Endurance races have become the specialty for the Risi Competizione Ferrari sports car team. The single-car, Houston, Texas-based outfit battled for a hard-fought podium finish in this weekend's Rolex 24 At Daytona with a third-place result in the GTLM class and seventh overall at the Daytona International Speedway. The third-place finish in class during the opening race of the 2017 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) calendar comes on the heels of the team's victory in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta to end the 2016 season. Risi also collected a second-place finish in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans during June of 2016.Risi previously finished second in the 24-hour race at Daytona in 1999 and 2003.In the 2017 edition of the event, neither persistent rains throughout the night and into the morning, nor the resources of the factory-backed GTLM teams could slow the Risi trio of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, Finland's Toni Vilander and James Calado of Great Britain as they battled weather and 54 other competitors across four classes at the famed Daytona track.Risi remained in contention for the class victory until the checkered flag flew Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. EST, when waning grip forced a hard-driving Calado to settle for third as the workhorse Ferrari 488 GTLM crossed the start-finish line for the 652nd lap over the 24-hour period.Vilander qualified the car on the outside of the second row for the start of the race at 2:30 p.m. EST on Saturday afternoon under sunny skies.He, Calado and Fisichella completed double stints to start the race, remaining near the top of the running order. As night descended on Daytona Beach, the first rain drops began to fall, ultimately turning to consistent rain storms that persisted through the entirety of the dark hours and forced numerous full course yellows.

During the gruelling early morning hours, Calado turned in a masterful drive in wet conditions, relieving Vilander and remaining in the car for nearly three hours from 3:40 a.m. to twenty minutes before seven o'clock, close to dawn. The No. 62 machine often appeared at the top of the leaderboard during that time.As the rain finally began to subside in the late morning hours, the track's cool temperatures and drying conditions continued to prove treacherous. Still, Vilander drove into the lead and Calado kept the car up front during his stint, only to be gridlocked in his pit stall by a neighboring team during a driver change to Fisichella, forcing the Risi Ferrari to drop to sixth.Fisichella returned the car to as high as second place before turning the car back over to Calado with just under two hours to go. Race Engineer Rick Mayer instructed Calado to save fuel while also asking him to go to battle with the stout Ford GTs and Porsche 911s.

Ultimately, the Risi group came up just short of the top step on the podium, but turned in an amazing effort and served notice again as a GTLM team to be reckoned with as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship turns its attention to Sebring for that circuit's renowned 12-hour affair.

Toni Vilander, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"The overall competitiveness in the category is just remarkable. We did a completely trouble-free race, but it was a really good 24-hour race. What years ago might have been a victory today is now good enough for third place. It was a good team effort. It was great driving from Giancarlo and James and a great job from the team at Risi Competizione. We have a good collaboration with Michelin and obviously huge support from Ferrari and Michelotto helping us to be here. We are happy to be on the podium, but the race is so long and there were moments where we felt we had a winning car today. So that's why at the moment it's bitter tasting third place. We'll see how it feels during the next week."

Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"It's a good result, obviously. We were there to fight for a win and everybody was quick. We did our best. At the end, James was struggling with the grip level, but the pace was there. I think we did our maximum today and am really looking forward to Sebring."

James Calado, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"Obviously, I'm disappointed we didn't get the win, but I gave it my all. I had to save fuel for the first half of the stint, which cost me a lot of performance in that time and I had to do it or we wouldn't have made it to the end. Then, the full yellow came out and I was able to push the gap and maintain, but the Ford was just too fast. I caught the Porsche at the end, but third was the best we could do. The team did a great job as did both Toni and Giancarlo and I was glad to get to race again with the entire Risi Competizione team."

Dave Sims, Risi Competizione Team Manager:"The team is so good and it all stems from the basics of real teammate and talent; they're brilliant. If you haven't got reliability then you don't finish a big race like this. The team's mechanics, Crew Chief Mark, and all the boys do a fabulous job. The pit stops were fantastic the entire 24 hours. We went to Le Mans last year and were second, which is no mean feat in anybody's eyes. It was a perfect race for us. Then at Petit [Le Mans] in 2016, the last race of the year, we won it against all the two-car factory teams. Now here we are finishing the 24 hours of Daytona in third. With a bit more Lady Luck on our side we could have won it, but it was a brilliant run the last two days. The car didn't miss a beat. Every pit stop was immaculate; I have to give it to the team again. The drivers did a good job. There were no protests; we have a well-disciplined, organized team. We didn't change the car in practice, from the setup we had at the Roar [Test]. We kept with it and it proved to be the right decision all the way around. Again, it's the TEAM: mechanically, strategy and engineering-wise, which did it. We all like to win, but are well-pleased with third at Daytona. This is a tough place, especially with the 15-16 hours of rain we coped with. On top of that we won the DEKRA Award for the first race of this season and our tenth time since 2015."

Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:"It was a very different race with the long cautions as opposed to a red flag stoppage drawing it out a bit. The fact that you had so many cars on the lead lap was impressive. We were in a significant fuel savings mode, which didn't help our cause. That final caution came out and put us in a window where we could make it to the end without saving fuel, but I don't think we had enough for the Ford and Porsche at that point. We'll take a third and go to Sebring.The crew does an awesome job preparing the cars. I think the drivers did a stellar job keeping it out of trouble. The drivers have to keep the car perfect and undamaged for the final late hour run to the finish.With the weather being like it was I thought Giancarlo, Toni and James did a great job. Particularly with all the rain, its so easy to go off-track and damage the car."

The next race on the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule is Round 2, the 12 Hours of Sebring, in Sebring, Florida, on Saturday, March 18.