Risi Competizione 2017 COTA Preview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RISI COMPETIZIONE CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS PREVIEW - 2017 A Race Engineers' Perspective Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM No. 62: Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Toni Vilander (FIN) (L-R) Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander and Rick Mayer of Risi Competizione (Houston, Texas, April 27, 2017)...Rick Mayer, race engineer of the Risi Competizione No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTLM team, gives us a preview of this year's Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, May 4-6, 2017. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) and Toni Vilander (Finland) will pilot the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM in Round 4 of the 2017 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, in the GTLM class. They finished third in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January 2017 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, followed by a DNF in the recent Long Beach street race. General: In review of the 2016 race, only one safety car period occurred, which was quite early in the race. A modest car count this year could see a relatively caution free race. CoTA's long 3.4-mile circuit has ample run-off; this should reduce practice stoppages and race caution periods. The big change for this year is the race date, it has moved from fall to spring. The last few races here have been very hot. We'll see what this year brings with Spring weather. CoTA is quite wide and has enough straights where passing slower traffic will be easier than on street or tighter permanent circuits. The track surface is smooth - as you'd expect from a relatively new track with mild winters. Competition: Any make can win here as the BoP (Balance of Performance) is very close now. A relative comparison to last year's CoTA race BoP: The Corvettes are exactly as they ran last year; power, weight and fuel capacity. Fords are close with a 4-liter fuel capacity reduction with a nearly identical boost curve and the same weight. The only new for 2017 car is the Porsche with its mid-engine. They now (post Sebring reduction) have a slightly smaller engine air restrictor and are heavier by +10 Kg, but it's a new car with different Michelin tire options and they have been faster everywhere this year and were very competitive at CoTA last year. We expect them to be very fast here. The BMWs are lighter, have more power and more fuel capacity. The Ferrari has slightly more power, same weight and a little more fuel. Risi Competizione at the 2016 COTA race The Track: CoTA is certainly a more traditional, European-style layout more than some of the other permanent road courses we visit. The twisty section between Turns 3 and 9 will be partial throttle for GTs and this section will probably have more than one line; this could be a tricky complex to get right and will favour the cars with the highest downforce. The car needs platform for this section but it will not require an overly fast change of direction like the bus stop at Daytona or Turn 10 at Road Atlanta. The curbs are usable here and aid in achieving a quicker lap time. Top speed going into Turn 12 will be on par with Road America, VIR, Mosport and Road Atlanta. The low speed corners (Turns 1, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 20) will work the rear tires hard on the exit. Setup: The track has one long straight with the run up into Turn 1 and down to Turn 11 being quick as well. A good lap time here will come from being able to run through the corners well as opposed to trimming for top speed. CoTA has 20 corners, including some long ones, and we'll need to find a setup and tire compound that allows the tires to last. This track prefers a stiffer platform as there's a lot of high speed corners that require pitch control and general platform support. The surface is smooth, but it's a compromise as the many low speed corners will work the rear tires hard. We'll work with the dampers, anti-roll bars and springs to get good transition and platform support. We should have a good base setup from last year with some small changes based on what we've learned this season. The predominate tendency of this track is under-steer. But you need to cure this without hurting low speed traction or rear stability when trailing brake into the corner. The main unknown is what the weather will do and which Michelin tire compound (or compounds) you run. The Race: We would expect few full course caution periods (with a good chance of none) during the race (if dry), as this track has a lot of run-off room at nearly every corner. The current forecast is warm but not super-hot like previous years and a good chance for some rain. Hot and dry conditions (with no rain) will make the tires and tire life the key for long runs as the heat will exaggerate their fall off. Rain could wash any rubber build up off the track, making for a bit of an unknown. We expect some green flag pit stops to play into the outcome of this race. Changing weather conditions would make an interesting race. The Ferrari should be quick here. A rare reliability issue put us out from the lead late in the race last year. Hopefully we can get some Texas home track luck and get a good result! Tune-In Information: Qualifying for the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, Friday, May 5 can be viewed from 12:55 p.m. - 2:350 p.m. EDT on IMSA.TV. In the U.S., watch live coverage of the Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown, Saturday, May 6, 2:25 p.m.-5:00 p.m. EDT on IMSA.tv and catch the broadcast again from 7:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m. EDT on FOX Sports 1. 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Burns BurnsGroup PR for Risi Competizione barbara@burnsgrouppr.com [mailto:barbara@burnsgrouppr.com] + 1 770.329.7134 Ferrari of Houston: Dave 'Beaky' Sims dsims@risicompetizione.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward this email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=srd8ylpab&m=1116012908082&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1127805013612 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by risicomp@burnsgrouppr.com. Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM) https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001HJ3lh0IXhuNDeqIAbALhJw%3D%3D&ch=24b398b0-71a1-11e3-8bea-d4ae528ed502&ca=e46410e4-fd63-4d67-9b0f-d03bc349fad9 Privacy Policy: http://www.constantcontact.com/legal/service-provider?cc=about-service-provider Online Marketing by Constant Contact(R) www.constantcontact.com BurnsGroup Unlimited | LLC | Atlanta | GA | 30308