13.06.2003 80TH LE MANS 24 HOURS: RISI COMPETIZIONE HAPPY WITH QUALIFYING AND PREPARATIONS FOR RACE
| Risi Competizione Ferrari
360 drivers Terry Borcheller, Anthony Lazzaro and Ralf Kelleners were kept
busy on Thursday evening preparing the Calpont sponsored car for every
aspect of the 24-Hours. "We want to re-create every section of the race
tonight" said team owner Giuseppe Risi. "We want to do full tank tests,
softer tyres for night conditions, setting up the lights, we even ran the
car out of fuel so that we know how far it will go on reserve."
The silver ACEMCO Automotive Ferrari 360 assisted by Risi Competizione was responding well to adjustments to the suspension, but Jeff Giangrande's team had a setback when Butch Leitzinger went off the road at the Ford Chicane and backed the car into a guardrail, damaging bodywork and rearwing. The team decided that although damage was not too severe, they would take their time effecting a good repair for the weekend's race. Anthony Lazzaro "Every rookie will agree with me if I say that driving at Le Mans is a fantastic experience, specially at night! I wish I could have had more time in the car, but I think I will get used to the rhythm of le Mans very quickly. Driving double stints, especially at night, do not really worry me as temperatures are then relatively cool but it is more the mental aspect of it all." Ralf Kelleners "I think for all teams participating in Le Mans it is the highlight of the year. It is the most professional race of the year, with all efforts going at the full 100%. It is the first Le Mans for me in a GT car and I must admit I have more difficulty to drive this car quick then I had with the Audi R8. I know how it is to overtake the GT cars but so far I am not overly worried by being overtaken by the Prototypes and the GTS." Terry Borcheller "The track is good. I got some good clean laps. Together with Anthony and Ralf we agree with the set up of the car. Only Ralf sometimes has slightly different ideas on the set-up but the feed-back we get from him once he gets out of the car is usually very positive. The car rolls a little more than I would like but it has a lot of grip. That's better than the other way round!" Guiseppe Risi "I am very happy with the car. We have completed the full race set-up today and have established a real good balance between fuel consumption and tyre wear. We all had a good day." Jeff Giangrande "We are a new team running a new car, but with very experienced drivers. We learn a lot from them. After Butch's shunt we repaired the damage and used the rest of the qualifying session to set up the car for the race." |
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