Risi's Ferraris Lock Out GT Front Row

[Rob]

06.08.2010

Risi Competizione’s two Pennzoil Ultra sponsored Ferrari F430 GTC cars will be starting tomorrow’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge from the best possible position after an impressive display of driving in qualifying today by Ferrari drivers Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni.

Finland’s Toni Vilander secured pole position in the GT class today with a best time of 1:19.682, a new qualifying lap record, just edging out his team mate Gianmaria Bruni who qualified with a time of 1:19.759, also under the previous lap record. It is the team’s fourth pole position from the six ALMS rounds held so far, and Vilander’s second pole in the series.

In the fiercely competitive manufacturer-led class, just half a second covered the top six, and there was tough competition from both Corvette and BMW who had been pushing the Ferraris hard in practice earlier today. Everyone was gunning for the top spots on the grid as track position on this tight and technical road course will be vital for the early stages of the 2 hour 45 minute race.

The two one-hour practice sessions held before qualifying had been eventful for the Risi Ferraris, especially the #61. Giancarlo Fisichella was side-swiped by a prototype during the morning session, damaging the bodywork, fender frame and rocker on the right side of the F430 and curtailing their track time by 20 minutes. Carrying out their usual slick job, the Risi mechanics turned the car around in good time for the second, afternoon session, and Fisichella and Vilander were able to use the time to work on set up – which obviously paid off handsomely.

Jaime Melo and Gimmi Bruni were less than fully satisfied with the handling of their car in the morning, Bruni also struggling with traffic issues, but made changes for qualifying which have given them a fast and stable race car. Bruni completed six flying laps in the #62 car, setting his fastest time on the fifth.

Toni Vilander: “First of all I’m really happy to be here in Mid Ohio and back in the ALMS – I really enjoy this Championship and I don’t get pole positions in Europe like I do here! I didn’t really know what to expect today because the race track is new for both me and Giancarlo, my team mate. But we knew we could rely on Risi Competizione, who have so much experience here, and our really quick team mates, Jaime and Gimmi, so we had the maximum information available. We usually start the weekend with a similar set up to our sister car and then we personalise the car to our liking.

“I think the race will be very interesting. They’ve never had this many cars for this race and it’s quite a tight track. I think we need to be careful with the prototypes because there is only one racing line and either side of that is grass or the wall. You will need to be able to see things happening almost before they are happening. You can lose a lot of time over half a lap, so it will be a question of patience, taking calculated risks and being smart to be successful.”

Gimmi Bruni: “I think we got the most out of the car today. I didn’t have any issues and the car was running good. I did a lap time and afterwards I slowed down, which maybe I shouldn’t have done as I was pushing and was three tenths ahead. Only Toni beat me by just over half a tenth so it’s good for Risi and good for Ferrari and will be a good race tomorrow.”

[Rob]

The Challenge Ahead...Mid Ohio
With the first leg of the busy summer schedule now firmly behind it, Risi Competizione heads for the scenic hills near Lexington, some 60 miles north of Columbus, Ohio, for round six of the 2010 ALMS - the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge on Saturday, August 7.

Sharing the classic road course with the Indycar Series this weekend, the 34-strong sports car field from the ALMS includes its most competitive and numerous category – the production-led GT class. Representing luxury and well-known marques such as Ferrari, BMW, Corvette and Porsche, there are 13 entries in GT with at least eight featuring top class, fully professional driver line-ups. The battles for success are hard-fought and often too close to predict until the final minutes of the race, and have become a huge fan favorite at the events themselves and to the TV audiences.

The 2.25 mile/13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been the venue for countless classic sports car races in the past and, in the eyes of many, is a driver’s track. Repaved in 2006, the layout is technical with a mixture of medium and low speed corners. The surface is smooth, with big, flat curbs which give a gain if they can be used – although overtaking opportunities are limited. While everyone hopes that the storms experienced at Lime Rock won’t be seen again, the weather is often variable and is another factor to be taken into account.

