Scuderia Corsa Pre-Sebring Report

There will be not one, but two Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488’s on track at this weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

The no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 will make its highly-anticipated debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT-Daytona class. Drivers Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Segal recently completed a successful IMSA-sanctioned test at the challenging Sebring Raceway circuit in the new racer.

The new Ferrari will line up alongside the team’s GT-LeMans class no. 68 Ferrari 488 GTE, which will be driven by Andrea Bertolini, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra. Pier Guidi and Serra formed part of Scuderia Corsa’s driver lineup in the team’s GT-LeMans debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where they finished in fourth position and left in fifth position in the North American Endurance Cup but a mere two points behind the championship lead. Bertolni, who drove with Scuderia Corsa in the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona, is a multi-time FIA GT champion and won the 24 Hours of LeMans last season in the GTE-Am at the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Italian Pier Guidi will be looking to repeat the victory of his countryman Eugenio Castellotti. Castellotti, driving with Juan Manuel Fangio, scored Ferrari’s first victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring sixty years ago at the wheel of a Ferrari 860 Monza.

“The anniversary of that victory an extra motivation for us to be stronger and to achieve our goal of winning at Sebring,” said Pier Guidi. “It’s every child’s dream to race for Ferrari, especially if you are Italian! The 488 GTE is one of the best cars that I have ever driven. It did very well in Daytona and Sebring will be better for the strong points of the 488 GTE. Our goal is to win the 12 Hours of Sebring and we have the possibility to do this because we have a really strong team, a good car and a good driver lineup.”

Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Segal drove to sixth position at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where the team had led the GT-D class before being slowed by damage. The team recovered to score valuable championship points, and the drivers are anxious to compete with the new 488 GT3.

“Sebring is a super tough track on the car, so it is of course important to have a car that can handle the distance,” said Nielsen. “Testing has proven so far that it is a strong long distance car. Speed is always important – and based on testing, I believe we have that – but handling all the traffic and staying consistent will be key at Sebring. The car is very good over a stint, and this will give us an advantage being able to be consistent and keep good lap times even as the tires get used more and more. Hopefully we can exploit this advantage and continue Ferrari’s success at Sebring.”

The broadcast of the 12 Hours of Sebring will begin Saturday, March 19 at 10:30 AM ET on FOX Sports 1, before switching to FOX Sports 2 at 12:00 PM ET. At 7:00 PM the race will be streamed live on IMSA.com, before switching back to FOX Sports 2 at 10:00 PM ET for the final hour of the race.