Risi Competizione 2016 Series Updates, IMSA and Le Mans

Fully agree on the SHOUT OUT for FORD!! I have a very close friend who owns the previous Gen Ford GT. He kept getting more and more depressed about their start to the season. I kept telling him two things.

First, Ford will win soon!

Second, this class is much tougher than most realize. Neither Ford nor anyone else can come in and steamroller everybody.

Next up is Le Mans. That is the big one. Four Ford GT's and only two Ferraris. But Ford also has to worry about Corvette, Porsche, and Aston Martin. Fourteen cars in the class and all are capable of winning. It doesn't get any harder than that.

 

Here is the entry list.
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Houston, Texas (May 11, 2016)...

Risi Competizione today announced the driver line-up for the 84th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans race, scheduled for June 18-19. In addition to 2016 season regulars, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, Matteo Malucelli will join Risi Comp at the 2016 running of the twice-around-the-clock French endurance classic in the new Ferrari 488 GTE.

The team will compete with the No. 82 Risi Competizione-entered Rosso Corsa (racing red) 488GTE in the GTE-Pro class for Team Principal Giuseppe Risi at the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO)-sanctioned race.

"We are pleased to announce the finalization of our driver line up of Ferrari drivers for this year's Le Mans race," said Giuseppe Risi. "With the tough competition we expect this year, having proficient Ferrari drivers is the only way to compete. Between our team's history at Le Mans and that of our drivers, we have a great deal of experience and hope to parlay that into success."

The Risi Competizione team will be making its 12th entry over seven years at the renowned French sports car race. Risi's history at Le Mans includes three victories and three additional podium finishes. Fisichella, who has six Le Mans appearances, and Vilander, who has seven, have co-driven to victory twice, in 2012 and 2014. Malucelli will be making his sixth appearance at the Circuit de la Sarthe.


"I am very happy to be returning to the Risi Competizione team," said Italian Matteo Malucelli. "We had some good races together in 2013 and I have some business to finish in a Risi Ferrari. Driving with Giancarlo again, and with Toni, at Le Mans will be very good. This is a great team with good Ferrari drivers and I'm very happy to be part of it."

Risi Competizione won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in three of six years. The first appearance of the Risi team at Le Mans was in 1998 when Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez won the LMP-1 class in the Ferrari 333 SP. Risi Competizione collected back-to-back victories in the Ferrari 430 GT in 2008 with Jamies Melo, Mika Salo and Gianmaria Bruni and again in 2009 with Melo, Salo and Pierre Kaffer. The team also made appearances in 2003, 2007 and their last entry was in 2010. Risi Competizione entered two cars at La Circuit de la Sarthe five of the six years it competed.

For more information, please contact us or go to Risi Competizione | a Experienced, Consistent, Ferrari Major Race Winner.
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My personal current plan is to arrive at Le Mans on Wednesday or Thursday. I will then be with the team through the weekend. I will try to get out some updates while there, but have no idea what internet access will be available. I'm sure Barbara will be doing press releases that whole week, so subscibing to those might be safest!!

It appears that the WEC/ACO Balance of Perfomance may be a little more favorable for our car than the current IMSA BOP. Also, the Michelins used at Le Mans seem to suit mid engined cars a little better than front engined, so the Corvettes might suffer a little. They are super tough, so any help on our side is welcome.

The Aston Martins are a bit of an unknown. They have made a lot of aero changes this year, mainly to reduce drag, which is a big deal at Le Mans. Also, they are on Dunlops that probably suit their car better than the Michelins might have.

The European Ford GT's have been running strong, but the Ferraris seem to have great pace in WEC, as well.

Stay tuned!

 

Don't miss it!!!
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Very nice!

Are you going to Le Mans this year?

 

(Houston, Texas, May 31, 2016)...

Rick Mayer, race engineer of the Risi Competizione No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro Le Mans race team, takes a look ahead at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day, June 5, 2016, at the classic Circuit de la Sarthe.

Pilots of the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 for the Le Mans Test are Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy), Toni Vilander (Finland) and Matteo Mulucelli (Italy).

General:
The track is mostly public roads, except for the event days. The whole circuit is not available to test at any other time. The Le Mans test day is one of the most important test days of any series, given the uniqueness of the venue. This time of year Le Mans weather can be extremely variable: wet, dry, hot or cold. We need to maximize track time to understand the tire options in the different conditions, finalize the race event starting setup and get all the drivers comfortable and familiar with the many alarms, buttons, dials and switches.

