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Cetilar Confirms IMSA Endurance Cup Program in GTD

Italian squad switches to IMSA for Michelin Endurance Cup program with Ferrari in GTD…

Photo: Fabio Taccola/Cetilar

Cetilar Racing will take part in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup next year, having confirmed a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 entry for Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco in the GT Daytona class.

The AF Corse-run operation will bring Ferrari back into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship paddock on a semi-regular basis with the program that will also include Alessio Rovera for the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

It will mark the Italian squad’s second Rolex 24 attempt after contesting this year’s enduro with its Dallara P217 Gibson in the LMP2 class.

The four-race program will replace its involvement in the FIA World Endurance Championship, which it has contested since 2019-20 season.

“The decision to participate in the four most important endurance races of the IMSA championship next year is the result of several factors,” Lacorte said.

“The first and most important being the desire to live a new championship as protagonists. For Cetilar Racing it will be a high-level, stimulating challenge, rich in history, tradition, and interest.

“The 24 Hours of Daytona of last January, which we took part in with the LMP2 prototype, was a very nice experience that left a sour taste in our mouths.

“We therefore promised ourselves that we would come back, and in doing so we decided to extend our presence to the other great classics of the stars-spangled calendar, which we look forward to facing in a very competitive category such as GT.

“I want to highlight that ours is not a farewell to the FIA World Endurance Championship, but only a goodbye. Finally, I warmly welcome Alessio Rovera, a young and undoubtedly talented driver, who will join us for the Daytona race.”

Sernagiotto added: “I also believe that with such a competitive crew and the inclusion of Alessio Rovera in the team for the 24 Hours of Daytona, as well as the extraordinary support of AF Corse, we can certainly have our say in terms of absolute performance, and we know well how competitive Ferrari is in this type of races.

“I’m aware that it won’t be easy, due to both the kind of American races and the fact that we will be facing tracks that are conceptually different from the European ones. But the experience at the beginning of 2021 keeps me very positive.

“I would like to thank Roberto Lacorte for his vision and his great passion.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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