It promises to be another exciting weekend for the Scuderia Corsa team, with one Ferrari 458 Italia competing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virgina and another two at the Pirelli World Challenge event at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
At the Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR, Scuderia Corsa will be looking to close the gap in the championship in the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia. With a fourth place finish at the previous race in Road America, the duo of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell enabled Scuderia Corsa to close the gap in the GT-Daytona team championship, and both team and the drivers are now third in the championship.
This weekend’s race is unique for the TUDOR Championship in that it will only feature the GT-LeMans and GT-Daytona classes.
“VIR is another circuit that I think every driver in the paddock looks forward to, and it is one where the Ferrari should really shine,” said Sweedler. “We had a really strong race last year in the Ferrari and if not for a penalty we might have won or been on the podium. But we are hoping to capture some of that same magic again this year, and with the kinds of pit stops the guys have been giving us, we should have a very good chance.”
Bell is also looking forward to the opportunity to compete at VIR this weekend, especially with the GT only format of the weekend.
“For the past few races, we have been at tracks that have favored other cars a little bit better than the Ferrari, so this is our chance to make up some ground,” said Bell. “We know that at some of the tracks we race at, our plan is to minimize lost ground. But VIR is a place where we can really attack. It should be a lot of fun, and could be a big day in the championship for us. Having only the GT cars out there minimizes the potential for incident and will lead to some really great racing.”
At the PWC race at , Duncan Ende will look to continue the form he had at the previous race weekend in Mid-Ohio. Driving the no. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia, Ende scored his best finish of the season with a seventh place in GT in the first race at Mid-Ohio. Martin Fuentes, driving the no. 07 Scuderia Corsa / Hublot Ferrari 458 Italia enters this weekend third in the GT-A class championship standings and within striking distance of the championship leaders.
“After our strong weekend at Mid-Ohio, I’m looking forward to getting back into the Ferrari at Miller Motorsports Park,” said Ende. “It will definitely be a challenging pair of races, but if we are smart we can come away from the race with a couple of top-tens.”
Fuentes is keeping his eye on the GT-A championship standings as he prepares for this weekend’s races.
“I am really looking forward to this weekend,” said Fuenes. “We have analyzed the track, done a couple of simulator sessions, and we are very excited. We have a very good Ferrari that will be fighting for wins, and I think we are going to cut down the lead that the GT-A championship leader has on us. It’s a very good track for the Ferrari.”