FERRARI AIMS FOR THE ROLEX SERIES GT CHAMPIONSHIP AT LIME ROCK

Company press release.

◾Ferrari leads GT manufacturer championship entering final race of the season

◾Alessandro Balzan and Scuderia Corsa in contention for Rolex Series driver and team championship

◾Scuderia Corsa adds second Ferrari 458 Italia for Jeff Westphal and Johannes van Overbeek

September 27, 2013 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.) – Aiming to bring the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT-class championship to Ferrari for the second straight year, a brace of Ferrari 458 Italias will do battle this Friday and Saturday at Championship Weekend, the final race of the 2013 Rolex Series season, at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Ferrari will be on the grid with a six-point lead in the manufacturer championship. After post-race penalties moved the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia of Alessandro Balzan and Leh Keen to a third-place finish at the previous Rolex Series race at Laguna Seca, both the team and Balzan are now four points behind the championship leaders in both the Rolex Series driver and team championship. A championship for them is possible if they are able to finish enough positions ahead of the championship leaders.

The no. 61 R.Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia returns for the third race with the driving lineup of Alex Tagliani and last season's GT co-champion Jeff Segal. The duo led at Kansas Speedway and Tagliani ran at the front of the GT field at Laguna Seca before he was forced to a time-consuming pit stop. Emil Assentato, who lives and works nearby in New York, will drive the no. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari 458 Italia with Anthony Lazzaro.

With their eyes on the manufacturer title for Ferrari, Scuderia Corsa will enter a second car for Championship Weekend. The team's no. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia will be driven by Johannes van Overbeek and Jeff Westphal – two drivers from Northern California with prior Scuderia Corsa experience. Westphal partnered with Balzan in three podium performances this season.

True to Ferrari's philosophy that the race and road cars share the same DNA, the Ferrari 458 Italia Grand-Am shares the engine, chassis, and suspension concepts with the road version of the Ferrari 458 Italia. Both cars are built on the same assembly line in Maranello, Italy.

The Rolex Series' Championship Weekend will be broadcast live on Saturday, September 28 at 1:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 2, with a re-air on Sunday, September 29 at 12:00 PM ET.