The brands of Motor Valley they are not finding America in Daytona, it should be said, but a Ferrari is still keeping hopes alight. At 19:40 yesterday Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Lamborghini, kicked off the sixtieth edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona; despite this, the events are not totally going to meet the local houses.
The cold temperatures present at Daytona Beach (at 5:00 local time the air temperature is one degree celsius, while there are four on the asphalt) is making life difficult for drivers and teams, especially in terms of management. tires. Many problems with the tires have been the cause of numerous neutralizations, fourteen up to now, which have inevitably fragmented the race.
In category GTD-Pro the Ferrari number 62 of Risi Competizione currently occupies the third position, gained during the last Full Course Yellow recorded so far due to an accident. Still in GTD-Pro, the flagship crew of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, number 63 of TR3 Racing, was forced to retire during the fifteenth hour. Mirko Bortolotti, Marco Mapelli, Andrea Caldarelli and Rolf Ineichen were forced to raise the white flag due to mechanical complications that occurred after the accident in the third hour of the race. This inconvenience had already set the American team’s adventure uphill, which had nevertheless managed, thanks to the excellent work of drivers and mechanics, to return to the package of contenders for category success.
The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488, currently on the GTD-Pro class podium (copyright: ferrari.com)
Looking at the class GTD, shortly after the withdrawal of the Lambo number 63 also the Peregrine Racing, who carried the number 39 on the track, followed the fate of his brand mates. Unlucky debut for the English official driver of the Sant’Agata Bolognese company Sandy Mitchell. It is therefore the Huracán GT3 EVO number 42 of the NTE Racing the Lamborghini currently best placed, eighth in class and thirty-fourth overall, overtaken by two places by the Ferrari 488 GT3 number 21 of the Piacenza team AF Corse, driven by the crew of Simon Mann, Luiz Perez Companc, Toni Vilander and Nicklas Nielsen but currently one lap behind the leader. The second car of the TR3 Racing, which sees in the team the young Rovigo and official Lamborghini driver Giacomo Altoè, occupies the ninth position in the category.
NTE Racing’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO, currently the first Bolognese car in the standings (copyright Jamey Price Photo – Lamborghini Squadra Corse)
Later still, twelfth in GTD, the last car of the German Bull of the T3 Motorsport, at the first experience in the classic stars and stripes. Different speech for the second all-Italian team competing on Cetilar Racing owner of Ferrari number 47. In fact, right from the start, the entirely Italian crew made up of Giorgio Sernagiotto, Antonio Fuoco, Alessio Rovera and Roberto Lacorte experienced difficult times due to a loss of control of the latter’s car, which is was hit by the number 12 Lexus of the Vasser Sullivan team following it. The impact broke a suspension of the Ferrari 488 GT3 on its championship debut IMSA, which had to return to the pits for a repair that took the team mechanics for over an hour and a half. The number 47 is back in the race, but unfortunately she cannot have hopes of a placement in the top positions.
The hopes of Emilia-Romagna for a podium are probably all entrusted to the Ferrari number 62 of the Risi Competizione, but never say never. The world of endurance can always hold great surprises.
