Pier Guidi: Various Pit Stop Strategies ‘Not Easy’ to Follow

Photo: JEP/SRO

Alessandro Pier Guidi admitted that it was ‘not easy’ to follow the pit stop strategies of his competitors in Sunday’s Gulf 12 Hours, with the AF Corse driver only realizing they were in “good shape” by the eighth hour of the race.

Pier Guidi and fellow Ferrari factory drivers James Calado and Antonio Fuoco claimed victory in the Intercontinental GT Challenge season finale at Yas Marina Circuit, coming in the Ferrari 488’s final outing in a factory capacity.

The No. 71 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 held command of the around-the-clock enduro although the race saw the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos from Sainteloc Junior Team and Team Tressor Attempto as well as the No. 77 Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo exchange the lead at times.

This was because teams were on split strategies due to the nature of the race’s ten ‘Imposed Pit Stops’ that saw some cars pit as early as the race’s second lap to get a jump start on the series of mandated 1-minute and 40-second stops.

“We followed our strategy,” Pier Guidi told Sportscar365. “[We found] that it was better to pit early than later because you cannot pit during a Full Course Yellow.

“If you pitted early and had a safety car, you could close the gap for the people that didn’t pit. This is why our last pit stop was with 1 hour and 15 minutes [to go], exactly the time of the fuel [stint].

“Even for us it was not super easy to understand which car did the imposed pit stop or the quick pit stop as on the screen you just see the number of pit stops.

“Some of them were not. For example, if you run out of fuel and had to pit under Full Course Yellow, it didn’t count.

“It was difficult to follow but after five, six, seven hours we saw we were in good shape. The pace was strong.”

Fuoco echoed Pier Guidi’s comments about the rhythm of the race, which didn’t become fully apparent until past halfway.

“It was a bit difficult with the strategy to understand where we were until the end but I think overall it was quite positive,” he told Sportscar365.

“I think in the beginning of the race they were a bit quicker than us. Then through the race, even with the Audi, we were very close. I think it would have been a tough battle if they stayed on track.

“Unfortunately they didn’t finish the race. We were able to manage the pace a bit more at the end so we’re really happy.”

Calado: Ferrari 488 Was “Dominant Car in it’s Succession”

Calado, who along with Pier Guidi only arrived at Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday after collecting their FIA World Endurance GT drivers’ championship trophies at the FIA Gala in Bologna, paid tribute to the Ferrari 488 in its last factory outing.

“It’s been amazing,” he told Sportscar365. “We started the first year in 2016. From when it first left the garage, we knew it was a really nice car to drive.

“There’s been ups and downs, especially with BoP things but in general we’ve always been there or theres abouts, not necessarily the fastest in quali, probably hardly ever.

“But I think it’s just an amazing race car with such a good balance; it’s good on tires.

“The team pushed hard over these years to keep improving it because obviously now it’s an old car. They’ve done everything they could to try and maximize every little bit of time that there was available.

“I think it’s down to the team for designing what was such an amazing car. That’s the reason why we’ve had so much success.

“We’ve had a successful year in general and it was obviously the last race for this amazing car. It was truly a dominant car in its succession.”

Pier Guidi added: “It means a lot, it means that it was a winning car. We won so much with this car, with both spec, GTE and GT3.

“It’s always nice to close the circle with a victory. It’s been difficult but we really wanted to win.

“That’s why we flew at the last moment. We wanted to win this race. It was important for us and the 488, which was our car.”

Daniel Lloyd 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