Risi Competizione took their first finish of the season at Long Beach, with drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Dane Cameron finishing the Tequila Patron Sportscar Showcase ninth in GTLM after 75 laps.
Italian Fisichella took the race start, but, as soon as lap 15, started reporting that the he was losing grip in the No.62 Ferrari 458 Italia, but he hanged in there and at the 42 minute mark came in for the team’s only scheduled stop, handing over to American Cameron, whilst also making the quickest stop of the GTLM field.
However, on Cameron’s third lap, the driver from Glen Allen made a small mistake going wide at one of the corners, re-joining but with a flat spot to his left front tyre, forcing him to make another stop with ten to go before crossing the line one lap down on the No.17 Porsche.
“It was a difficult race; we couldn’t get what we expected from the car at the start of the weekend and we weren’t quick enough,” explained Fisichella. “It was a bit the balance of the car, a bit the set up – generally the grip was not enough and the car was very inconsistent on the curbs.
“But I finished my first race of the season and it was encouraging to get to the end of the race, even if we did have to have a second pit stop. We brought the car home so for the next race I’m sure we will be better – at the moment it looks like we need more power or less weight!”
Cameron also commented, saying: “We weren’t able to ever quite get the exact balance that both Fisi and I were looking so I think we were slightly down on pace. We were hoping we’d be able to make some up with track position and we had a pretty good stop and strategy. I’ll own a small mistake that I made when I went down the escape road a few laps into my stint so I struggled with a flat spot after that.
“I enjoyed my first race in the Ferrari and had green flag racing for an hour so it was a solid first stint with the team which I very much enjoyed. We had the consistency but missed on the outright pace for the weekend.”
The next race for the team is at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday May 4.