Houston-based Risi Competizione will once again field two Pennzoil Ultra sponsored Ferrari F430 GTC cars, and the team is delighted to welcome back Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander to race alongside ALMS regulars Gianmaria Bruni and Jaime Melo. The Italian F1 Ferrari driver made his debut in the series at the Utah Grand Prix in the beginning of July, with his regular Le Mans Series team mate, Vilander, and finished a creditable sixth after a fight through from the back of the grid. Melo and Bruni won the GT category, crowning an extremely strong weekend’s performance from the team – a performance they are eager to recreate in Ohio.

Gimmi Bruni: “Mid Ohio was my first race with Risi in America in 2007 and I’ve got mixed memories of it. It was great to be with Risi in the ALMS but we had an issue with the fuel light and I ran out of fuel at the beginning of the pit lane…while we were leading! We finished third in the end. It’s more difficult than other circuits to pass other cars but, if you are quicker, you will pass. We had a good car in 2007 for here, so I hope we will be better again this year. It’s not easy to do a quick lap on this track, but really good when you do, very satisifying.

“We have to have a very good race this weekend and at all the other rounds, on the track and in the pits and get as many points as we can for the championship. At least from now I don’t need to have the first 30 minutes of practice to learn the tracks [like at Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Utah and Lime Rock] so that’s a bonus for me and the team!”

Jaime Melo: “We’ve never had very good results there, but our car has been really good for the last two races so this year we expect to be better, considering the improvements on tires and power, and faster than last year. I think it should be a good track for us, and hopefully we can score the maximum points possible. After Lime Rock, which was a big disappointment, we need to look forward to and try not to give the points to the competition. There’s still long way to go with 80 points available, but we need to finish races.”

Giancarlo Fisichella: “I don’t have any idea about the track yet, unfortunately, so I hope to get the chance to go around the circuit with my engineer on Thursday morning and get an idea of it. I’m sure we will have video of a lap from on-board so it will be interesting to watch. I had a fantastic experience at Salt Lake and am very happy to come back again for this Mid Ohio race and have another go in the ALMS. The atmosphere was fantastic, the organisation of championship was really good, and I was impressed. Everything was positive and we were competitive.”

Toni Vilander: “I’ve seen some on-board footage and am relying on Youtube and that until we get to the track. It’s nice to learn a new track, but Mid Ohio looks like it has a few tricky corners so we’ll do the best we can with the track time we get. Once we’ve done a few laps, then we can use the data to compare what we have done with what the team knows and can help us with. I enjoy very much the atmosphere of the ALMS and really like racing there – that’s balanced with the time difference and the travelling, which can be tough, but that’s just part of it all.”

[Rob]

whooop great. Will be watching it live today at 14.30 on www.raidolemans.com. Be on motors next sunday afternoon.

Melo&Bruni really do need to get this win to keep the title within reach. Cannt wait.

[Rob]

ALMS - Fisichella returns to America

Maranello, 5 August - One month on from the race at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, this coming weekend sees Giancarlo Fisichella get back behind the wheel of one of the two Ferraris entered by the Risi Competizione team, for the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series, at the Mid Ohio circuit. Thirty four cars are entered, split into four categories, LMP, GT, LMPC and GTC, for a sprint race lasting two hours and forty five minutes, which gets underway at 3pm local time. Alongside the Roman driver in the F430 GT2 once again we find Finland's Toni Vilander, while the second car entered by the Houston Ferrari team will be crewed by Gimmi Bruni and Jaime Melo, who are currently third in the category classification, eighteen points off the leader.


http://www.ferrari.com/English/Scude...o_america.aspx

[Rob]

After 9 laps Toni Vilander and Jimmy Bruni has swapped places. Bruni now leading GT class by only 2.5seconds. Both Risi Ferraris got caught up in LMPC battle so got held up for 2 laps enabling the Vette of Beretta and the BMW of joey Hand to catch up the leaders. So there so good, but now being held up again by the number lpmc car. Risi on radio to race control to get the LMPC car out of way.