Risi Competition has locked in its driver line-up for the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona as the team awaits the delivery of its new Ferrari F488 GTE.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, Davide Rigon and Olivier Beretta will compete at the 2016 running of the twice-around-the-clock American endurance classic in the new car.
Risi plans a full season of racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Fisichella and Vilander as the 2016 season drivers.
Vilander replaces Pierre Kaffer who has returned to Audi as a factory driver – more than 10 years after representing the brand at Le Mans in 2004.
The new Ferrari F488 GTE has proven to be extremely fast this weekend at the Roar before the 24 – Scuderia Corsa leading the Saturday afternoon session with their entry today.
Fisichella returns to Risi Competizione for 2016 after a full season of IMSA competition for the Giuseppe Risi-owned squad last year. The pair combined for five podium GTLM class finishes (Sebring 3rd; Long Beach 2nd; Road America 3rd; VIR 3rd, COTA 2nd) and three additional Top Five finishes (Laguna Seca 4th; Watkins Glen 5th, Petit Le Mans 5th) in the 10-race IMSA series.
Vilander most recently drove for Risi Competizione at last year’s Petit Le Mans, where he joined Fisichella and Kaffer in the Ferrari 458 Italia to a fifth-place GTLM class finish in a rain-shortened race. He competed full-time in the global FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with teammate and fellow Ferrari driver Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni, finishing second in the GTE Pro class championship.
“Now that Ferrari has decided the driver lineup for their factory drivers, we are happy to welcome back Giancarlo and Toni to our stable for the full IMSA season,” said Team Principal Giuseppe Risi.
“Once again we will add Davide Rigon and Olivier Beretta for the Rolex 24 race, as we did in 2015.
“Although the new Ferrari 488 is not ready yet for delivery, we have sent a small crew and transporter to the Daytona Test to go through the required steps to participate in the Daytona 24 hour race later this month. We await further details from Michelotto and Ferrari on the expected 488 delivery in the coming weeks.”
The new highly anticipated Ferrari 488 twin-turbo is the car set to replace the Ferrari 458 Italia in the GT Le Mans class.
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