The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM team had a fairly calm Rolex 24 At Daytona race this weekend. The popular Houston, Texas-based based Ferrari team finished in sixth place in the high-contested GTLM class, which is strongly favored by manufacturers for professional teams and drivers.Risi Competizione, a multi-year sports car championship winner, has now collected three Top Six finishes in eight Rolex 24 races, two of those podiums. Drivers of the No. 62 Ferrari 488 were Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella, Davide Rigon and Olivier Beretta.

The race went reasonably smoothly for the team, despite having just received delivery of their new twin-turbo Ferrari 488 race car from Italy last Saturday in Miami, Florida and driven straight to the Daytona International Speedway. In a class dominated by new and updated race cars, the Ferrari 488 fared well, with a sister car finishing in fourth place and Vilander even leading in class early in the race.Contact between the Risi Ferrari and another competitor in the early morning hours, originally thought to be minor, had a bigger effect when the diffuser that was damaged had to eventually be replaced and then removed all together. Although down on straight speed for the remaining six hours, the Risi Competizione team finished and gained points towards the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the North American Endurance Championship.

Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:"On the bright side we did finish the race. The team did a great job in the pits, as always. The crew had no penalties and the only penalty we had was a driver-induced penalty. I think we were one of the few GTLM crews that had no penalties. We got to dust the cobwebs off and all the pit stops were good. We gained positions in the pits on most stops. When we didn't gain we came out where we came in. We had very little time with the car and as is, it is fairly reliable. We had a fair number of small electronic gremlins and things that we couldn't get sorted out, but those are things we just have to spend time on. Not having any dry running made it tough for the week, so basically we had to roll off with the set-up untested and with drivers that hadn't driven the car, but we felt relatively competitive. I think the other 458 GTLM Ferraris might have had a pace on us, but a lot was just the drivers' familiarity with the car. I thought it was certainly a good debut for the (Ferrari) 488. Compared to the Fords, for example, who had gobs and gobs of track testing, we had nothing. It's amazing! They had problems fairly early and we were just fuel and tires, fuel and tires for all our pit stops. If we wouldn't have had the body damage on the aero pieces, I think we would have been there, potentially, for a podium. But, that's just the way it played out and we'll try again at Sebring."

Toni Vilander, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"Well, the car had some damage on it so we needed to keep a decent pace, but not to overdo the handling on the braking and high speed. The handling on the slow speed corners was not what we had at the beginning of the race. It's been a roller coaster race overall. It was nice to see us going up to P3, even P1 at one point. I think the team has done a really great job. All the damages regarding the car have been done on the racetrack and nothing to do with the crew. The operation has been top notch. Since the first day here in Daytona, I've felt very good with the team and I'm really happy with that. This is a tough race and we're still missing a clear run for the Daytona 24. All the restarts are a mess. Sometimes we come into the outside, and, if the other guy has the slightest error, he will run into you. I had some good racing, especially with the Corvette guys, some really fair, tough fights. You could see those yellow lights on the mirror for the whole hour, so that was really nice, but also quite tough. Now, next week I go to Bathhurst, but already have my mind on the Sebring test and then Sebring. This is a good starting point ffor the season. We have some margin of improvement on the car itself, but hopefully we can get things sorted out and have even a tougher race car at Sebring."Giancarlo Fisichella, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"I'm a bit disappointed about the result, but the important thing is we went to the end of the race and there wasn't a particular problem or issue on the mechanical side. The team and crew did a fantastic job. Unfortunately, we had some problems and contact, especially with the Ford that had broken my diffuser, and we were without it for about the last six hours of the race. We did our best. It's okay and we got some data for Sebring and are looking forward to the next race."

Davide Rigon, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM:"Although it was not the result we wanted, we proved the Ferrari 488 is a good car straight from the factory. The team is very professional and did an excellent job on all the pit stops. Our pace was good but our competitors are strong. There is a little work to do but it will happen. The Risi team will make this car even better for Sebring."The next race on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule is the 12 Hours of Sebring in Sebring, Florida on March 19, 2016.