Risi Ferrari Scores Comfortable GTD Pro Victory

Ferrari scored victory in the GTD Pro class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 came out on top in a race of attrition.

Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon took top honors by a lap ahead of the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, notching up a third major endurance win for Ferrari in the space of 12 months following its 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nürburgring 24 triumphs.

As other cars lost time with problems, the No. 62 Risi entry had put a lap on the entire field until the 15th and final caution, triggered by the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 setting on fire and coming to a stop near the pit exit.

That intervention allowed the AO Porsche shared by Michael Christensen, Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx to get back on terms after an earlier brake change had put them a lap down on the Risi Ferrari.

However, when the race went green for the final time with 32 minutes left on the clock, Heinrich had no answer for the pace of Serra, who cruised away to the tune of some 34 seconds at the finish, although Serra was classified a lap ahead as Heinrich saw the checkered flag first.

Completing the podium was the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, which had been a contender for victory until suffering brake dramas with a little over two hours to go.

Bryan Sellers had been within touching distance of the Risi Ferrari when the team brought in the car for a brake change, but an incorrectly-fitted disc prompted the team to bring the car back to the pits a second time.

Sheldon van der Linde lost further time with an off caused by an ABS problem linked to the change.

The manufacturers bringing new or updated GT3 models to Daytona endured races to forget, with the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Ford Mustang GT3 and the revised Aston Martin Vantage GT3 all encountering numerous problems.

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ two GTD Pro entries were running competitively until Sunday morning, when the No. 3 car was struck by a cracked oil tank, dropping six laps off the lead, while the No. 4 car lost 17 laps due to power steering troubles.

The best of the new Z06 GT3.Rs at the finish was the No. 3 car of Alexander Sims, Antonio Garcia and Dani Juncadella in fifth, behind the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin that was delayed in a night-time incident with a LMP2 car.

Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ cars dropped down the order earlier in the race as both GTD Pro Mustang GT3s had to pit to address rear bodywork issues, with the No. 64 losing further time in an incident with the No. 4 Corvette that also eliminated the GTD No. 55 Proton Competition car.

The No. 65 Ford was a late retirement with an unspecified mechanical problem with around two hours to go.

Many of the pre-race favorites with more established GT3 cars also encountered dramas.

First to hit trouble was the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, which was in the lead group early on before Mike Conway hit the No. 20 High Class Racing Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car that spun just in front of him at Turn 2.

The No. 14 car sustained heavy front-end damage and spent more than an hour behind the wall while that was repaired, but Vasser Sullivan ultimately retired the car early Sunday morning due to overheating concerns.

By this stage, the SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo had already dropped out of the race, having initially gone behind the wall with fuel pressure issues.

Pfaff Motorsports likewise withdrew its No. 9 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo that had enjoyed spells in the class lead before dropping back due to a wheel bearing failure, although it was a powertrain problem that finally ended the team’s run.

Winward Mercedes Beats AF Corse Ferrari in Tight GTD Race

Victory in the GTD class went the way of the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Morad, Indy Dontje, Russell Ward and Philip Ellis after Morad fended off a late charge from the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari of Miguel Molina.

Molina, who shared the AF car with Kei Cozzolino, Francois Heriau and Simon Mann, had made his way up from fifth in class in the closing stages, but the factory Ferrari driver lost out in a straight duel with Morad after the final restart, falling 2.731 seconds short at the finish.

Completing the class podium was another Ferrari squad, the No. 34 Conquest Racing machine of Alessandro Balzan, Manny Franco, Albert Costa and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli.

Mercedes-AMG’s other contenders for the category win both dropped back in the closing stages, as Kenton Koch brought home the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports entry in fifth behind another Ferrari, the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione car, while the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes was hit by a late penalty for entering a closed pit.

The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus was another entry that was in the mix for the class win until its fire, which occurred while Parker Thompson was at the wheel of the car he had qualified on pole.

RESULTS: Rolex 24 at Daytona