Risi Ferrari captures GTD Pro pole for 12 Hours of Sebring

Ferrari will start from the GTD Pro class pole for Saturday’s 70th anniversary running of the Twelve Hours of Sebring.  Risi Competizione’s Daniel Serra led the 11-car field for the new IMSA category, that features cars built or modified to international GT3 specifications. Ferrari also ran at or near the top in the GTD [Pro-Am] category, with AF Corse fifth and Cetilar seventh in the 17-car class.

GTD Pro. Daniel Serra made the most of every moment of the session, leaping to the top of the chart coming to the checkered flag, turning a lap of 1:59.917-seconds in the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. Joining him in the race will be Davide Rigon and Edward Cheever III.

“I’m very happy with the team,” Serra said. “They’ve been improving the car with every practice session. A red flag complicated qualifying a little bit, but it was the same for everyone. The car was super great. It’s really nice to do the qualifying at Sebring. Driving the car to the limit on the bumps is always really nice for the driver, so I’m happy to do the pole position here. It’s nice to see how much [team owner] Giuseppe Risi enjoys it here. He’s really passionate about racing, so I’m happy to give him this pole position.”

GTD.  Giorgio Sernagiotto was fastest in GTD six minutes into the session when a red flag waved for a stalled car. Unfamiliar with qualifying procedures, the team sent the driver to wait out the red flag from the pit entrance – resulting in a drive-through penalty.  With time running out when qualifying resumed, Sernagiotto fell to fifth with a best lap of 1:59.917-seconds in the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 that will be co-driven by Roberto Lacorte and Antonio Fuoco.  AF Corse meanwhile was second early in the session however Simon Mann was also caught up in the red-flag pit situation, and wound up seventh with a best lap of 2:00.203-seconds in the No. 21 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 co-driven by Luis Perez Companc and Toni Vilander.

Schedule. The IMSA competitors will have a 20-minute warm-up Saturday at 8 a.m. The green flag will wave for the 70th Twelve Hours of Sebring at 10:10 a.m. ET.