GreenBkk.com Ferrari | The ILMC adventure continues in Imola – The Ferrari Museum hosts press conference to present this weekend’s “6 Hours” race

The ILMC adventure continues in Imola – The Ferrari Museum hosts press conference to present this weekend’s “6 Hours” race

Maranello, 28 June – The victory room at the Ferrari Museum was the setting for a press conference organised by the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the Automobile Club de L’Ouest to present this weekend’s Imola 6 Hours, the fourth round of the series. The museum therefore chose to display the 166 MM which won the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hours, testament to the historic links between the Maranello marque and the legendary endurance race. Alongside this car from the past was the very latest 458 Italia GT2, run by the AF Corse team in the intercontinental series. Taking part in the conference were Frederic Henry-Biabaud, the ILMC general manager, Antonello Coletta, Head of Ferrari Corse Clienti, AF Corse drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni and their team principal Amato Ferrari as well as Walter Sciacca, director and managing director of the Imola circuit.

Henry-Biabaud opened proceedings, stressing the importance of having a Ferrari presence on the entry list. “It is a great privilege for us to welcome Ferrari to our championship, which is born out of a desire to promote the spirit behind the Le Mans 24 Hours in one unique international competition. Ferrari is universally recognised as one of the most prestigious marques in the world and boasts some true endurance professionals in its driver line-up.”

“It is definitely equally important for Ferrari to be part of this prestigious series,” echoed Antonello Coletta. “We have believed in it right from the start. When the idea of this championship was born last year, we immediately realised that for us and our GT cars, it would be a challenge we could not afford to miss. Ferrari’s history is not just about Formula 1 and our legend also owes something to the Grand Touring races.” Coletta also chose to comment on the new FIA Endurance World Championship which gets underway in 2012, replacing the current ILMC. “We will return to having a World Championship which is an added value for us as it will see us take on new opponents, even if I can say with pride that our cars are among the best and the teams that fly our colours are among the most professional. One only needs to look at the results: last year, we won the first of these championships and here we are off the back of the Le Mans race that we led up until the twenty second hour. Unfortunately, victory slipped from our grasp when we thought it was ours, but we are working very hard to give all the necessary support to our customers, which will also be the case in the world series in the future.”

The imminent challenge awaiting Ferrari is the Imola 6 Hours in which it has ten cars taking part; six Italia 458 GT2 and four F430 GTC, split between the Pro and Am categories. Of those entered, AF Corse is the team that has made the biggest contribution to winning important titles for the Maranello company and, with the help of drivers of the calibre of Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni will try and consolidate Ferrari’s lead in the constructors’ classification. “We are definitely confident of matching last year’s performance and once again fighting to win the title for Ferrari,” said team principal Amato Ferrari.

Giancarlo Fisichella seems equally confident in this his second season driving for the Piacenza-based team. “This year I feel I have got more experience and certainly I have a closer feeling with the team and the car. With a past career in F1, I had to adapt to a different driving style and a very different race format, trying to find the right compromise to make my contribution to a win which does not just depend on the skill of one driver, but on that of an entire team. I have an exceptional relationship with Gimmi Bruni whom I consider a true master and he has given me invaluable advice in terms of understanding the car and the circuits. Together we have won at Spa, we could have won at Paul Ricard and Le Mans, but we are pleased nevertheless because a lot of work and professionalism has gone into these results. We will definitely try to repeat the sort of performance we showed early in the season when it comes to the Imola race.”

The high level of competition which can be expected in Imola, does not phase Gimmi Bruni either, as he laid out his expectations for this Italian round of the intercontinental championship. “The fight will be very close but we have everything in place to be in the running. For me, it’s a real honour to wear the colours of such a prestigious marque as Ferrari and to race at a technically complex track like Imola.”

The Imola 6 Hours gets underway on Friday with the first free practice sessions, followed by 20 minutes of qualifying on Saturday at 13.55, which will decide the grid for the endurance race that starts on the Sunday at noon.

Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)