Via Italia Racing Ferrari Plans a Return to 24 Hours of Daytona
Weekend race will mark Ferrari’s third consecutive run in GTD class.
A Ferrari will start from pole position in the GTD class at 24 Hours of Daytona for the third consecutive year. Marcos Gomes drove the 488 GT3 of Via Italia Racing into first place in the 24 Hours of Daytona qualifying. Andrea Bertolini, Francisco Longo and Victor Franzoni will join him for the race. Gomes’ time of 1:45.257 is also a new Daytona track record. The 488 GTE of Risi Competizione took fourth in the GTLM class with Davide Rigon who will share the car in the race with Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Miguel Molina.
GTD
Qualifying in the GTD class started slowly, but by the third lap the cars had already started to improve their performance. Cooper MacNeil, with the 488 GT3 of Scuderia Corsa, was the first to clock a decent time in 1:48.470, although this was soon beaten by a number of rivals including Mathias Lauda, who lapped in 1:46.131. Gomes secured the lead with a time of 1:45.712. The last few minutes were thrilling, with excellent times also recorded by Mercedes, Acura and Lamborghini. However, in the end Gomes went on all out on the attack, clinching first place for the 488 GT3 of Via Italia Racing with a new track record of 1:45.257. Ben Keating’s Mercedes finished in second, followed by the Acura of Trent Hindman. The other 488s were placed as follows: Spirit of Race no. 51 was sixth with Mathias Lauda (1:45.852), who will be driving in the race with Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Daniel Serra; 16th place went to the 488 GT3 no. 63 of Scuderia Corsa qualified by MacNeil and also driven by Toni Vilander, Jeff Westphal and Dominik Farnbacher.
GTLM
In the GTLM class, Rigon took the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GTE of Risi Competizione. He was up among the leaders from the start, holding second for a long time. In the end the Italian driver improved his time to 1:42.712, which was enough for a place on the second row with the fourth best time. Nick Tandy’s Porsche took pole position in 1:42.257. In the race Rigon will share the cockpit of the 488 GTE no. 62 with the world champions Pier Guidi and Calado and Spanish official Ferrari driver Molina. Overall pole went to Oliver Jarvis with the Mazda in 1:33.685. The race kicks off Saturday, Jan. 26.