The #82 Risi Competizione
Ferrari F430 GT will start the 78th Le Mans 24 Hours
tomorrow afternoon from pole position in the LMGT2
category. The Italian sports car's best time, set by
Gimmi Bruni with a lap of 3.59.233, on Wednesday was
simply unattainable for everyone in the class during the
final session held at night time and so the stunning
"rosso corsa" number 82 car will start ahead of its
rivals in its class, including Porsche, BMW and
Corvette, in the most prestigious endurance race in
motor sport.The
task of aiming for an incredible third consecutive class
victory in the seventy-eighth running of the Le Mans 24
Hours rests in the hands of a top-line crew made up of
the experienced Italian driver, his usual ALMS team-mate
at Risi Competizione, Jaime Melo, and Pierre Kaffer,
which has proved to be a winning formula in the last two
races.
Behind the F430 GT run
by Houston, Texas based Ferrari dealer Giuseppe Risi on
the grid comes the two factory-entered Corvettes, while
the only AF Corse entered F430GT still in the running,
the example crewed by an all-star line-up comprising of
current Scuderia Ferrari F1 test driver Giancarlo
Fisichella, tifosi legend Jean Alesi, and rapid
sports car pilot Toni Vilander, set the fourth fastest
time with a lap time around the famous circuit of
3.59.837.
“I am very happy with
the result of qualifying,” said Scuderia Ferrari’s
official third driver, Fisichella, on what will be his
debut in the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race when the
lights finally turn to green at exactly 3:00 pm tomorrow
afternoon. “We did a great job as a team and we are in
shape to do well in the race. It’s a shame that because
of a small technical problem we were not able to make
the most of the track when it was at its best to do a
time: we had the potential to go for pole. Jean and I
have adapted well to conditions that are unusual for us,
getting to grips with the track in the dark.”
Two other F430GT cars
will take part in the classic race. Car #89 is entered
by the Hankook Farnbacher team and will be driven by
Simonsen, Farnbacher and Keen; this trio will start from
ninth place having posted a best lap of 4.02.427.
Finally the #83 car is the second Risi Competizione
entry in the race and it will be in the hands of Krohn,
Jonsson and van de Poele. They will start from twelfth
spot in LMGT2 after posting a best lap of 4.03.959.
Unfortunately, the second AF Corse entry will not make
the starting grid tomorrow, as this F430GT, being driven
this week by Perez Companc, Russo and Salo, was
seriously damaged in an accident with Perez Companc at
the wheel in Wednesday’s session and was adjudged beyond
repair.
