The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM of Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella and James Calado will start from the third position on the grid in tomorrow's Petit Le Mans Presented by Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort race at Road Atlanta.The team has felt positive about all four practice sessions leading up to today's qualifying session, where they have been at the top of the charts, with being second fastest in Practice 1 yesterday and Practice 4 this morning and third fastest in Practice 2 and fifth fastest in last night's Practice 3.Qualifying driver Toni Vilander turned a best time of 1:18.294 on his 6th lap around the 2.54-mile, 12-turn North Georgia road course during the 15 minutes of qualifying.Temperatures are expected to be in the low 80 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny for tomorrow's 10-hour endurance race.
Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:"It was very tight in qualifying. It was quite the exploration. We don't like it when the Conti [IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge] race is right before us because the track changes a lot and it was quite a bit warmer than it was in the practice session before the qualifying. Toni did a really good job, it was very close, but we're really happy with qualifying third and we're looking forward to having a good car for the race."Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"I'm very happy so far. We have been in the top four all weekend. I'm really looking forward. Toni did a fantastic job in the qualifying session and it was so tight. Third is a fantastic place for the start of the race. We have a good car with a good set up for the race and I'm really optimistic to do well. It's really important to be there to start racing the last couple of hours and then we will do everything we can to win the race."
Toni Vilander, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"It's tight here. The lap is so short. The conditions, like we've mentioned so many times this year, are different than when in practice with the other categories racing before us. I think during the season we learned some of the things we need to do and how to predict the track. Today we got it pretty well done. I was enjoying the qualifying session. There was a little bit of a timing issue maybe, we might have had the chance for the pole. But the lap times where really, really close. It's incredible how in the GTLM class it is very tight from first to seventh or eighth; everybody's up there. I'm happy for today and now we get some rest and get ready for tomorrow. We'll have warm-up in the morning and get James some more laps and get ready before the race. "James Calado, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"It was so close. One tenth [faster] and we would have been on pole and I'm over the moon with that. It was a good lap by Toni with a good position to start. I know qualifying is not that important, but it's nice to be at the front to start the race and we've just got to think what we're going to do tomorrow and get a good final car setup and make sure we look after the car, practice some driver changes and hopefully Lady Luck turns up because I think all the guys here need it."There will be an early morning warm-up on Saturday from 8:40-9:00 a.m. EDT and will be followed by the start of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans race at 11:10 a.m. Live timing and scoring is available for all on-track sessions at IMSA.com and the IMSA Smartphone app.Tune-In Information:Live coverage of Petit Le Mans airs Saturday, October 1 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EDT on FOX Sports 1, from 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. on FOX Sports 2 and on the FOX Sports GO app. The race will be streamed live in its entirety for international audiences on IMSA.tv and the IMSA Mobile App.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.
