RISI COMPETIZIONE PETIT LE MANS
PRE-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES – 2022
Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 No. 62:
Davide Rigon (ITA)
Daniel Serra (BRA)
James Calado (GBR)
(Braselton, Georgia, September 29, 2022) … Risi Competizione is returning to the race and circuit that helped kick off the team’s early success, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The new in 1998 team won the first ever Petit Le Mans race that year with drivers Wayne Taylor, Eric van der Poele and Emmanuel Collard in the Doyle-Risi Ferrari 333.
Giuseppe Risi is still at the helm of the fan favorite Ferrari team based in Houston, Texas. His drivers for the 25th annual Motul Petit Le Mans IMSA WeatherTech Championship Series race, September 29-October 1, are Ferrari factory Competizioni GT drivers James Calado, Davide Rigon, and Daniel Serra.
In addition to the 1998 victory at Petit, the Risi Competizione team most recently won in class at the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit in 2019 with drivers Calado, Serra and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the teams’ last outing here. Risi has three additional Petit victories — in 2016, 2009 and 2008.
In 2016 Giancarlo Fisichella, James Calado and Toni Vilander took the Risi Ferrari 488 GTLM to victory. In 2008 Jamie Melo and Mika Salo won from pole position in the Ferrari 430 GT2 and again in 2009 with Melo, Salo and Pierre Kaffer, also in the 430 GT2 at the 10-hour enduro.
The Maranello, Italy based Ferrari marque recently claimed its 500th victory with the Ferrari 488 GT3 in international racing across the globe, earning the model (both standard configuration and Evo 2020 versions) a prominent place in history as the most successful Ferrari ever.
Risi Competizione is one of seven GTD Pro entries in a field of 43 total entries for this year’s Petit Le Mans. There are two additional Ferrari 488 GTs entered, both in the GTD class.
QUOTES
Rick Mayer, Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
“Petit Le Mans is always a great race and one where the Risi team has had a number of successes, including the inaugural race 25 years ago. What a great story it would make if we could repeat that success this year. Our last race at Petit for the Risi team was in 2019 and we won so let’s hope history keeps repeating itself.”
Davide Rigon, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“It’s good to be back with Risi. It will be my first experience at Petit Le Mans in Atlanta. I’m excited to have my teammates teach me as much as possible. I’m looking forward to being there. I have heard that it’s a very beautiful place and a nice race. Looking forward to it and to be with Mr. Risi and all the people at Risi Competizione. We will do our best. “
James Calado, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“This will be my third Petit Le Mans [and third with Risi Competizione]. Hopefully, I can make it three out of three [wins] because it would be an unbelievable achievement. It’s obviously different this year being GT3 and not GTE so lap times and things like that will be a little bit different. I think the team have good knowledge of this track, good success and we have good teammates, so hopefully we can get the third win. I’m looking forward to being back. It’s nice to return to the team since Daytona was my last race with Risi. It’s always great to be back racing in America and I’ll give it my best shot.”
Daniel Serra, driver, No. 62 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo:
“I’m very happy to be back at Petit Le Mans. The last time we were there with Risi was in 2019 and we won the race. Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks so I’m really happy and excited to be back. We are fighting for the IMSA Endurance Championship so let’s see what we can do this weekend. It’s always nice to share the car with Davide and James and we are ready.”
The first practice session for the 2022 running of the Petit Le Mans begins Thursday morning, Sept. 29 at 9:50-11:20 a.m. Practice 2 for the GTD Pro class, paired with the DPi class, is from 3:10-4:40 p.m. Thursday night Practice 3 is for 90 minutes commencing at 7:30 p.m. The GTD Pro class qualifying is 3:40-3:55 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. The full WeatherTech Championship driver’s autograph session is Friday at 11:00 a.m. for an hour.
The 25th annual Motul Petit Le Mans 10-hour race begins on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. after a morning warm up at 9:15-9:35 a.m. Live timing and scoring is available for all on-track sessions at IMSA.com and the IMSA Smartphone app.
Tune-In Information:
Qualifying for Petit Le Mans will be available on Friday, Sept. 30 at 3:35 p.m. on IMSA.com and streamed on Peacock.
The race will begin with live television coverage on the NBC Network from 12 noon for three hours and will be live on USA Network from 7:00-10:30 p.m. It will be live streamed on Peacock for the entire race from 12:00-10:30 p.m. All times Eastern. You can also listen to it live on IMSA Radio at imsa.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.
For more information, please go to www.risicompetizione.com and follow us on Facebook/RisiCompetizione, Twitter @RisiComp and Instagram @RisiComp.