The circuit is 8.5 miles long and just under 4 minutes per lap for the GTEs. Telemetry and radio coverage is typically not 100% with a circuit this large. You can lose touch with where the car is on the track unless you judiciously time every lap with your stop watch. It takes nearly 15 minutes just to do one timed lap if you include the 'out' and 'in' laps.

We have a total of eight (8) hours of practice time for the test day, but the number of actual practice laps is low in comparison to a normal USA (or European) sprint race because of the long lap time. It almost always rains in testing and/or the race, just hope you have the setup and other essential testing sorted in the dry running.

Competition:
This will be the most competitive GTE-Pro class ever in this year's Le Mans, with Ferrari, Ford, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche and Aston Martin, all fielding multiple cars with factory supported teams and drivers. There are no weak teams or drivers; these are the best of the best in every respect. It is unlikely any cars will show their true pace as the BoP (Balance of Performance) can be adjusted between the test and the race. All the manufacturers are hoping to keep what they have or get a BoP advantage for the race week.

Setup: First, you need a super reliable car; you have to finish to win. It needs to be comfortable for all the drivers with no unpredictable handling tendencies. If the car is good in the Porsche curves, it is probably good everywhere and that's a reliable gauge. The aero setup for Le Mans is like nowhere else we race. Every car has a special homologated Le Mans-only aero package to reduce the downforce and drag for competitiveness and equality. The long straights here are so important, with three of them being over a mile long and two more over 4000 feet. Teams will trim downforce to reduce drag for straight-line speed. You need a good platform for the high speeds and change of directions, so the setup is on the stiff side; there is only one slow corner at Le Mans. The majority of the track is smooth (surprisingly for every day roads) so there is not usually a grip issue. Additionally the track gains grip in the test as the track rubbers in. Of course, that is only if the rain doesn't wash the rubber off! You always consider rain in the setup; seldom is the race totally dry.


Test Day Methodology:
Teams only have two 4-hour sessions with a 1-hour break. It is a full day of running. In the first hour the track will be low grip, dusty and dirty on the public street parts of the circuit. You need to get a handle on the setup at the test. During the event week you need to be in 'race mode' and concentrate on race prep (car, drivers, equipment, crew, pit work, etc.) and not setup. All the Michelin shod GTE-Pro cars will have three (3) dry tire options to choose from, and multiple damp to full wet tire options; understanding the 'windows' these tires all work best in and cross-over points will be the main goal of this test. We will try and do long runs on tires, a stint being about an hour, to see how the balance changes and what the lap time degradation is throughout the run. We need to determine when and if it is advantageous to multi-stint tires in the race. Le Mans technical regulations only allow a limited number of dry tire sets to be used in the race. The quantity is not enough to change tires on every stop for the whole race, so we will have to multi-stint tires.

If teams have a good test with a comfortable reliable car and reasonably happy drivers (drivers are rarely ALL happy), then you can start working on race event planning and minor fine tuning of the car, drivers and crew for the race week.

For more information, please go to Risi Competizione | a Experienced, Consistent, Ferrari Major Race Winner.
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Glad to hear you are going. I leave in about ten days.

Between the battles with the P1 cars and the really tough group in GTE PRO, it should be incredible.

There are about a dozen cars in GTE PRO that are capable of winning, so we are going to need a lot of luck! The car is fast, the drivers and team are all great, but so are the other teams. When you see the driver lineup in GTE PRO, it is shocking!

Sadly, I probably won't see you there, but have a great time! I may try to do some posts while there, but suspect it will be difficult.

 

No, I was not involved in those cars.

Great cars, though!

 

Hah! Very hard to be smart all the time.... At least the car number is right.

 

Thanks for the live timing post!!

 

(Le Mans, June 6, 2016)...

Rick Mayer, race engineer of the Risi Competizione No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro Le Mans race team, reflects on his thoughts about the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day this past weekend at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Pilots of the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 for the Le Mans Test were Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy), Toni Vilander (Finland) and Matteo Mulucelli (Italy), who made their scheduled rounds driving the American team's Prancing Horse.

Race Engineer, Rick Mayer, on the Le Mans Test:
"We successfully completed our test day agenda and are ready for Le Mans event week testing to begin.

Test day weather was cool, overcast and mid-60 degrees Fahrenheit ambient. The weather was very consistent for the entire eight hours of track time with the skies being overcast throughout. This kept track temperatures cool but limited our testing options; we still have a compound variable to answer in event testing if the weather changes.

