From one historic circuit to another, Risi Competizione travels this week to Long Beach in southern California for the second round of the American Le Mans Series. The two-hour event takes place on the 1.96 mile, 11-turn temporary course around the shoreline of Long Beach on Saturday, April 21 at 4:30 pm (PT).
Boosted by a strong haul of points secured at the 12 Hours of Sebring by finishing in second place in the GT class on the team’s return to competition after a year’s hiatus, the team and both its drivers, Olivier Beretta and Matteo Malucelli, are very aware that this weekend’s challenges will be different to Sebring’s.
Team Principal, Giuseppe Risi: “Of course we were disappointed not to win in GT at Sebring, after leading for so long and not putting a foot wrong in terms of how we ran the race. But, after a short period of reflection, we were able to acknowledge what a good result it was for us as a team in terms of our 2013 Championship ambitions.
“To come away with second place was very commendable,” Mr Risi continued, “especially as we lost out substantially to our competitors in terms of pit stop turnaround times because of an inequality in the Balance of Performance regulations. That could have a big effect too at Long Beach where stops are critical because of the short track, short race and tight nature of the pits.”
Beretta, from Monaco, feels very at home at Long Beach as the event is often compared with the F1 Grand Prix held around the streets of his home. He is a two-time winner here and will be using all his experience to help race newcomer Malucelli to find his feet. Despite its scenic surroundings, the schedule annually presents drivers and engineers with the prospect of finding the art of compromise!
As part of a busy weekend of racing entertainment, and sitting alongside the Indycar series, the schedule is unforgiving. Much of the two hours of Friday morning practice, starting at 7:30 am, will be given over to the team’s Italian newcomer to acclimatize himself with the track. Green and dirty track conditions plus low temperatures at that time of day are, however, unlikely to yield much in terms of set up data and, with an entry of 34 cars – some untried and untested at Long Beach – the practice session is likely to be subject to multiple yellow or red flag interruptions.
Next time out on track will be towards the end of the day for qualifying, when temperatures are usually expected to be higher and the track will be rubbered in. However, with multiple series competing at Long Beach, the surface can be both slippery and unfriendly to the unwary. Risi Competizione’s experience here, winning in 2007 and achieving two class podium finishes since, will be vital.
Olivier Beretta, 43, recognizes what it takes to succeed at Long Beach: “With such limited track time, and on such a circuit as this, you have to work mostly on the direction and the braking as these are important to have confidence in the car. Without that, you can’t achieve as good a lap time. Getting every corner right is vital for a good lap time here so we will be working hard to find a good set up for this.”
Matteo Malucelli, 28, has been preparing in the same way that many of today’s top drivers do when about to tackle a new circuit: on a Forza Motorsport game or similar. He says of the coming race: “After second place in Sebring I would like to do better? For me it will be difficult because I don’t know this track, but I’m playing with a simulator game just to know where the corners are before we start as we will not have so much time to run during the race weekend compared to Sebring. Normally I don’t like street courses so much because they are really slow and tight, but I think in the USA street tracks are really popular and different compared to European ones, so I will be able to say more about that after a few laps!”
Source : Risi Competizione