Risi Competizione, the ALMS 2006 GT2 Champions, took up where they left off in the American Le Mans Series last year by taking pole in yesterday’s qualifying for the 55th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Jaime Melo, the FIA GT2 Champion who was the fastest GT2 driver in ALMS in 2006 driving for Risi Competizione, took the Rosso Corsa 430GT Ferrari around the bumpy, twisting, 3.7 mile, 17 turn Sebring International Raceway course in a new qualifying lap record of 2.02.439.

The result did not surprise Team Managing Director Giuseppe Risi, who said that “we have a year of experience with the 430GT behind us and Jaime was very, very good in qualifying for us last year. We have done a lot of work on the car and we certainly didn’t expect to be slow.  I like the results so far, but this year, ALMS GT2 is going to be incredibly competitive, so we cannot let up.”

Second in GT2 qualifying was the 430GT from Petersen/White Lightning, driven by Tomas Enge, who put in a best lap of 2.02.701; Petersen/White Lightning campaigned a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR last year in ALMS GT2.
 

Third was the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports, driven by Jörg Bergmeister who clocked a lap of 2.03.043. The team’s Krohn Racing 430GT qualified in 6th place, at 2.03.811, with young Colin Braun, driving at Sebring for the first time, behind the wheel. “We’re glad to take the pole and encouraged by the new record,” said Team Manager Dave Sims. “But it’s a very long race on one of the most testing courses in the world, against the very best in the world. It’s a great start to the weekend and it should be a good show for everyone.”

Risi Competizione is a Houston-based sports car racing team. The team is sponsored by Boost/Motorola, Michelin, Boardwalk Auto Group, Ferrari of Silicon Valley, Putnam Leasing, Forza2Motorsport. For more information please go to www.risicompetizione.com