Risi Competizione is starting to feel right at home at the new Miller Motorsports Park right outside Salt Lake City, home of the inaugural Utah Grand Prix. On a hot Friday afternoon, driver Jaime Melo climbed into the Rosso Corsa Risi Competizione F430GT and put the car he will share with teammate Mika Salo in the race later today on the pole, with a 2.44.024 lap time. The Ferrari was followed by Peterson Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche driven by Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister, which was a little more than a second behind. Third place in the GT2 qualifying race went to Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler, driving the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Commenting on the new track, Melo said that “I like the track very much. For our car, it is very good. We are fast in the slower parts. We found a very good setup from the first session and have kept improving. The team has done a good job after Lime Rock. I’m happy to have done this. We should have a very good race.”  The pole at Utah is the second one this season for the Risi Competizione team and Jaime Melo. The Brazilian was also on the pole for the inaugural Lone Star Grand Prix in Houston, earlier in the season.

Melo continued his reflections on the season and the competition by saying that “the Porsches are quicker on acceleration. We just have to be very careful at the beginning. For sure, it will be a very difficult race. If you go off the line, it will be difficult to keep the line. It should be very, very exciting.”

With Jaime Melo and Mika Salo back for the Utah race, the car immaculately prepped, a new track, and high expectations, the Risi Competizione F430GT has been the fastest GT2 car at Miller all week. “We have a quick car. We like the track and we’re very positive about our chances this weekend,” said Team Managing Director Giuseppe Risi. “But make no mistake, it will be a typical GT2 battle, with Porsche and Panoz both racing hard. This is a spectacular new track, with great facilities, and the show for spectators and the television audience should be incredible.”
 

Throughout the first five races of the 2006 ALMS season, the Risi Competizione prepared cars have proven to be very fast. In Houston and at Utah, the Risi Competizione F430GT has taken the pole position; at Lime Rock, the Ferrari Silicon Valley/R.Ferri Competizione F430GT, a stable mate to the Risi Competizione car, took the pole with series newcomer Toni Vilander behind the wheel. The competition in the GT2 class is fierce; a different team has won each of the first four races.

“This is a very good track for us,” Dave Sims, Risi Competizione Team Manager, noted. “The Michelin tires are doing a very good job for us, the drivers like the track and the challenge it presents, and our setup has been good right out of the box. Now, we have to take on the challenge of a very determined group of competitors and see if we can’t emerge victorious. It would be a glorious way to end the first half of the season.”

The American Le Mans Series Utah Grand Prix, to be run later today (Saturday, July 15th, will be the first racing event to be held at the newly constructed Miller Motorsports Park. One of the longest circuits on the ALMS schedule this year at 4.5 miles; it features 24 turns and a 3500 foot straightaway. The Utah Grand Prix is the fifth of ten races in the 2006 ALMS season. The inaugural Utah Grand Prix will start at 6:00PM local time, and end two hours and forty-five minutes (2:45) later.