Ferrari made its return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition by qualifying fifth in the GT Daytona class for Saturday’s SportsCar Grand Prix on the fabled streets of Long Beach.
Daniel Mancinelli made his IMSA debut in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 by turning a lap of 1:19.849-seconds. The 15-minute session was limited to Bronze- or Silver-rated drivers to set the grid for Saturday’s race.
After two slow laps, Mancinelli leaped from 17th to second on his third lap. He improved on his next three tours, remaining second, but then lost a lap when he went to a run-off area. The Italian ran faster on his 10th of 11 tours on his way to locking in the fifth fastest time, just 0.374-seconds off the pole.
“Qualifying was good,” Mancinelli said. “We did at least eight laps. Our car was good. Not strong enough for pole but we tried to do our best. It is so great to be back at Long Beach, Ferrari has such a great history here and the last time I was here I won in a Ferrari so it is a special place. We didn’t have the pace in qualifying but I think we can make some things happen in the race for Scuderia Corsa tomorrow so I’m really looking forward to it.“
Colin Braun then drove the car in the 15-minute session that awarded GTD points. He ran one easy lap of 1:51.752-seconds, and then came to the pits since Scuderia Corsa is not in the running for the IMSA championship.
The event is the second for Ferrari in the series in 2021, with Scuderia Corsa among three Ferrari teams competing in the season-opening 24 At Daytona.