Ferrari ready to defend World Endurance Championship titles

Sebring International Raceway will host the first act of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, with the Ferraris lining up to defend their drivers’ and constructors’ titles in the LMGTE Pro class and the drivers’ and teams’ ones (with AF Corse) in the LMGTE Am. The first of the six legs on the World Championship calendar is steeped in history. The unevenness of the asphalt on the Florida track, the site of a training airfield during the Second World War, also makes it difficult to set up the cars.

LMGTE Pro. Reigning world champions Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado will be competing in the number 51 AF Corse 488 GTE, alongside Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in the number 52. The first results of the prologue don’t place the Ferraris among the cars to beat, but as usual, the drivers’ performance and the team’s strategy will make the difference when it matters most.

LMGTE Am. With reigning champions Nicklas Nielsen, Alessio Rovera and François Perrodo moving up to the LMP2 Pro-Am class where they will drive an Oreca/Gibson prototype, the Ferrari crews are nevertheless competitive and capable of fighting for the title. The 2021 team champion, AF Corse will line up two cars crewed by the trios of Simon Mann, Christoph Ulrich and Toni Vilander, and Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Nick Cassidy. Spirit of Race, on the other hand, will head into Season 10 of the series with Franck Dezoteux, Pierre Ragues and Gabriel Aubry. Expectations are high for the two Iron Lynx crews, the number 60 of Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Giancarlo Fisichella and the number 85, under the Iron Dames banner, with Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy.

Programme. Today sees the first free practice sessions that will continue tomorrow, before qualifying at 7pm local time. The race runs on Friday, from 12pm to 8pm.