We heard from some of the Ferrari drivers at the end of the marathon that launched the 2021 US motorsport season.
Davide Rigon, Risi Competizione: “It was a tough race, we pushed hard from the beginning, and I want to thank all the Risi Competizione guys because they worked very well. Unfortunately, five hours from the end we gave everything but the other cars finally showed their full potential, and the pace changed. We gave everything we had without making any mistakes, and I am happy with the pace I kept up during the race and the passes I executed. The result was the best we could have hoped for with this BoP”.
Jules Gounon, Risi Competizione: “We gave everything. We have no regrets. At all stages of the race, we fought to the best of our ability. However, the BoP didn’t allow us to fight for the win. We always competed to the limit, each of us, both drivers and team, but it wasn’t enough.”
Alessandro Pier Guidi, Risi Competizione: “It wasn't strategy (at the finish), it was performance. It's quite sad, when they pass you on the straight like they were in DPi, there is nothing you can do. Because in the last few years, it's always the same story. It's quite sad there was no adjustment to the BOP. I couldn't expect to have anything better for this year, because the past three year, it was the same story. Now GTLM is going to end. It's quite frustrating for us, because we work hard, and at the end, we are not able to be in a condition to fight. Not to win, but to fight. I have to say thanks to the team. They did a great job and worked hard, no mistakes at all. Everything went smooth. Sometimes we were unlucky, like at the start, but when the gap was so big, there was nothing for us to do”.
Daniel Serra, AF Corse: “I haven’t analysed the accident yet, but the first lap on new tyres was challenging, and the car was very skiddy. I think Matteo left enough room on the inside for the Mercedes, but I want to see the episode again before making a fuller judgement. I think the car had the potential to win today. We had chosen a very low-downforce configuration, so we struggled in the infield but managed to build up excellent speed at the end of the straight. It wasn’t a question of power because the Mercedes cars could exploit their greater torque in the first part of the straight pulling away, only to be caught due to the slipstream. Before the accident, the car was very going very well, but subsequently, it wasn’t effective in the same way”.
Simon Mann, AF Corse: “The 24 Hours of Daytona was an incredible opportunity to learn, and it was a fantastic experience. Until four hours from the end, things were going very well, but unfortunately, the Mercedes accident lost us time and pace. It was impossible to catch up with the leaders”.
Matteo Cressoni, AF Corse: “The contact wouldn’t have caused any damage, but unfortunately I ended up in the tyre wall, and this also caused a puncture. Unfortunately, the episode ruled us out of the fight for victory. I’m sorry because we were leading for twenty hours and we had a car that could have won”.
Marcos Gomes, Scuderia Corsa: “The race was going well, but we had a temperature problem in the final stage and our 24 hours ended there. We were almost on the same lap as the leader so we would have fought down to the chequered flag, but unfortunately, that’s how races go sometimes”.
Bret Curtis, Scuderia Corsa: “This is at no fault to the team, the guys did a great job. Everyone deserved a win today. The Ferrari is usually a very reliable car, so this is almost shocking. It’s unfortunate but I guess if this were easy everyone would be doing it. A big thank you to all the guys who put in hours of hard work and to all my co-drivers for the great performance”.