Our starting base setup was very good. We only made very small changes throughout the test day. We want to thank AF Corsa, Michelotto and Ferrari for their valuable Le Mans specific test information and setup suggestions for a base, low downforce setup. The collaboration between Risi Competizione, AF Corsa, Michelotto and Ferrari is as if we were a three-car team with a single goal of having Ferrari win Le Mans.

This multi-team collaboration is rare in racing, as we are also competitors, and it's certainly an advantage for the GTE-Pro Ferrari effort to have three top cars with top drivers and crews all capable of winning.

The drivers are all very happy with the chassis and aero balance, performance and pace of the car in the test. Our goal was to work on the car setup for the race and not push for a qualifying lap time. All three drivers got up to speed very quickly; they have all raced at Le Mans recently in competitive Ferrari's fighting for Le Mans wins or have won Le Mans in class. They know what is required to win this race and were focused on a team approach to the test. We finished our run plan early and stopped before the end of the test session.

The crew is hard at work changing engines, examining the test components and preparing the car for the race. We are in 'race mode' now. This week will consist of car prep, pit stop practice, spares preparation and getting some rest before the long week to follow.

We feel we have a competitive car and starting setup. But the ACO can still make a BoP (Balance of Performance) adjustment before the race event and between the qualifying sessions and the race. At this point, most teams probably have something in reserve so we likely won't know the true pace of the competition until after the start of the race.

We are very optimistic and looking forward to having a competitive Le Mans. All we need now is a little luck as all the other components seem to be in place."

For more information, please contact us or go to Risi Competizione | a Experienced, Consistent, Ferrari Major Race Winner.

https://www.facebook.com/RisiCompetizione?ref=bookmarks

https://twitter.com/risicomp

https://instagram.com/risicomp/
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As many of you know, I will be going to Le Mans this year with Risi Competizione, a Ferrari team tied to Ferrari of Houston. Once I get there, I doubt that I will be able to send much on what is happening, so this is for those of you that want to know more about what will happen in this year’s race.

Audi, Porsche and Toyota are running in the top level Prototype class. Our garage is next to Audi, so that will be fun to see them in action.

Our car is a Ferrari 488 running in GTE PRO. Lead driver is former Ferrari Formula One driver, Giancarlo Fisichella.

82 is our car number for Le Mans. In the last test session, I think we were about half way down in 13 cars. LOTS of sandbagging until qualifying. Qualifying will tell the story. But possibly some still won’t fully show their hands until the early stages of the race, as the sanctioning body can still make Balance of Performance adjustments.

Here is the schedule of events.
Schedule | ACO - Automobile Club de l'Ouest

Not much happening until Sunday the 12th. I get to the track mid day on the 15th.

Fox Sports 1 and 2 will cover most of the race.
TVRacer.com - TV Racing Schedule


Below are ways to watch the whole race as well as access in car cameras.

This is the official site:
24 Heures du Mans | ACO - Automobile Club de l'Ouest

Le Mans TV should be here soon:
http://www.lemans.org/explorer/pdf/courses/2016/24-heures-du-mans/tv-distribution-24-heures-du-mans-2016.pdf

There is also an iPhone app where you can get live feed. Search for 24 Hours Le Mans and it will have the same logo. Ten bucks and worth twice that! Live feed for the whole race and lots of in car that you can select. You could watch the whole race from one car if you like.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/24h-le-mans/id852396979?mt=8

I used the app last year on my phone and streamed it to my TV. It was great. I ended up watching about eighteen hours of the race live.

For more specific info on the team during the race, check the links for Facebook, Twitter and Infogram below. There should be someone posting there.

https://www.facebook.com/RisiCompetizione?ref=bookmarks

https://twitter.com/risicomp

https://instagram.com/risicomp/


Wish us luck!

dc

 

Hi

Several of you have asked where you can buy Risi Competizione gear. The Fan Store has just opened at : Products | Risi Competizione

Nick, the owner is going to put his contact info up on the site soon, so you can contact him if you want something that is not shown. He is a great guy and can do almost anything you want. So check the site until you see his info. In the mean time, you can email him here:

[email protected]

Tell him David Christian told you to contact him and that you are a FerrariChat member.

Off to Le Mans!

 

Risi Ferrari Team Looking to Add to Numerous Successes at La Sarthe



Le Mans, France (June 13, 2016)...The popular American-based Ferrari team settled into their garage no. 44 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in early June, set for all the activities that surround the 84th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans race, June 18-19, 2016.

