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Ferrari’s adventure in the 51st Daytona 24
Hours ended with one car on the podium and
three places in the top ten, at the end of
the legendary endurance race held at
Florida’s Daytona International Speedway -
but no victory on the 458's return to this
race. |
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Ferrari’s adventure in the 51st Daytona 24 Hours ended
yesterday with one car on the podium and three places in
the top ten, at the end of the legendary endurance race
held at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway - but
the was to be no victory on the 458's return to this
race.
The long and closely contested race began on Saturday
afternoon and the 458 GrandAm was taking part in the
event for the second time, after last year’s debut
appearance.
Of the six cars flying the Maranello marque’s colours in
the United States, the best result came from AIM
Autosport, the reigning Grand AM champions with a crew
made up of Emil Assentato, Anthony Lazzaro, Nick Longhi
and Craig Wilkins, who took the third place on the
podium on the very last lap, behind the two Sport
Customer Racing Audis.
Fourth at the flag, the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari in the
hands of Monegasque driver Olivier Beretta, along with
an Italian trio comprising of Alessandro Balzan, Marco
Frezza and Alessandro Pieguidi, was very competitive in
this team’s first attempt at this race, although, with
four hours remaining they were hit with a penalty
because of a collision after the umpteenth appearance of
the safety car, which compromised the Los Angeles based
team’s legitimate aspirations to victory.
The AF Waltrip and
Extreme Speed Motorsport 458 GrandAm entries finished
eighth and ninth respectively after 24 hours, while the
second AIM Autosport car, run in conjunction with
Canadian dealer Remo Ferri and crewed by Giancarlo
Fisichella, Max Papis, Toni Vilander and Jeff Segal had
to retire.
In fact, right from
the start this no. 61 car suffered with electrical
problems which spoilt its chances of getting to the
podium, although the crew showed great potential and
usually were amongst the fastest on track.
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