08 August 2016
Plymouth, 8 August 2016 – It was very nearly a double podium for Ferrari at Road America, but when the checkered flag fell it was the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 grabbing third place in the GT-Daytona class.
Christina and Alessandro. Christina Nielsen started the race in the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, which she qualified in fifth position. Alessandro Balzan took the car over in the middle stages of the race, moving the Ferrari from fifth to third position in the closing stages to take the team’s fifth podium of the season. Balzan and Nielsen have now extended their lead in the driver’s championship to fifteen points after eight of the eleven championship rounds. In this class the winning car was the Riley Motorsports Dodge driven by Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
GT-LeMans. In the GT-LeMans class, Risi Competizione drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander were contenders for the victory throughout the race in the no. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. A late-race restart had Vilander in second place, battling for the lead before the Finn was hit and spun by a Prototype class car with two laps remaining. Vilander recovered to finish in fifth position in the race won by the Chevrolet of Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin.
Green Challenge Award. The team also won the Dekra Green Challenge Award, which is awarded to the most efficient, fast and environmentally clean GT-LeMans competitor at each Imsa SportsCar Championship race, for the fourth time this season. The overall race went to the Action Express Racing Chevrolet of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran. The next round of the championship will be at Virginia International Raceway on August 26-28.