It was another exciting race in the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Series GTLM class at the Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) today in Danville, Va.
The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia of qualifying and starting driver Pierre Kaffer and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella began and finished the race in the third position in the 18-entry GT-class competition, repeating their result in the last round at Road America.
The defending VIR race winners were hungry for their first victory of 2015 but the Virginia race did not produce the desired result. The Risi Competizione Ferrari team accepted third, but only after a thrilling fight to the finish with the Porsche factory duo.Kaffer had a strong race start when he passed the No. 912 Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister, who started second on the grid, and held that position until his pit stop with driver change 50 minutes into the race on Lap 28 to former F1 driver Fisichella. After the first round of pit stops sorted themselves out, Fisichella maintained the second position throughout his stint.
On the second of the two pit stop race, Risi Race Engineer Rick Mayer opted to put Kaffer back in for the final stint. Fisichella drove a solid race, although the hot track temperatures were affecting his rather soft and sticky specifically-built single stint Michelin tires, and he wasn't able to push as much as he'd hoped.
Kaffer returned to the cockpit on Lap 60 near one hour later. Two laps later, while in second position, he received a bump from the third-place No. 912 Porsche of Bamber, and stayed in third for the remainder of the race. In the final laps Kaffer pushed his 465-horsepower Ferrari to the limit as the No. 912 was clearly lifting at the end of the straights in a effort to save fuel. However, time to hunt him down ran out and the No. 62 Risi Competizione team crossed the finish line in third position, fractions of a second behind the No. 912. Kaffer was awarded with the fastest lap of the race, 1:42.457 on Lap 84 of 92 total, setting a new track record.
The Risi team continued their streak of perfect pit stops. Provisional GTLM points show the Risi Ferrari team tied for fourth position in the Team Championship. PIERRE KAFFER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Qualifying Driver:"I think if we had five more minutes it would have been a great fight with (Earl) Bamber. Unfortunately, I didn't come up to speed as quickly out of the pits as he did; our car being the easiest on tires is also slowest to get them to temperature. We touched again, this race. It seems to be that the 912 and the 62 like each other. Next time it will maybe be the other way around. We are not a factory team. And to finish right behind Porsche, who have a very different step of a budget than us, and to finish so close behind the 912 car was a good result. We still beat Corvette and BMW and to be the only Ferrari here in the States, we have done a great job and we should be satisfied with third position. Everything was good in the pit stops and everybody did the best that they could do and it was tight. Thank you to the team and to Giuseppe Risi. At the end we fought very hard and set the fastest race lap and ran nose-to-tail. I think it was quite entertaining for the spectators and once again for me. GTLM is the toughest class here in America and I'm so proud of Risi Competizione and Ferrari. I think it's a decent result and we're looking forward to COTA now."
GIANCARLO FISICHELLA, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Driver:
"Straightaway on my stint I had a problem with the graining (tire degradation issue). I drove in the hottest part of the race and I struggled with the grip in the heat a bit. The car was sliding on the four wheels all the way through the run. I was able kept the 912 behind me. Then at the end, with Pierre, it was a little more cloudy which certainly helped the tires. but everyone in my stint was struggling. It was a competitive race. I'm really disappointed my stint couldn't have been quicker because I think we could have stayed closer to the 911 and maybe been second."
RICK MAYER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
"Having an all GT race was good today. We finished third and we're okay with a podium. We were hoping we'd be a bit quicker, but the Porsches have a little bit more of a rules advantage currently still. I think the new tire helps everybody, but it helped the Porsche a bit more than the rest of us. Today produced another podium for us, which is good. Pierre had the fastest race lap, as well. He was really pushing right to the end. The 912 was getting ready to run out of fuel so one and Pierre might have gotten by. They (the 912) were saving fuel and it was pretty exciting at the end. Pierre might have been able to force his way by, but that's not the way Pierre drives."
DAVE SIMS, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia Risi Competizione Team Manager:"Once again, GTLM was so competitive. On our first stint the track was 110 plus Farenheit. To compensate we had to adjust the tire pressures accordingly. Pierre did a great first stint, but had a flat spotted tire on braking when overtaking a GTD car. We brought him in early, which is a slight disadvantage because you should run right up to the fuel window, but we had to bring him in. We put Fisichella in the car for the middle stint and he had a good run. When we put Pierre back in, as he was fresh, we were trying to keep third position and fight for second. Unfortunately, we needed another lap and we'd have probably gotten the 912 car for second, but it didn't happen. We got P3 and we'll take that again."
