The pair of Risi Competizione machines will be complemented by another pair of 458 GrandAm racers entered by the crack Italian outfit AF Corse, giving Ferrari a very strong line-up with which to shoot for GT honours against what is set to be a bumper and highly professional field. Next year's Daytona 24 Hours will take place from 26 to 29 January at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway.

The Houston, Texas-based Risi Competizione team, run by the hugely experienced Giuseppe Risi, will benefit from the support of Ferrari of Silicon Valley (California) and Ferrari of Ontario (Canada), two North American dealers who are also entrants in the Maranello marque’s one make 'Challenge Trofeo' series. The driver line-ups for the two Risi Competizione cars will be revealed shortly.

Also taking part in the famous endurance race will be the AF Corse team, which dominated the Le Mans Series this years as well as the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the FIA GT3 series. At Daytona, one of their 458 GranAm machines will be crewed by Michael Waltrip and Travis Pastrana while the other will feature two endurance racing veterans in the shape of Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman.

The brand new 458 GrandAm is closely based on the FIA GT3 category version of the 458 Italia, the latest in a long line of racing iterations of Ferrari sports cars aimed at American racing series. The cars are built to the GrandAm regulations and development of its modifications focus chiefly on gearbox, suspension, tyres and brakes. The 458 GrandAm has proved to be very reliable and quick right from the very first test, maintaining the qualities inherited from the road-going version on which it is based, which all augurs well for its race debut in Daytona.