The Risi Competizione Team has worked long hours this week preparing their Ferrari 488 GTLM race car for Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen race at Watkins Glen International.The Risi team received their Ferrari race car and equipment at the Watkins Glen circuit late Tuesday after being shipped directly from Le Mans, France. The crew immediately commenced the pre-race preparation and over the past couple of days has completed an entire car rebuild and engine change on the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE which got the first on-track session yesterday morning. After three practice sessions and one qualifying, the no. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM will start the car from the seventh position on the grid after qualifying driver Toni Vilander posted a time of 1:43.088 at a speed of 118.7 mph.Vilander will be the starting driver for tomorrow's Round 6 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series. Teammate Italian Giancarlo Fisichella will co-drive in the six-hour endurance race on the 3.40-mile/5.43-kilometer, 11-turn road course in the New York Finger Lakes region.
Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:"Well, it was a long haul after Le Mans. The crew did a lot of work on the car. They had to completely rebuild the car and change the engine before we could actually go out on the track Friday. It was two really, really long days because the car didn't arrive until very late on Tuesday, so they did a really great job. The drivers were initially pleased with the car. We struggle in qualifying when the Conti [Continental Challenge] races are just before our qualifying session and that's the situation we had here today. It's pretty hard to anticipate what the [track]changes will do and it's also the hottest it's been here all week. We'll make some adjustments before tomorrow's warm-up and we'll hopefully do better in the race." Toni Vilander, qualifying driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"We're close to the mid-point of the season. There's many races in the coming weeks and months. I feel that we're working together nicely as a team. I'm still really happy with all the support we got at Le Mans from Ferrari and Michelotto. It was a really good feeling to be back in Europe with the Risi team and racing. We kept the momentum coming here [to Watkins Glen]."Some of the conditions changed going into qualifying that we didn't anticipate really well. We need to learn our lessons for the other races and find a way of predicting the balance change. I'm really looking forward to the race but we don't have the straight speed of the others unfortunately. But it's a long race and the crew has been very good at gaining positions in pit lane."
Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"I drove this morning and the balance wasn't too bad. We were quite close so I don't understand why we are 1.7 seconds slower than Ford in qualifying. We will see. It's a long race and we'll try our best."There will be a warm-up session for the IMSA Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday morning, July 3, from 8:00-8:20 a.m. EDT. The6-hour race runs from 10:10 a.m.-4:10 p.m. EDT tomorrow. Live timing and scoring is available for all on-track sessions at IMSA.com and the IMSA Smartphone app.Tune-In Information:The Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen race is available live in the U.S. on Sunday, July 3 on FOX Sports 1 and on the FOX Sports GO! mobile app at 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. EDT. The race will be streamed live in its entirety for international audiences on IMSA.tv and the IMSA Mobile App.
