After dominating the second half of the Six Hours of The Glen, Ferrari came up less than five minutes short of a GTD Pro class victory in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition on Sunday.
Making its first visit to The Glen in six years, Risi Competizione was forced from the lead to pit lane for a quick splash of fuel for the No. 62 Pennzoil Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 co-driven by Davide Rigon and Daniel Serra with just over four minutes remaining in the race. The duo had gained enough ground to still cross the line in second place after numerous post-race penalties were applied due to drive-time infractions from other competitors.
The opening two hours of the 6-hour race were punctuated by a series of cautions and restarts. Starting third in class, Rigon was running third when he pitted shortly before three-hour mark to turn the red Ferrari over to Serra. Joining the race in sixth, Serra worked his way to the front during a two-and-a-half hour stretch of green-flag racing. He took the lead shortly after the four-hour mark, and quickly began building his advantage.
Serra led the class by 40 seconds when caution waved with one-hour, 28-minutes remaining for an incident in Turn 9. Moments later, lightning flashed in the area, leading to a red flag. Upon the restart, Serra again pulled away from his class competition, prior to his late pit stop.
“We knew during the red flag that it could be good or bad for us,” Serra said. “And then, they stopped the clock (for approximately nine minutes). If the clock kept going, we wouldn’t need the extra stop and would probably have won the race. But anyway, it is what it is. I think our races show that we are really a good team. We had good stops and good strategy so we will celebrate this podium and look forward to our next time back in IMSA.”
With a focus on the four endurance races on the IMSA Endurance Cup, Ferrari has proven competitive thus far in 2022, including a dramatic victory with Cetilar Racing’s triumph in the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Cetilar entered the race fifth in the Endurance Cup, five points back.
On Sunday, the team’s No. 47 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco finished sixth. The trio ran in top five contention for much of the race, but a penalty midway through the event cost track position as Fuoco brought the car home at the checkered flag.
A promising day for AF Corse was spoiled shortly before the midway point when the No. 21 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 was eliminated with suspension damage. Starting 14th, the Ferrari of Luis Perez Companc, Simon Mann and Toni Vilander ran as high as fifth before the incident.
Five laps into his stint, Vilander had side-by-side contact exiting the boot extension. After contact with his right-front tire, the car spun and hit Vilander’s right rear. While he was able to return to the pits with a broken wheel hub, the team accessed the damage on pit road and took it behind the wall, when it was retired. AF Corse was tied for the lead in the Endurance Cup entering the race, but went without new earned points at The Glen.
The next anticipated race on Ferrari’s 2022 IMSA schedule is Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 1, with all three Ferrari teams planning to run the final round of Endurance Cup.