18 May 2016
Maranello, 18 May - Alessandro Pier Guidi and Andrea Bertolini will reinforce the crews of the Ferrari 488s no. 51 and 71 of the AF Corse team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the third round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) 2016.
Car 51. Alessandro Pier Guidi will join Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and James Calado in car no. 51. Pier Guidi, 32, is making his debut in the French marathon but has had a superb season in the United States with the 488 GTE of Scuderia Corsa, coming second at Laguna Seca and fourth at the 24 Hours of Daytona. The Italian driver is also taking part in the European Le Mans Series where he achieved second place in the first race of the season at Silverstone at the wheel of the 458 Italia GTE of AT Racing.
Car 71. The experienced Andrea Bertolini will accompany the championship leaders to Le Mans. Davide Rigon and Sam Bird have full points after wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Bertolini is one of the strongest Italian GT drivers and is fresh from victory in 2015 in the GTE-Am class with the 458 Italia of SMP Racing along with Russia's Aleksey Basov and Viktor Shaytar. Having competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona, Andrea is currently racing in the European Le Mans Series with the 458 Italia GTE of JMW Motorsport with Robert Smith and Rory Butcher. The crew had won the Silverstone race before being disqualified on an homologation related technicality and finished second in Imola where, if it were not for the rain, they could have won.
Programme. The week at Le Mans week is very long and demanding. The drivers will take to the track for the first time on Wednesday 15 May for the free practices. Qualifying is on Thursday, while the race will start at 3 pm as usual.