Risi Competizione Qualifies on Second Row for Michelin GT Challenge at VIR‏

The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM will start the Michelin GT Challenge race from the second row at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) tomorrow.Qualifying driver Giancarlo Fisichella set his fastest time in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM on the tenth and final lap of the 20-minute qualifying session at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in Alton, Virginia.The Italian's time of 1:42.225 put his Prancing Horse in the fourth position on the grid in the GTLM/GTD only class event in Round 10 of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Round 9 for the GTLM and GTD classes.Temperatures are expected to be sunny and low 90 degrees again tomorrow for the two hour and forty-minute race.Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:"Qualifying was pretty good. We were kind of in the mix all of the [practice] sessions. We weren't sure what the track was going to do. It was quite cool during the first session and we lost a far bit the second session having to repair some damage. I think Giancarlo did a good job today and I think we have a really good race car. I know we'll be good on the tires and I know both drivers will be quick tomorrow."Giancarlo Fisichella, qualifying driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"I think it was a difficult qualifying session, but I think fourth is the maximum we could achieve. The circuit was really hot and very slippery. We probably made a small mistake on the tire pressure by starting them a bit higher to have the tires come in early, where my fastest lap was my last lap. Apart from that, the car balance wasn't too bad and we are quite confident for the race base. Tomorrow is going to be another day and we'll see."

Toni Vilander, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"It's a really fast, challenging race track as many of the racetracks are in the U.S. For me it was a new experience coming here. I tried to make the most out of it to learn the track as quickly as I could and made a little mistake yesterday in practice. The guys had extra work to do to prepare the car and I was sorry about that, but we have moved forward. Today, it was really close in GTLM, like it usually is. Giancarlo did a really good job with P4 just on the last lap and we managed to gain a position by two thousandths of a second. It's a long lap, the gaps are close. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race. It will be tough and really, really hot and let's see how are tire performance compares to the others and how are strategy plays out. The pit stops need to be really good because it will be a difficult race tomorrow." The Michelin GT Challenge race will start at 1:35 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 28, after a 20-minute warm-up earlier Sunday morning. Live timing and scoring is available for all on-track sessions at IMSA.com and the IMSA Smartphone app.Tune-In Information:The VIR race will be broadcast live in the U.S. on Sunday, August 28 on FOX Sports 1 from 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. EDT and on FOX Sports Go app. The race will be streamed live in its entirety for international audiences on IMSA.tv and the IMSA Mobile App, which will also provide live in-car camera footage and IMSA Radio commentary throughout the race for all viewers.IMSA Radio will feature the broadcast team from Radio Le Mans and be carried live for the entire race. IMSA.tv also will stream audio from all practice and qualifying sessions, in addition to video from qualifying.


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