WEC - "Ferrari wants to win Le Mans again"

Maranello, 13 April 2017 – In a nutshell the World Endurance Championship (WEC) that kicks of this weekend at Silverstone, consists of eight 6-hour races on historical tracks and one legendary 24 hours at Le Mans. Ferrari is competing in the GT class along with manufacturers like Ford, Porsche and Aston Martin and starts as reigning Constructors' Champion having beaten its rivals in a duel fought down to the last race in Bahrain.   Fierce rivals. Another two Ferraris will be involved in the GTE-Pro class of the 2017 championship, the 488 GTEs no. 51 and 71 of AF Corse of Amato Ferrari. Head of Ferrari Attività Sportive GT, Antonello Coletta, gave his take on the season: “The season ahead will certainly be challenging because our competitors are gearing up to do their best to seize back the world title we took last year. However, we certainly haven't been sitting on our hands and are doing all we can to make our cars more competitive”.   Livery. There are several changes for Ferrari in 2017, beginning with the livery of the 488 GTEs, which returns to its roots in terms of body colour. Indeed, on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the company the red chosen closely resembles that of the first Ferrari ever built, the 125 S of 1947. Other important changes concern the drivers: “Alessandro Pier Guidi will join James Calado in car no. 51, while Davide Rigon and Sam Bird will stay in no. 71 – explains Coletta - The biggest changes will be for the 24 Hours of Le Mans where Lucas Di Grassi will be in car no. 51 while Miguel Molina will join Bird and Rigon.”   Goal. Victory at Le Mans is one of the main goals of the season: "We want to do well at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race that we would love to win because we have not done so for a few year”, says Coletta. In 2016 the car of Risi Competizione driven by Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella and Matteo Malucelli, came second. Ferrari has however won the GTE-Am class for the last two years. Two other 488 GTEs will be competing in this class. The car of Spirit of the Race will be crewed by official driver Miguel Molina alongside Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci, while the car of Clearwater Racing will be in the hands of Matt Griffin, Weng Sun Mok and Keita Sawa. The 6 Hours of Silverstone will start on Sunday at 1 pm.