The Test Day on June 5th garnered the needed information for set up after many laps in the new Ferrari 488 GTE, which is making its Le Mans race debut this year. Risi Comp full season drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander were joined by former Risi hotshoe Matteo Malucelli, all Ferrari factory drivers, for this year's twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

This year's No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro class entry will be Team Principal Giuseppe Risi's 12th Le Mans entry over seven years dating back to 1998. The last time Risi waved it's Rosso Corsa colors for all the Tifosi Ferrari fans at La Sarthe was in 2010. Risi has three victories at Le Mans -- 1998 in the Ferrari 333 SP and 2008 and 2009 with the immensely successful Ferrari 430 GT -- and three additional podium finishes.

Former Formula 1 ace Fisichella, who has six Le Mans appearances, and Finnish superstar Vilander, who has seven, have co-driven to victory together twice, in 2012 and 2014 in the Ferrari 458 Italia. Malucelli will be making his sixth appearance at the Circuit de la Sarthe and claims two podium finishes in the Ferrari 430 GTC in 2008 and 2009.


Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
Share a little about the things accomplished at the Le Mans Test Day and how you feel going into the race week.
"The drivers were happy quite quickly with the setup. We only made a few minor changes. They are also happy with the comfort of the car and feel they all have the pace (and experience) we need to be competitive. All the systems that normally can be picky worked well; telemetry, voice radios, timing and scoring, the ACO special telemetry and electronics, etc. That's all a bonus. That takes a lot of pressure off the team when you get such a good start."

What will the team be concentrating on the most for race preparation?
"We'll be concentrating on making sure everything is perfect and race ready. The car is very complicated this year with the turbo engine and the packaging is quite different than the F458 race car. The crew does an outstanding job in all aspects. The preparation is meticulous."

You have three professional Ferrari drivers on your team working together for the first time for a 24-hour race, but each with previous successes. After the recent Test, how well do you feel they work together?
"Giancarlo and Toni have a good history and success in Europe. Matteo fit right in and did a great job at the Test. I'm sure each will be equal in pace and skill. They all know how to win this race. They are all very professional and know what the goal is. Toni's Italian is perfect so there's no language issues at any level between the drivers. It's certainly a competitive GTE grid, the most competitive ever. We are definitely at the top end with a very competitive car, drivers and crew."

Risi Competizione has three victories at Le Mans; Toni and Giancarlo have combined for two wins and Matteo has two second-places -- all in Ferraris. That's a lot of Ferrari success just for this one team. What makes the Ferrari so good at Le Mans?
"The Ferraris have been well suited in the past for Le Mans. The GT car gets designed and built with a large emphasis on Le Mans. Ferrari has a very long history of racing at Le Mans and understands what it takes to build a car that can endure and win."

Much of this year's story is about the Ferrari vs. Ford battle. Will it be a repeat of 1966 with the American car manufacturer taking the win?
"Not if we can help it. Risi, AF Corsa, Michelotto and Ferrari are all collaborating to ensure Ferrari has the best chance at Le Mans. I feel we are prepared the best we've ever been for Le Mans, from a Risi and Ferrari standpoint. This should be a battle for the GT history books. All the manufacturers have top efforts here. There are no weak drivers, cars or teams in GTE-Pro. It should be an outstanding race!"

Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
At the recent Test you drove the new Ferrari 488 at the Le Mans circuit for the first time. How did it feel and how well suited is the car for the long circuit?
"It was a very good test. We did our program and the car balance was quite good straight away. We made a couple of adjustments in the right direction. The lap times were quite close but we were comfortable and confident. Toni and Matteo are all happy as well. We found a good car, good behavior, all in good shape. It's going to be very tough because the other competition is very quick but it was a good test for us and we are quite happy coming to Le Mans."

What will be the most important areas of race preparation this week for everyone?
"The most important thing is the different rules, especially the pit stop rules between IMSA and ACO. We need to concentrate on pit stops as the rules and order are different; fuel first then tires and just two people on tires. IMSA rules we do all year in North America are different. The guys have already been doing practice and are quite good but we probably need to improve a bit, but they were good straight away. Obviously it is very important to keep the car on the ground. We must all concentrate and be fit. It is a very tough race for drivers and mechanics."

Risi Competizione has three victories at Le Mans; You and Toni have combined for two wins and Matteo has two second-places -- all in Ferraris. That's a lot of Ferrari success just for this one team. How important is the past success for this year's race?
"It's good for Risi , good for us to have this success in our history. It is important to know we have a team behind us that has a lot of experience and know what to do at Le Mans. It is great with the Risi team. The mechanics and crew are all fantastic. We have a good chance to do well and be on podium but the goal is to win."

