Risi Competizione’s No.62 Ferrari 458 Italia qualified on the fifth row of the GTLM grid for tomorrow’s 2 hour 45 minute race at Road America, the eighth round of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship for the manufacturer-led class.
Despite Giancarlo Fisichella clocking the fastest time of the weekend so far for the Ferrari (by four tenths of a second), his fastest lap of 2:05.149 was a massive 1.4 seconds behind the class pole winning BMW. Both BMWs and Vipers dipped under the 2:04 mark for the first time this weekend, which would appear to indicate that competitors didn’t show their full potential in practice.
Additionally, the Ferrari was hampered in terms of overall traction due to the harder Continental rubber which had been put down on track during the 2.5 hour race immediately before the TUDOR qualifying sessions. Due to its regulations-based lack of downforce, the Ferrari therefore found the 4.04 mile track much more slippery this afternoon than it had done earlier in the weekend.
The former Ferrari Formula One driver from Rome, Fisichella, said afterwards: “We thought we were there, and we were quicker, but others had nearly two seconds in their pockets, which seems a bit strange to me. I think they played too much of a game in practice. It’s going to be a long race and I think the gap then between us will be much closer and we can fight for the podium.”
The privately-entered Risi Ferrari had a good start to the weekend, finishing second and quickest in class in the first two practice sessions. Following the team’s strong second place finish at the last round in Indianapolis, Risi was looking to once again take the fight to the factory teams in GTLM.
Chief Engineer Rick Mayer explains further: “With the current rules, inherently the Ferrari has the least downforce of any car in the class without having an exposed front splitter to be able to balance its rear wing. So, when we go to tracks where a large portion is made up of high speed corners, such as Mosport and Road America, we don’t do as well. When we go to tracks that are low speed, and the downforce doesn’t come into play as much and there are more straights, such as Indianapolis, we do better.”