- Scuderia Corsa Ferrari Finishes Sixth in Northeast Grand Prix
- Ferrari lead in driver and manufacturer championship grows
July 22, 2017 (Lakeville, Conn.) – By finishing in sixth position in Saturday afternoon’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, Scuderia Corsa drivers Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen built upon their championship lead in the IMSA Sportscar Championship.
Starting from ninth position, Nielsen moved the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 forward several positions during a long opening stint in which the Scuderia Corsa team made the most of the fuel mileage of the 488 GT3. After one hour, Nielsen turned the car over to Balzan who emerged from the pits in sixth position.
Passing opportunities are at a premium on the 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park circuit and lapped traffic became a factor in the second half of the race. With numerous incidents occuring throughout the GT-Daytona field, Balzan steered the Ferrari away from trouble and finished the race in sixth place to consolidate his lead over the team’s championship rivals. The two hour and forty-minute race ran caution free.
Balzan and Nielsen have built their championship lead upon remarkable consistency throughout the first eight races of the season by scoring six podium finishes. After eight races in the twelve race IMSA schedule, they now enjoy a 17-point lead in the GT-Daytona driver’s championship while Ferrari has a three point lead in the manufacturer’s championship.
The next race for the IMSA Sportscar Championship will be the Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 3-6.