What is your favorite part of the 13.6 km/8.4 mi Le Mans circuit and why?
"I really like everywhere; the speed at end of straight, the chicanes, the difficult braking points with low level of downforce, but the most exciting part is the Porsche Curves. This is a very challenging part of the circuit."

As a Ferrari factory driver, how proud are you to arrive at Le Mans, dressed in your red firesuit, drive your red Ferrari and carry the Ferrari flag for the many Tifosi fans?
"It's a big pleasure and I am really proud of it, to be an ambassador of the Ferrari brand, and Toni as well. I am very proud to race for Ferrari at Le Mans 24. It is the most important race of the season. We won twice already and were leading the race last year until one and a half hours from the end [when we had] a gear box issue. We are all so concentrated and very focused on it. It's always my target and dream to win the race."

Risi Competizione's first victory at Le Mans was in 1998 with
(L to R) Fermin Velez, Eric van de Poele and Wayne Taylor in the Ferrari 333 SP

Toni Vilander, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
At the Test you drove the new Ferrari 488 at the Le Mans circuit for the first time. How did the car feel?
"The car felt really good. It's tough to judge the pace. We need to wait until the race, but at the moment everything feels good and we are ready."

You and Giancarlo have combined for two victories and a further podium in three of three past races run here together as co-drivers. What's your magic? Do you think you can carry that on this year?
"I don't think there is much magic. We are just doing everything the best we can. Hopefully we can have a good run at this year's Le Mans."

How did it go with getting Matteo acclimated in with you and Giancarlo.
"Matteo is a good driver and he was on the right pace straight away. It was a positive test day in every aspect."

How challenging is the GTE-Pro class competition going to be this year?
"It will be tough also this year. We just need to get our things sorted and work well as a team and I'm sure we will have a good race. Let's enjoy the race week at Le Mans."

Matteo Malucelli, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
At the Test you drove the new Ferrari 488 at the Le Mans circuit for the first time. How did it feel and how does the competition look going in to the race?
"The car feels really good, easy to drive and apparently fast. I'm really happy with the 82 Risi Ferrari. I think the Test went well, but we don't really know our real potential. But also we don't know the other competitor's potential, so I'm curious to see the real pace during the race."

As a professional Ferrari driver, you must be very proud to represent the brand and Risi Competizione at Le Mans. Share your thoughts about that.
"Yes, I'm really proud because I'm also one of the seven Italian drivers in this race. I'm proud to drive for Mr. Risi and, of course, with Ferrari. This is the best car, especially for an Italian driver!"

How did you get on with Giancarlo and Toni as a co-driver? Have you ever raced together with them before?
"I raced with Giancarlo before but not with Toni, but I'm happy we had the same feeling and we are working for the same thing."

How challenging is the GTE-Pro class competition going to be this year?
"I think it's the most competitive class every time, but this year it's also worse with such a lot of official [factory-backed] cars inside the game. However, I think we can have our good chance for success."

What is your favorite part of the 13.6 km/8.4 mi Le Mans circuit and why?
"I think Porsche Curves are the favorite for all drivers; this is the best parts on the circuit to push and drive the car."


Risi Competizione collected their second class victory in 2008 with
Jamie Melo, Mike Salo and Gianmaria Bruni in the Ferrari 430 GTC

Risi Competizione won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in three of six years of entry. The first appearance of the Risi team at Le Mans was in 1998 when Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez won the LMP-1 class in the Ferrari 333 SP. Risi Competizione collected back-to-back victories in the Ferrari 430 GT in 2008 with Jamie Melo, Mika Salo and Gianmaria Bruni and again in 2009 with Melo, Salo and Pierre Kaffer. The team also made appearances in 2003, 2007; their last entry was in 2010. Risi Competizione entered two cars at La Circuit de la Sarthe five of the six years it competed.


For more information, please contact us or go to Risi Competizione | a Experienced, Consistent, Ferrari Major Race Winner.

Race Public Relations:
Barbara J. Burns
BurnsGroup PR for Risi Competizione
[email protected]
+ 1 770.329.7134

 

Le Mans, France (June 19, 2016)...Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) was at the wheel of the number 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro when it passed the cheqeured flag in second place to finish what was an exciting and gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 84th running of this iconic event will go down in history as a classic with an action packed 24 hours. However, for the Houston based team it will be remembered as one in which the car showed remarkable reliability and the team barely put a foot wrong.

