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Two Ferraris in top ten at Daytona
The Daytona 24 Hours took place this weekend at the International Speedway, wîth over sixty cars, prototypes and GT, taking part, including a racing debut appearance for five Ferrari 458 Grand Am cars, based on the GT3 version of the V8 sports car, built especially for the American series. Of the privateers flying the Maranello colours in the Únited States, two Ferraris finished in the top ten in a GT class dominated by Porsche, who took all three places on the podium. Best of the Ferraris was the Risi Competizione line up of Italy's Andrea Bertolini, Monaco's Olivier Beretta and the Finn Toni Vilander, who staged an amazing climb up the order from eleventh on the grid to fifth at the flag, having come close to second place in the closing stages.
Eighth came the Ferrari crew of Assentato-Lazzaro-Longhi- Segal in the AIM Autosport car, displaying the craft that has taken them to many good results in this marathon race across the Atlantic.
Just five hours into the start, the other Risi car, driven by Raphael Matos, joined by the illustrious duo of Gimmi Brui and Giancarlo Fisichella, had to retire. Bruni was at the wheel of car number 62, when he had to bring it into the pits wîth a mechanical failure. A long stop in the pits meant this American adventure was over; a shame given Bruni had climbed up through the field after having had to start from the back of the grid after the car failed a post-qualifying technical check.
With three and a half hours to go, the AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 had to pit during Portugal's Rui Aguas stint at the wheel, but they still came home in twenty second place, while the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari was thirteenth at the flag.Source - Ferrari
458 Italia Grand Am in action at Daytona
Maranello, 20 July - After making its track debut at home in Fiorano on Monday, the 458 Italia Grand Am will be back in action on 26 and 27 July for a private test session at Florida's Daytona International Speedway. Taking turns at the wheel will be the tried and tested duo of Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander who can pride themselves of having an extensive list of wins to their name in Ferraris. They will continue development work on the 458 Italia Grand Am in preparation for its participation in the 2012 American championship.Daytona recalls many memories of past Ferrari victories in the famous 24 Hour race, the company having close links wîth this important event. In fact, Ferrari has taken part in 47 of these endurance races, winning five of them outright as well as taking 15 class wins.
Standing out in that list was an amazing clean sweep of the podium in 1967 for the two Ferrari 330 P4 and a 412 N.A.R.T., while back in 1962, Phil Hill and Ricardo Rodriguez won in a Dino 246 SP. That year, no less than four Ferraris finished in the top ten while in 1972, Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx won in a 312 PB.Source - Ferrari
The 458 Italian Grand Am launched at Fiorano circuit
Maranello, 18 July – the 458 Italia Grand Am was given its track baptism today at the Fiorano circuit. The car has been developed in conjunction wîth Michelotto Automobili, based on the GT3 version of the V8 Ferrari berlinetta, wîth the aim of racing in the famous North American series.The 458 Grand Am is built to match the American regulations and is therefore different to the European car, especially in that it develops 500 horsepower and has less efficient aerodynamics than the GT version. It is also fitted wîth a 48 mm restrictor and maximum revs are 8000. Significant modifications have been made to the braking system, as the car has neither ABS nor traction control. Other differences to the GT3 include the roll-over bar which gives greater lateral protection to increase safety in a series in which collisions are rather more frequent. The car is fitted wîth tyres from Continental, the sole supplier to the series, featuring a very hard compound, again to conform wîth the series regulations. On its shakedown today, it completed a good number of trouble-free laps, 45 to be precise in the hands of Maurizio Mediani and Jaime Melo, as they took turns at the wheel.Source - Ferrari
The 458 Grand Am makes its USA debut
The Daytona 24 Hours, which takes place from 26 to 29 January at Florida's Daytona International Speedway will feature the racing debut of the 458 Grand Am. The car is derived from the GT3 version of the 458, the latest racing model of the Ferrari sports car, developed in collaboration wîth Michelotto and aimed at the American series.The famous race will bring to mind the race back on 5 February 1967, when all three steps of the podium were filled by Ferrari drivers, highlighting the dominance of the Maranello marque across the Pond. The crews of Lorenzo Bandini-Chris Amon in the Ferrari 330 P4 Spider, Mike Parkes – Ludovico Scarfiotti in the Ferrari 330 P4 sports car and Pedro Rodriguez-Jean Guichet in the Ferrari 412 P produced an amazing result, thanks to an impeccable strategy thought out by Sporting Director Franco Lini over the last few laps, culminating in the three cars taking the chequered flag in line abreast. This clean sweep, wîth a win in the Monza 1000 Kms, second place at Brands Hatch and the Le Mans 24 Hours and a third place at Spa, meant that Ferrari won that year's International Sports Prototype Constructors' Championship. Ferrari then had to wait until 1998 to take its next win in the Daytona 24 Hours, thanks to the Team Momo F333 SP which also won that year's Sebring 2 Hours.
