Le Mans, the Ring and Daytona, Coletta: “Ferrari queen of Endurance”

296 GT3 scored in Florida

There Ferrari 296 GT3 signed a historic result at the 62nd edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona, bringing the Prancing Horse back to the top step of the famous American endurance race ten years after the last time. The official drivers Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado triumphed in the GTD Pro class with the 296 GT3 number 62 of the Risi Competizione team after completing 733 laps.

For Pier Guidi it is an encore in the Florida basin given that he had won in the GTD class in 2014 with the Americans Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, Bill Sweedler and Scott Tucker. To complete a weekend to remember, second place in GTD by AF Corse and third by Conquest Racing, ahead of the Ferrari of Triarsi Competizione, which reached the foot of the podium, prestigious placings that made the event staged even more memorable on the iconic Daytona International Speedway, where the 296 GT3 made its racing debut a year ago.

Antonello Colettahead of GT Ferrari, commented on this very prestigious victory: “The success at the 24 Hours of Daytona, one year after the difficult debut of the 296 GT3 which took place on this very track, is an extraordinary result that repays the enormous work of our engineers, our technical partners and all the teams and drivers who have worked hard to bring the 296 GT3 to the level of competitiveness that it demonstrated today, but which it had already hinted at last year. The reliability of the five cars that took part in the race was impeccable and seeing them all cross the finish line is a great satisfaction. We won another 24 hours, the third in the last year after that of Le Mans with the 499P and that of the Nürburgring with the 296 GT3, a result that confirms Ferrari as the queen of endurance. We are very happy for Giuseppe Risi who came back to win after many years. Giuseppe is a person who has spent his life in racing, for Ferrari, and winning the 24 Hours of Daytona is an important recognition of the great passion that he and his team put into competitions. Overall, all the teams were commendable, although in the GTD class some incidents prevented us from getting a double which would have been fantastic. However, having two cars on the podium is a truly positive result that should make us proud and is proof that the 296 GT3 has begun to take up the legacy of the 488 GT3“.

Ferrari enriches its roll of honor by obtaining the 17th class triumph in the history of the classic endurance race held in Florida, as a traditional round that inaugurates the year of international motorsport (from 1962 to 1965 the event was held over different distances; from 1966 – with the exception of 1972 – over the 24 Hours ). Furthermore, the Maranello company's palmares includes five overall victories in Florida.