Braselton, 8 October 2018 – Looking to continue a winning history that goes back to the start of the prestigious event, Ferrari will be well represented in both GT classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Saturday’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Risi Competizione and Scuderia Corsa will both target big results in the ten-hour endurance race to finish the 2018 season and continue Ferrari’s winning heritage in the decades-old race.
GT Le Mans. Four-time Petit Le Mans winner Risi Competizione will make its third WeatherTech Championship appearance of the season. The Texas-based team has entered the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTE for 2016 Petit Le Mans winner Toni Vilander, who will co-drive with Miguel Molina and Andrea Bertolini. Vilander and Molina have already generated wins and championships together in the PWC championship this year and will look to add to their big 2018 season with a podium at Road Atlanta.
GT Daytona. Fourth in the GT Daytona championship entering the finale, Cooper MacNeil leads the two-car Scuderia Corsa entry, sharing the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 with Daniel Serra and Gunnar Jeannette. The team finished second in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, in addition to podium finishes at Lime Rock Park and Road America. "We have to go for the win," MacNeil said. "I can finish the season and have a chance to walk across the banquet stage Sunday night and celebrate a top-three points finish. We have had an up and down year, so closing it out with a win and getting points for a third-place championship finish would be great.” "I've been on the podium at Petit multiple times and to get there again would be a great achievement with the current GTD field,” added Jeannette. “We’ll be doing our best to finish the year with a win and move Cooper up to third in the championship.” This will mark the third appearance in Petit Le Mans for Serra. Matteo Cressoni, Townsend Bell and Frank Montecalvo will co-drive the No. 64 Ferrari 488 GT3 for Scuderia Corsa. The No. 64 entry earned its best finish in four races this season with a fifth place result in the 24 Hours of Daytona, with Bell and Montecalvo in the lineup.
Ferrari brings winning legacy to Petit Le Mans. Ferrari has a rich heritage in the 21-year history of Petit Le Mans, dating back to Doyle-Risi Racing’s overall victory in the 1998 inaugural event with Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele, and Emmanuel Collard sharing the driving duties in the race-winning Ferrari F333SP. Ferrari captured the GTS class in 2003, with Alain Menu, Peter Kox and Tomas Enge sharing the Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello. Risi Competizione’s Miko Salo and Jaime Melo took back-to-back triumphs in 2008 and 2009 in a Ferrari 430 GT. They took GT2 honors in 2008, and were joined by Pierre Kaffer in winning GT the following year. Ferraris took the top step of the podium in two different classes in 2011. Kaffer, Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella paced GT for AF Corse, while Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo won in GTE Am for Krohn Racing, with both teams using the Ferrari 458 Italia. The following year, Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Toni Villander won in GT for Extreme Speed Motorsports at the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia. Risi Competizione’s Fisichella, Vilander, and James Calado won the 2016 edition of PLM in the GTLM class in a Ferrari 488 GTE.
Weekend Schedule. Action at Road Atlanta gets underway on Thursday, with a pair of one-hour practice sessions at 11:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., followed by a 90-minute night session at 7:30 p.m. (All times ET). Final practice begins at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, with qualifying set for 3:55 p.m. The 21st Motul Petit Le Mans takes the green flag at 11:05 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 13. Live television coverage on FS1 begins at 10:30 a.m. ET. The broadcast switches to FS2 at noon, with live coverage continuing though 9:30 p.m.