This was Risi Competizione's seventh visit to Le Mans, the first time being in 1998 and the last 2010. They have three wins to their name and today's second place finish is Risi's third additional podium. Fisichella and Toni Vilander (FIN) have two victories each as teammates; Fisichella now has three additional podiums and Vilander four. For Matteo Malucelli this was his third podium, all second place finishes.

The team led the event for many laps and their story of the final three laps. Three minutes after the 18-hour mark of 09.00, and at the end of lap 252, Matteo Malucelli pitted the Ferrari 488 for fuel. He was still leading the event with a gap of 33 seconds to the Ford, and went out again for another stint to continue his mission to defend that lead. At the end of lap 266 at 10.00 Malucelli pitted again for fuel and tires and remained in the car to do a triple stint. He retained his lead, but by the next lap the gap was down to just six seconds ahead of a hard charging Ford. When he got out of the car at the end of lap 280 for Toni Vilander to take over, the Risi Ferrari was second, having been overtaken by the Ford on lap 272 at 10.30. For Vilander the team refueled the car but left the previous set of tires on that Malucelli had used for his third stint. Unfortunately on lap 272 a track anomaly caused him spin and he lost some valuable time to the leading Ford. He came in immediately for fresh tires and fuel, which was a couple of laps earlier than planned. This dropped him to just over two minutes behind the leading car, but that was reduced to 36 seconds three laps later when the leading Ford pitted with about three hours to go. Fisichella then took over to do the final three stints. At the end of lap 306 at 12.44 he pitted for tires and fuel, and on lap 319 at 13.36 he took just fuel. For his final pit stop at the end of lap 327 at 14.10 Fisichella took fuel and tires. When the checkered flag came out the Risi Ferrari was just a minute behind behind the GTE-Pro class winning Ford.

Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
"We didn't qualify as well as we would have hoped, as Giancarlo was pushing hard and had an off and we had a lot of gravel in the car that it wasn't prudent to go back out. Then on Thursday we wanted to work on the race set up, and particular race items. We didn't try to better our times and the weather wasn't conducive to it either. The boys did a fantastic prep job on Friday, did the warm-up on Saturday. We started the race on Saturday and it seemed we were pretty racy and competitive. The Fords obviously had something of a BoP advantage on us, but we were still able to race with them. We moved up the chain for quite some time, led the GT class for a good portion of the race, and then it was just inevitable that the Fords would get by us at some time; they had the speed which we just did not have. I thought we had a legitimate podium car and finishing a kind of controversial second but it was well earned I think. The boys did a fantastic job because they gained in almost every sequence when our competition did the same thing, so it was a good race and we will see exactly how it washes out in the end with the sanctioning body."

Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
"It's been a fantastic race - tough mentally, physically, with the car and for the mechanics. We achieved a good second position finish. The pace was very good all race. We did the best from every side and need to be proud of it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

Toni Vilander, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
"I tried hard. I had a second stint on those tires and was catching a little bit at a time. I was on the pace and totally on the limit. When I spun I would not say it was a lack of concentration, but my head was already in the next corner. Before the inside kerb, which I have taken a hundred times, is a darker hole, the dirt had gone so the tire went into the hole and it upset the car. I tried to spin it to keep going but I could not do anything. I am sorry for myself, but more I am sorry for the team. I tried but at the end of the day I made a mistake and I am sorry for that. It has been the best car that I have ever driven at Le Mans. The competition is really high and it was a great race."

Matteo Malucelli, driver, No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE-Pro:
"I have really enjoyed my race. The guys have done a fantastic job, we didn't make any mistakes and were on the pace. When I had my last stint with four hours to go our car seemed to be the best performing car on the circuit, so I was hoping something could happen to help us. At that point we had less grip, and the car was starting to slide. It was difficult to have the pace on old tires, but with new ones it was not bad. The team did a great job and we were still fighting for a victory right to the end."

Following the race the team was fined €5,000 for failing to respond to the black and orange flag that required them to pit immediately.
For more information, please contact us or go to Risi Competizione | a Experienced, Consistent, Ferrari Major Race Winner.
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As some of you may know, Ford, being greedy and wanting a perfect 1-2-3 podium photo made a bogus protest against the Risi 488 about 30 minutes before the end of the race. There is a LOT about this online, but here are a couple of good articles on the topic.

Also, Google FORD GT LE MANS SANDBAGGING and you will get a lot more to read.

Political Decisions at Le Mans Could Lead to Sports-Car Explosion


Five Things To Worry About From The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours ? dailysportscar.com