conceivable, with five races left in the schedule. Their immediate rivals will be Davide Rigon and Sam Bird on the 488 GTE number 71. The latter crew has already won two races this season and, with their second place in Germany they are now at the heels (two points behind) of Oliver Pla and Stefan Mucke (Ford), who were propelled to first place in the standings after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the other hand, Ferrari leads the manufacturers’ championship standings.   GTE-Am. As usual, in GTE-Am class, only one Ferrari will be in the race, the 458 Italia number 83 of François Perrodo, Rui Aguas, and Emmanuel Collard. The three are at the top of the standings with a good lead over their Aston Martin rivals, but cannot lose concentration even for one second because there is always the danger of a slip.   Schedule. The race will take place on Saturday; therefore the first trials are scheduled for today, with the qualifications at 2:10 p.m. (9:10 p.m. CET). The race will start on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. CET). The competition then resumes in two weeks, still in North America, with the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas.