Ferrari USA COTA Post-Race Report

Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 458 Italia survived the heat, and the competition, to come through the GT-LeMans field to finish on the podium in Saturday afternoon’s Lone Star LeMans, the second-to-last race of the IMSA United SportsCar Championship.

After starting in eighth position, drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer steadily moved the no. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia up through the field, while the team was able to make up additional positions during the team’s final pit stop. The team’s strategy was executed to perfection when, in the closing stages, the Ferrari achieved the fuel consumption needed to make it to the finish while other cars were forced to pit for additional fuel.

Fisichella closed on the leader on the final lap but would cross the finish line in second position. It was the fifth podium result of the season for he and Kaffer, and the result moved them to fourth position in the GT-LeMans driver’s championship.

In the GT-Daytona class, the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 had a competitive day that was slowed in the final hour. A strong start from Bill Sweedler moved the Ferrari from third starting position to the lead before the car was taken over by Townsend Bell during the team’s first pit stop. However, an incident in the final hour dropped Bell from challenging for the lead, and the checkered flag saw the Ferrari in sixth position.

With that result, Ferrari maintains the lead in the manufacturers championship in GT-Daytona, while Bell and Sweedler are now four points out of the lead in the driver’s championship. The duo are in third position in the championship with one race remaining in the season.

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