WEC - Double podium for Ferrari at the 6 Hours of COTA

Austin, 17 September 2016 – Ferrari clocked up the best possible result at the 6 Hours of COTA (Circuit of the Americas) in Austin, leaving the US with a double podium won by the two GTE 488s of AF Corse, the no. 51 of Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and James Calado, and the no. 71 of Sam Bird and Davide Rigon. In GTE-Am class there was a disappointing race for the 458 Italia no. 83 of François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas, which after many difficulties managed finish in sixth bringing home important points for the championship.   GTE-Pro. In GTE-Pro class at the start, with the asphalt at a temperature of almost 50 degrees, Davide Rigon in the 488 no. 71 managed to hold onto second position while Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni dropped a place. However, he regained it shortly after when the Ford no. 66 had to make a long stop to fix the cockpit AC system. The opening of the second stint saw car no. 51 driven by a James Calado on top form, overtaking Sam Bird and then, with the help of the pit strategy, also passing the Aston Martin no. 97 of the series leader Darren Turner and Brazilian Fernando Rees. Meanwhile, Bird slipped back all the way to fourth behind the Aston Martin that with almost an extra 10 km/h of speed on the straight, was virtually untouchable. While all this was going on, in front the other British car, the no. 95 of Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim, dominated undisturbed. Car no. 71 retook third position with the help of the AF Corse pits and its superior management of two Full Course Yellows (when the cars have to keep to 80 km/h even on the track), and a Davide Rigon in fantastic form.   GTE-Am. It was uphill all the way for the only Ferrari in the GTE-Am class, the no. 83 AF Corse 458 Italia driven by Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Rui Aguas. Starting from penultimate position with Collard at the wheel, it was punished by a series of mishaps from which it failed to recover. The car could only hold onto sixth, but still took some useful points for a championship that Perrodo, Collard and Aguas continue to lead. Victory in the category went to the Aston Martin of Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda, while the Porsche of Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley was the overall winner. The next race is at Fuji in mid-October.