The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT was forced to retire during the second round of the ALMS held in St. Petersburg, Florida, last Saturday due to a problem with the car's suspension. The car had started from the pole position.

Over the last weekend the Ferrari F430 GT was in action in prestigious international GT championships in Europe and North America; the GT2 machine was on the track in the second round of the American Mans Series at St Petersburg in Florida, while the first race of the Le Mans Series took place at the Catalunya circuit at Barcelona.

Although no victory was gained at the Spanish track, the result of the F430s participating in the Le Mans Series was positive. At the end of a fierce race and fighting for the lead, the Ferrari JMW, driven by Robert Bell and Gimmi Bruni, suddenly slowed down due to its worn tyres and was overtaken by Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz (Porsche 997). The appearance on the track the safety car, to remove Miguel Ramos' Aston Martin (P1) which was stuck on the track after a spin, might have changed things in favour of the Ferrari F430 GT, but it was already too late. The other four participating Ferraris ended the race one lap behind the English team's F430: third place went to the Hankook Farnbacher Team crewed by Allan Simonsen and Christian Montanari, followed by the FBR with Pierre Ehret/Antony Beltoise, Antonio Garcia/Leo Mansell from Team Modena and John Hartshorne/Johan Scheier/Romain Iannetta, from JMB Racing Team. The series' next race will be held at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit on 10th May.

However it was to be an unfortunate day for the Risi Competizione team in Florida after its stunning win at 12 Hours of Sebring, two weeks ago. The Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT was forced to retire in Florida, due to a problem with the car's suspension. The car had started from the pole position which was gained by Jaime Melo during the Friday qualifying session. The Ferrari, driven by Pierre Kaffer, led its class until it had to come back to the box on lap 27, after 35 minutes in the race. The race was won by the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister behind the wheel, followed by the Milner/Müller with BMW and James/Farnbacher in the Panoz Esperante, while the Ferrari team from Houston claimed third place in the Championship's overall classification. Now the team is getting ready for the next race, to be held at Long Beach, California, on Saturday 18th April.