In 2012, it will fall to Scuderia AF Corse, winners of the Le Mans Series, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the FIA GT3 championship to try and replicate these American victories. Its 458 Grand Am will be crewed all year by Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, North American Rally Champion, Travis Pastrana and two endurance race veterans Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman who here in Daytona tackle the first of 13 rounds on the busy Grand Am calendar.Source - Ferrari
Daytona 24 Hours - Two 458 Grand Am for Risi Competizione
Maranello, 27 December –The Daytona 24 Hours takes place from 26 to 29 January at Florida's Daytona International Speedway and will feature, right from the opening round of the eponymous series two 458 Grand Am cars entered by the Risi Competizione team. Run by Giuseppe Risi, the team will benefit from the support of Ferrari of Silicon Valley (California) and Ferrari of Ontario (Canada,) the North American dealers who are entrants in the Maranello marque's one make series. As to the driver line-up for the two cars, this will be revealed shortly.Also taking part in the famous endurance race will be the AF Corse team, which dominated the 2011 Le Mans Series, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the FIA GT3 series. At Daytona, one of their cars will be crewed by Michael Waltrip, Travis Pastrana and the other features two endurance race veterans in the shape of Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman.
The 458 Grand Am is based on the GT3 version of the 458, the latest in a long line of racing iterations of Ferrari sports cars aimed at the American series. The cars are built to the Grand Am regulations and development of its modifications focus chiefly on gearbox, suspension, tyres and brakes. The 458 proved to be very reliable and quick right from the very first test, maintaining the qualities inherited from the road-going version on which it is based, which all augurs well for its race debut.Source - Ferrari
The Risi Competizione 458 Grand Am faces an uphill battle at Daytona
It's the second day of practice for the Daytona 24 Hours which gets underway at 15.30 on Saturday. Qualifying to decide grid positions were held on Thursday, while there were two practice sessions today, one of 45 minutes and one of an hour, giving the drivers more time to get to grips wîth the track in preparation for what is shaping up to be a complicated race, especially because of traffic and the danger of collisions which are a regular feature at Daytona.In the morning, news came through that the Risi Competizione crew of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gimmi Bruni and Raphael Matos will start from the back of the grid tomorrow, after setting the fifth fastest time, three tenths off the quickest GT car. Gimmi Bruni, who was driving at the time, saw his times cancelled because the height off the ground of his car did not comply wîth the regulations. The second 458 Grand Am run by the Houston based team (Olivier Beretta-Andrea Bertolini-Toni Vilander) will start eleventh, having opted for a more conservative strategy, saving the car for the marathon event.
Of the other Ferraris entered, the AIM Autorsort FXDD 458 produced a great performance in qualifying, second in the GT class and today it ran in only one of the practice sessions, preferring to fine tune its set-up. The AF Waltrip car is 26th on the grid and was seventh fastest in free practice, taking part in both sessions.Source - Ferrari
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