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Continuity
and consistency are the key themes central to Risi
Competizione’s attack on the 2008 American Le Mans
Series which opens with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of
Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on March 12-15.
The
Championship-winning team will be fielding two Ferrari 430
GTs, cars 61 and 62, in what promises to be the most
competitive and challenging GT2 season to date. At Sebring -
plus the Lone Star Grand Prix, round four of the ALMS, at
Houston and the 24 Hours of Le Mans - Risi Competizione will
once again be renewing its racing relationship with Krohn
Racing, also headquartered in Houston, Texas.
“Krohn Racing’s
participation with our program in 2007 was very rewarding
for everyone,” said Team Principal Giuseppe Risi. “They
certainly had a successful first season with Ferrari, taking
second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans—a very considerable
achievement by any standard. This year, with more experience
in the car and in the ALMS series, we expect them to be even
more successful.”
At the very
heart of the team are reigning GT2 Driver Champions, Jaime
Melo and Mika Salo, who will be starting their third season
of racing (second full season) with Risi Competizione. The
duo last year delivered the most thrilling and closest
finish in the history of the Sebring classic, a victory they
aim to repeat in 2008 but with a little more margin than the
0.202 seconds that was between their no. 62 Risi Ferrari and
the second-placed Porsche 911 of Flying Lizard Motorsports.
Melo and Salo
will be joined at Sebring by Ferrari regular, Gianmaria
Bruni – himself no stranger to the team. The 26-year-old
Italian competed for Risi in four rounds of the 2007
American Le Mans Series, qualifying on GT2 pole in Detroit
and taking two podium finishes. The trio will present a
formidable line up, but the level of competition from
amongst other Ferrari runners and Porsches is expected to be
equally strong.
Mika Salo said:
“We have three drivers who all know the team and the car
well, and we are all quick so I know we can do well. Our
car is reliable and well prepared by the Risi team so we
[three] will just drive and do our best. I think this year’s
race will be just as hard as last year; there are a few more
Ferraris but that’s a good thing. Winning is fun, but
winning great races like Sebring is even more fun! We will
race to win everywhere this year; we start the year as
champions and have the same team as last year so our
opposition have to be a lot stronger than us to beat us.”
Another key
element in the continuity theme is the team’s racing
relationship with Krohn Racing, the highlight of which was
the second place GT2 finish by the Risi Competizione
prepared, Krohn green Ferrari at the 2007 24 Hours of Le
Mans. Tracy Krohn, Nic Jönsson and Eric van der Poele, all
full-season drivers in the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car
Series, will be looking for a strong finish in the 12-hour
season-opener. Swedish-born and Buford, Georgia-based
Jönsson has been Krohn’s team mate since he started racing
six years ago and both he and the highly experienced
Belgian, van der Poele, have a wealth of experience from
which Krohn can draw upon.
Tracy Krohn said
of his renewed association with Risi: “Giuseppe Risi has a
first class and a ‘first in class’ organization. His crews
have been with him for a long time and there has been very
little turnover. These are all the things you look for in a
quality organization. My schedule does not allow for a full
time effort in both series so we have aligned ourselves with
what we think is an excellent race team and a quality
individual leader in Giuseppe Risi!
“I’m pleased to
be coming back to Sebring with Nic, and of course with
Eric. He and Nic have similar driving styles in that they
are both very focused on the end result and both extremely
good with their input and setup for the cars. It is a
pleasure and very much an advantage for me to be able to
drive with both of them. Their assistance and coaching has
proven to be a big factor in my performance. I feel very
relaxed this year and ready for the season, due in large
measure to the fact that I know my team mates are making a
huge difference in the team and my performance.”
The 2008 American Le Mans
Series season opens with the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of
Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March
15. The race will start at 10 am ET and will be broadcast
live by SPEED, which will begin its coverage at 9:30 am
MotorsTV, Fox Latin America, 7TV in Russia and Greenlight
Television will provide international coverage.
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