The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia team finished sixth in Sunday's Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix Presented by Hawk Performance race at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP), Round 4 of the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season. The extremely-competitive GTLM class put on a good show for the fans but in the end the Porsche, BMW and Corvette factory teams bested the Risi Competizione Ferrari privateer team.
After starting from the fourth class position on the grid and 19th overall, the same as the previous race at Watkins Glen International, starting driver Pierre Kaffer and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella ran as high as second during pit stop rotations, but in the end finished sixth of eight GTLM cars.
It was a clean race with just one caution was waved for three laps during the 128-lap sprint race of two hours and 40 minutes under sunny skies. Only four of the 23 cars that started the race were not running at the end.
Provisional points in GTLM place the Risi Competizione team in fifth place in both the IMSA TUDOR Team and Driver Championship.
PIERRE KAFFER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione qualifying driver:
"After the race now, I would have to say it was a very difficult for us. It seems we had done everything perfect in the pits, but unfortunately that we finished sixth and not the result we were looking for. We need to investigate what happened to do better for Road America. I'm pretty sure at Road America it will be better. I have good memories from there last year and am sure we will fight again. GTLM is very tight at the moment with high competition."
GIANCARLO FISICHELLA, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Driver:
"We were just struggling with the grip level overall, but the balance was not bad, just low grip. We had some straight line speed deficit as well, but other than that, the car was good. The main problem for us at the moment could be the BoP, it doesn't favor us currently. We look forward to the next race with a new Michelin tire offering and we will see."
RICK MAYER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
"The car was good as it improved every session. Pierre and Giancarlo both did good jobs in the race. We finished sixth and honestly this is where I thought we'd finish this weekend. Qualifying was certainly better than I thought we do. Our current BoP with IMSA puts us at a slight disadvantage, at this track in particular. Hopefully, there will be an adjustment before Road America to allow us to fight for a better result, we'll see how we do there. We had a good race there last year (at Road America) and hope for the same result there this year."
DAVE SIMS, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia Risi Competizione Team Manager:
"It was not a very good day for us, though both drivers did a good job. It was a little slippery on the first stint, but after that both drivers settled in and were doing good times. Unfortunately, we were, one might say, 'done in' by the BoP (balance of performance) situation with IMSA."
The next race for the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari team is the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 7-9.
