Photo: Halston Pitman/AIM Autosport
Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell will make the move to Scuderia Corsa in 2015, having signed to drive the team’s flagship No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 in the GT Daytona class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
The longtime pairing took part in the majority of this year’s championship with fellow Ferrari outfit AIM Autosport, following victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Level 5 Motorsports. Bell and Sweedler went on to capture the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
“As winners of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as well as the North American Endurance Cup, Bill and Townsend were some of our most formidable competitors in the GT-Daytona class,” said team principal Giacomo Mattioli.
“We are very excited that they will be joining us at Scuderia Corsa… After competing against Bill and Townsend over the past year, we are thrilled that they will be in our Ferrari and not competing against us!”
While having initially evaluated a move to the GT Le Mans class for the new Pro-Am Akin Cup, Sweedler elected to remain in GTD, although moving to the Los Angeles-based operation.
“Giacomo Mattioli’s dedication to building the best Ferrari racing program as well as the best Ferrari dealerships offers the ideal place to maximize our racing and commercial sponsorship goals going forward,” Sweedler said.
“We really enjoy racing in the TUDOR Championship and competing against the best drivers and teams in sports car racing and we hope to bring another championship to Ferrari in 2015.”
Bell added: “Scuderia Corsa won two races last year, they are a championship winning team, and as a bonus for me it is great to be joining a team that is also based in Los Angeles where I live.”
Bell and Sweedler replace the team’s 2014 full-season drivers Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal, although Westphal is believed to be still be part of Scuderia Corsa’s efforts next year, potentially as a third driver for the endurance races.
The status of Balzan, who took the team to the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series GT championship, is unclear at this point.
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