26 January 2017
Daytona Beach, 26 January 2017 – Ferrari 488 GT3s have taken over the front row of the GT-Daytona field for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona. In GT-Le Mans class the 488 GTE of team Risi Competizione took fourth place.
GTD, a family affair. In Thursday’s qualifying session, Alessandro Pier Guidi drove the No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 to pole position with a time of 1:47.099 around the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway. Pier Guidi, who won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2014 in a Ferrari 458 Italia, will share his car this weekend with Peter Mann, Rino Mastronardi, Maurizio Mediani and Ferrari factory driver Davide Rigon. A scant 0.018 of a second behind Pier Guidi was the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Alessandro Balzan. Balzan, who is the defending IMSA GT-Daytona champion with Christina Nielsen, will share the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari in this weekend’s race with Nielsen, Ferrari factory driver Sam Bird, and Matteo Cressoni. The two Ferrari 488 GT3s dominated the qualifying session, with Pier Guidi shooting to the pole position early in the session and Balzan quickly following into second place.
GTLM. In qualifying for the GT-Le Mans class, Toni Vilander drove the no. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE to fourth position with a late flying lap. Vilander, who set 1’44”123 makes up the lineup of full Ferrari factory drivers in the Risi Competizione Ferrari which includes James Calado and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Schedule. The day schedule was completed with a session of night practice, while tomorrow there’s another session of free practice in the morning. The 24 Hours of Daytona will go green on Saturday, January 28 at 2:30 PM EST with coverage beginning at 2:00 PM EST on FOX.