The Risi Competizione 458 Grand Am faces an uphill battle at Daytona

#62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458: Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella, Raphael Matos

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Maranello, 27 January – It’s the second day of practice for the Daytona 24 Hours which gets underway at 15.30 on Saturday. Qualifying to decide grid positions were held on Thursday, while there were two practice sessions today, one of 45 minutes and one of an hour, giving the drivers more time to get to grips with the track in preparation for what is shaping up to be a complicated race, especially because of traffic and the danger of collisions which are a regular feature at Daytona.

In the morning, news came through that the Risi Competizione crew of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gimmi Bruni and Raphael Matos will start from the back of the grid tomorrow, after setting the fifth fastest time, three tenths off the quickest GT car. Gimmi Bruni, who was driving at the time, saw his times cancelled because the height off the ground of his car did not comply with the regulations. The second 458 Grand Am run by the Houston based team (Olivier Beretta-Andrea Bertolini-Toni Vilander) will start eleventh, having opted for a more conservative strategy, saving the car for the marathon event.

Of the other Ferraris entered, the AIM Autorsort FXDD 458 produced a great performance in qualifying, second in the GT class and today it ran in only one of the practice sessions, preferring to fine tune its set-up. The AF Waltrip car is 26th on the grid and was seventh fastest in free practice, taking part in both sessions.