Risi Ferrari Le Mans line-up set

Risi Competizione today announced its driver line-up for the the 24 Hours of Le Mans, scheduled for June 17-18. The team's 2017 season regulars, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, will be joined by former Risi Competizione driver Pierre Kaffer.

The trio will take on the twice-around-the-clock French endurance road racing classic in the Houston-based team's Ferrari 488 GTE, which made its debut last year with a second-place  finish in the GTE-Pro class.

"Pierre Kaffer will be our third driver for Le Mans this year," said team owner Giuseppe Risi. "He's an excellent match because he has a first-rate history with the team, knows how to work with the engineers and crew, knows the other drivers and has had success driving for us in Ferraris. He should be able to step right in to the role without any issues. We're glad to have him back with us as we challenge Le Mans for the 13th time."

In its 12 previous attempts at the French classic, Risi Competizione has scored three victories and four additional podium finishes. Fisichella has seven previous Le Mans appearances, and Vilander has eight, including their combination to teammates in two victories (2012, 2014). Kaffer will be making his 11th appearance at the Circuit de la Sarthe, four times in Ferraris and in 2009 with Risi Competizione.

"Returning to drive a Ferrari for Giuseppe and the Risi Competizione team at Le Mans is an honor," said Kaffer. "We won together in 2009 at Le Mans with Jamie [Melo] and Mika [Salo] in a Ferrari 430 GT, and we had success in 2014 and 2015. I am very comfortable with the team and know all the guys so it will be very good to back with my old team. I'm looking forward to it."

The first appearance of the Risi team at Le Mans was in 1998 when Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez won the LMP1 class in a Ferrari 333 SP. Risi Competizione collected back-to-back victories in the Ferrari 430 GT in 2008 with Jamie Melo, Mika Salo and Gianmaria Bruni and again in 2009 with Melo, Salo and Kaffer. The team also made appearances in 2003, 2007, 2010 and its most recent entry last year.