Ferrari achieved 12 overall and 37 class wins on the difficult track built on the airport built during the Second World War for training purposes.
On the weekend that will stage the second seasonal round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship series, the Prancing Horse will be represented in both GT classes, the GTD Pro and the GTD, the latter reserved for Pro-Am crews.
The weekend also marks the 50th anniversary of the victory of Jacky Ickx and Mario Andretti who achieved success behind the wheel of the Ferrari 312. Ickx will be present at the event as Grand Marshal and will have the honor of starting the race.
GTD PRO
After the seasonal debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Risi Competizione will field the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 number 62 for Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Eddie Cheever III. Serra and Rigon, flanked by Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, obtained an excellent second place at Daytona after a race that had seen them leading in many stages of the race and permanently in the podium positions, in an edition that will go down in history for its extremely low temperatures, close to freezing.
Cheever competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2018, at the wheel of a DPi for Spirit of Daytona while, on this same track, he was among the protagonists of the 1000 miles of the FIA World Endurance Championship, obtaining fifth place with MR Racing’s 488 GTE.
“We have a great history and three victories at Sebring – said Giuseppe Risi, Team Principal of Risi Competizione – Returning to a track where we have achieved many successes is an important stimulus for all of us. It will be a great weekend with the teams participating in the WEC race on Friday and our 12 Hours on Saturday. I believe that the fans will be able to take advantage of many hours of excellent show, hoping that the Ferraris will be competitive in both series ”.
# 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GT3: Roberto Lacorte, Alessio Rovera
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
GTD
AF Corse will return to the GTD class with the number 21 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for Simon Mann, Luis Perez Companc and Toni Vilander. Also counting on the support of Nicklas Nielsen, the three drivers missed the podium for just 10 seconds despite a drive-through to be served in the last 30 minutes of the race.
Ferrari was proving to be the car to beat in the early stages of the race before being slowed down after a collision. AF Corse aims to play the entire IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season, the calendar of which also includes the classics at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta. Vilander and Mann will also be at the start in the 1000 miles of Sebring, the opening round of the FIA WEC.
To complete the trio of Ferrari, the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 by Cetilar Racing with an all-Italian trio composed of Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco. The three had in the rookie Alessio Rovera the fourth protagonist of the 24 Hours of Daytona, which ended in fourteenth position also following some race incidents. For Cetilar, the current season is the debut season in the IMSA series which he faces with the support of AF Corse.
![# 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3: Simon Mann, Luis Perez Companc, Nicklas Nielsen, Toni Vilander](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0RrnnAo0/s8/21-af-corse-ferrari-488-gt3-si-1.jpg)
# 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3: Simon Mann, Luis Perez Companc, Nicklas Nielsen, Toni Vilander
Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images
History
Seven of the twelve overall successes were achieved from 1956 to 1964. Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti gave Ferrari its first victory in 1956, alternating at the wheel of the 860 Monza while Phil Hill achieved two consecutive triumphs in 1958 and 1959 driving a 250 TR. Hill took a third victory by inaugurating a streak of four consecutive first places for the Prancing Horse between 1961 and 1964.
Mario Andretti climbed to the top step of the podium in 1970 with a 512S shared with Ignazio Giunti and Nino Vaccarella. Andretti and Ickx won the Daytona-Sebring duo in 1972.
The F333 SP won on three occasions between 1995 and 1998. Gianpiero Moretti, Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys followed the triumph in the 1998 Daytona 24 Hours for Kevin Doran’s team, while Andy Evans and Fermin Velez won in two occasions – 1995 and 1997 – for Scandia Motorsports.
More recently, Ferrari has achieved four class wins in five editions from 2007 to 2011, including three with Jamie Melo. The most recent success dates back to 2016 when Christina Nielsen, Jeff Segal and Alessandro Balzan won the GTD class for Scuderia Corsa with the 488 GT3, creating the conditions for the victory of the IMSA title that Balzan and Nielsen obtained at the end of the season.
Plan
Free practice for the 12 Hours of Sebring will kick off at 10:15 local time (ET) on Thursday. Qualifying will start on Friday at 9:20 am, followed by the start of the 1000 Miglia di Sebring valid as the inaugural round of the endurance world championship at 12 noon. On Saturday, however, the main event will have a green flag at 10:10 and will end 12 hours later.
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