Risi Competizione: Deux fois consécutives?

[Editor]

RISI COMPETIZIONE LOOKING FOR A DOUBLE

Houston, Texas, June 4, 2009. Risi Competizione returns to France next week for its 2009 assault on the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans with just one simple, but momentous, challenge ahead; to repeat the dominant GT2 success achieved at La Sarthe twelve months ago.

The Houston, Texas-based team, linked again for Le Mans with its endurance partner, Krohn Racing, has retained many of the elements within the 2008 winning package including the race-proven and reliable Ferrari F430 GT Berlinetta, created by Ferrari SpA with final build by Michelotto. Add to that the extremely consistent and successful Michelin tire package, a largely-unchanged driver line-up, and a team which has now recorded GT2 class victories at the last three major endurance races – the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2008 Petit Le Mans and 2009 12 Hours of Sebring – and one would assume a quiet confidence in success.

However, as Team Principal, Giuseppe Risi, notes as pragmatically as ever, the task ahead is not one to be undertaken lightly. “There are undoubtedly high expectations of us after our recent successes in the endurance events, and especially our result last year. But, and this is a big but, you can never underestimate the task ahead at Le Mans. We go into the race composed, and with a certain level of confidence about our preparation and ability to be competitive, but at the same time we are very aware that anything can happen at any time".

“I believe that Risi Competizione has the equipment and the drivers capable of winning in our intensely competitive category, which would be a fitting tribute to Ferrari’s 60th Anniversary of its first win at Le Mans. I’m delighted to welcome Tracy Krohn and his colleagues back within the team, and I know he’s raring to go racing again. Our chances of a successful result are doubled with a two-car entry".

"There are, however, new regulation changes this year which might threaten any team’s chances of success, notably the pit stop rules reducing the number of people able to carry out a tire change. It only takes one infraction and you potentially end up losing time with a penalty and we all know that the winning car is not necessarily the fastest on the track throughout the 24 hours, but the one which spends the least amount of time in the pits.”

Returning for an attempt at back-to-back class victories will be the Sebring-winning driver line up of Jaime Melo, Pierre Kaffer and Mika Salo. Although Kaffer was not with Risi Competizione last year, he brings solid Le Mans experience to the team including a podium finish in a Ferrari 430, and the trio established an excellent working relationship earlier this year. Melo has arguably the most miles under his belt in an F430 of any Ferrari driver in the world, and has admitted that he has matured greatly behind the wheel in the last twelve months. Also not short of experience is Mika Salo who, although he stepped back from a full season of racing to pursue other opportunities, is as familiar to and with the Risi Competizione team as Melo.

Renewing its successful racing relationship with Krohn Racing for the second time this year, the 2007 class runners-up at La Sarthe, Tracy Krohn and Nic Jönsson, will be running in the now-familiar and distinctive Krohn-green liveried car #83. They are joined once again by Krohn’s highly experienced Grand-Am team mate, Eric van de Poele, a face very familiar at La Sarthe and a previous LMP1 class winner in 1998 in the Doyle Risi Racing Ferrari 333 SP. Jönsson will be arriving directly from the latest round of the Rolex Sportscar Series at Watkins Glen, and it will be the first race for Krohn and van de Poele since the 12 Hours of Sebring. They can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the Ferrari, and are aiming to improve upon a troubled 2008 race, and repeat the result of 24 months ago.

Ferrari has a very special relationship with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and is one of the two most successful marques in the race’s history. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Italian manufacturer’s first overall win, courtesy of the 166LM of Luigi Chinetti and Lord Selsdon in 1949, Ferrari Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, has been invited to Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest to give the official start signal for the race on Saturday, June 13.

In addition to the nine overall wins clocked up between 1949 and 1965, Ferrari has also taken numerous class victories in the French race, the most recent of which were was delivered in 2008 by the F430 GT of the Risi Competizione team. In ten days time, a total of 10 Ferrari F430s will be lined up at the start by eight private teams. The 77th running of the world’s most famous sportscar race, which begins at 3.00pm (local, 9.00am CDT) on June 13, will be seen by over 250,000 spectators, up to 350 million TV viewers worldwide, and reported on by 1,800 journalists from over 35 nations. For regular updates and information on the Risi Competizione team’s quest for success, go to Risi Competizione | Ferrari 430GT | American Le Mans Series or Home Page

Car #82
Pierre Kaffer: “I think Le Mans is such a great race, the biggest sportscar race in the world. I always remember my first laps there in 2004 and it’s always nice to be part of this race because it’s so special. The Risi Ferrari was really strong here last year but I think this year will be tougher because Porsche have developed their car a lot over the winter so we have to push hard. From what I saw in the Daytona and Nürburgring 24 hour races this year, these are not long distance races any more but more like sprint races. You have to push for the whole 24 hours but you never know what might happen, like a puncture or something. We know our Ferrari is very reliable and will last for this length of time and maybe we can pressure the Porsches so much they will get into trouble".

