Antonio Ferrari Self-Quarantined to Eurointernational Workshop

Photo: Eurointernational

Eurointernational team principal Antonio Ferrari and four of his employees have self-quarantined to the team’s workshop in order to continue pre-season preparations for the upcoming European Le Mans Series season.

The Italian squad is based in Novara, which is 31 miles west of Milan and within the country’s ‘red zone’ that had been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak within Europe.

The entire country is in the second week of national emergency measures aimed to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has more than 35,000 reported cases and nearly 3,000 deaths in Italy as of Wednesday.

While the majority of the population are confined to their homes, a small ‘commando’ has been confined to the Eurointernational’s workshop according to Ferrari, who is now living out of his office.

“Here, all the shops are closed and only a few businesses operate,” Ferrari told Endurance-Info. “I live in Milan and I moved to the factory so that I didn’t have to travel.

“Some mechanics are with me and we live here.

“We will not give up. We know it will be long and it will not be the same for a while. We have experienced this coronavirus situation since our return from Thailand.”

The team, which returned to Italy after winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Am title under the Rick Ware Racing banner last month, has been working on preparing its new Ligier JS P230 Nissan LMP3 car that’s due to take part in the ELMS this year.

It is also awaiting on its freight to return from Asia.

“We received the Ligier JS P320 kit three weeks ago and each day, one can realize the work accomplished,” Ferrari said.

“We will have work in April with the return of equipment from Asia. We will have to prepare everything necessary for the recovery in the European Le Mans Series and Ligier Endurance Series.

“We now hope to be able to test in May.

“In this complicated time for everyone, I am happy to have the support of my drivers and my partners.”

In addition to its planned ELMS program in LMP3, with Harrison Newey the only confirmed driver thus far, the team also has an entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Newey, Adrian Tambay and Matthieu Vaxiviere as the likely drivers in a Ligier JS P217 Gibson.

Eurointernational will also be providing technical support to Rick Ware’s Riley Mk. 30 Gibson in the French endurance classic.

Laurent Mercier contributed to this report

John Dagys

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