Ferrari returns home from the 12h of Sebring with a double podium achieved in a breathtaking finale in this second seasonal event of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
After the great victory obtained at the 24h of Daytona, stage number two of the Stars and Stripes Endurance Cup sees the 296 GT3s of Risi Competizione and Cetilar Racing reach second place in the GTD PRO and GTD Classes, beaten in the final sprints.
For Risi's Red #62 it was a knife-between-the-teeth race for the trio of Daniel Serra, James Calado and Davide Rigon, the latter having started and received a blow amid the chaos of the initial corners, slipping to the rear , among other things in a very cold sweat given that the car spun perpendicularly across the entire track without being hit by the oncoming group.
From there the patient comeback began, peppered with further time lost following an emergency tire change during a stop and also a Drive Through discount for speeding in the pit lane, but the trio from Maranello never gave up and 11 neutralizations gave the grand finale in the sprint.
Serra first overtook the #3 Corvette by force and then began to fight against the #14 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth, who mocked him with an overtaking in the final minutes, crossing the finish line with just 0.121 seconds ahead of the Brazilian.
#62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3: Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, James Calado
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
“Obviously I have mixed feelings – admits Serra as he got out of his 296 – We were in the lead, then I lost the leadership and dropped to fourth position, thus managing to climb back up to second place”.
“There was a lot of fight and it was a good stint. Winning at Daytona and finishing second here at Sebring is a good start to the season.”
Calado adds: “It was a fast-paced, action-packed race as per IMSA tradition, which is nice and exciting. Coming in second is obviously a great result, but we wanted to win and we came very close.”
“Daniel did an extraordinary job, as did Davide, and I think everyone is very happy.”
Rigon also smiles: “It was a fantastic race that ended in a superb manner. We were close to victory and that's wonderful. Overall today was a positive day.”
“Thanks to the team who did a great job and made no mistakes, but also to Daniel for being super quick at the end and doing a superb job. Even though the Lexus overtook him, it was amazing! James also drove good. We enjoy second place and prepare for the next race.”
#47 CETILAR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto, Antonio Fuoco
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
In the GTD Class, the first trophy of the year has arrived for a Ferrari and the #47 of Cetilar Racing has taken it, starting from the Pole Position won by Antonio Fuoco in Qualifying (after penalties for the Mercedes #57).
The Calabrian started strong, keeping himself in the top 3 during the opening hour, then left room for his teammates Giorgio Sernagiotto and Roberto Lacorte.
During a race full of pitfalls and changes in the classification, the blue-green 296 also slipped out of the points zone, incurring a couple of penalties, but the end brought Fuoco back into the game, who with his proverbial determination tried in every way to regain the lead, surrendering for half a second to the advantage of the aforementioned AMG.
“It was tough, to be honest and I think we made some mistakes at the start. We chose a set-up that allowed us to be competitive in the final stages of the race and for the cold conditions and I think it worked quite well,” he comments Fuoco, who a couple of years ago won the 12h with the same colleagues.
“I think that today we did our best, it was difficult to do better than this; we can consider ourselves quite satisfied. I thank the team for the hard work done and I think it is a good result compared to that of Daytona”.
#023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3: Onofrio Triarsi, Charles Scardina, Alessio Rovera
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
The race of the other Ferraris was much less fortunate. The #21 of AF Corse in the hands of Miguel Molina/François Heriau/Simon Mann retired with 4h30' to go following contact with the Cadillac of Pipo Derani, who crashed into the barriers and ended up upside down.
The #34 of Conquest Racing had also taken the lead for a few laps, always remaining in the Top5 group, but Manny Franco/Albert Costa/Cédric Sbirrazzuoli lost ground in the frenetic final.
“Until the end we weren't in a bad situation, but then we had a Drive-Through for an infringement in the pit lane. However, I don't think that in the end we had the pace to fight for a better result”, says Sbirrazzuoli honestly.
The same goes for the #023 of Triarsi Competizione with the crew formed by Onofrio Triarsi/Alessio Rovera/Charlie Scardina, who ran into an obligatory stop to fix a small problem with the headlights which took them away from a potential placement among the best five and, why not, also on the podium, finishing in 14th place.
“I'm a little disappointed because we had the potential to fight for the victory. The podium wasn't far away. We would have liked to have our say, but we had a problem with the front lights that prevented us from doing so”, admits Rovera.
“However, the team did a great job and the car was good. We still have some work to do, but honestly I'm happy with the guys. Onofrio and Charlie did an amazing job. Now we just need a little bit of luck.”
Triarsi comments: “Our main objective was points for the championship. We obtained points at the four hours with second place and also thanks to third at the end of the eight hours, so we are second in the general classification. For us the game is long. We still have three races, we just need for luck to turn in our favor.”
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