Jaime Melo: "I think the approach to this year’s race is going to be same as last year. It doesn’t matter what last year’s result is, this is a new race. There is perhaps a bit more pressure this year because Porsche is stronger than last year – we don’t know what the real gap between us will be because last year they had problems. Mika and Pierre both have good experience at Le Mans, and know what to do, so our approach will be the same: keep the car on the track. We know we have a consistent car and can give our competitors a hard time – hopefully we will have a race without any problems".

Mika Salo: “We got lucky last year when the two leading Porsches crashed, but even without that we had the speed and reliability to compete. I believe our car and team effort was stronger than the Porsches’. We have to be like that again this year and that’s what we hope we will be. Our pace is pretty much the same as last year, our driver line-up is good, and we have a very professional team so that should all give us an advantage. Of course it was nice to win at Sebring but that’s just practice for Le Mans, it’s just half the distance. Everything usually starts happening at Le Mans after 12 hours…when it all hits the fan, and that’s when you’ve got to concentrate even harder.”

Car #83
Nic Jönsson: “I think it’s always great to drive a car with such history as the Ferrari, being at Le Mans or not. I’m sure with the 60th anniversary Ferrari is going to have a lot of special people there. Also there are 10 Ferraris competing there this year versus five (GT2) Porsches so obviously the marque is very well represented at Le Mans this year. I think we have as good of a chance as anyone else. In a 24-hour race it’s not so much about pure speed, it’s all about managing your tires and brakes and making sure you stay out of trouble, especially during the night. Also to try to just do the scheduled pit stops; if you do that and nothing goes wrong, you are going to be in a position when the sun rises in the morning to be running up front. That’s what we are aiming for again this year.”

Tracy Krohn: “I am sooo ready to get back in to the Ferrari 430 GT and race at Le Mans. The Ferrari actually drives a lot like our Proto-Auto Daytona Prototype; the DP just has more downforce and bigger tires. Thus the transition, as far as balance of the car is concerned, feels pretty natural. We have had good success with Risi in that we have finished 2nd at Le Mans in 2007, 3rd at Sebring and 4th at Petit Le Mans in 2008. I believe that we have also had a couple of other Top 10s as well in the last couple of years. The Risi team is always well prepared and completely professional. We have also had the benefit of the Michelin tires and good support from Michelin as well. “Competition is always tough at Le Mans. It’s such a challenging circuit. The sheer length of a single lap being over eight miles is a challenge in itself. Then you add so many talented drivers, many of them factory drivers, on the course with you and you have to keep your head up at all times.”

Eric van de Poele: “It’s been a long time since our last race at Sebring, but I've been focusing on Le Mans 24 and the physical preparation (tennis, jogging, swimming). We had a short race last year and I'm looking forward to be back with Nic and Tracy at this fantastic event. Also Nic needs a revenge match with me on table tennis and it is very important to be 100% ready for this challenge! “The secret to success at any endurance event is the entire team, and Risi Competizione is very good at these events. It is impossible to reach the victory goal if you do not have 100% of the attention of the team, of yourself and of the race. I mean, you do need also a bit of luck but this is only 5% of the victory. This goal can only be reached with a full preparation of that race. You need to be patient, fast, prepared for the unprepared, reliable and very, very disciplined and concentrated.”

Risi Competizione is a Houston-based racing team, wholly owned and directed by Giuseppe Risi, which has been very successful in sports car racing in both Europe and the United States. In addition to racing Ferraris and Maseratis, Risi Competizione also provides competition development, management, and support services.

Tracy W. Krohn, of Houston, Texas, continues his successful racing relationship with Risi Competizione for the third year in succession. Krohn is also a team owner/driver of the Krohn Racing Daytona Prototype team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series which won its first race of the 2009 season at New Jersey Motorsports Park a month ago.

The Official Sponsors of Risi Competizione, 2007 ALMS GT2 Team Champions and 2008 Le Mans GT2 winners, are Boardwalk Autogroup, QT Technologies, Motorola, AdShip, Michelin.