• Great victory propels Sweedler and Bell in IMSA Championship, now second
• Fuentes drives his Ferrari to a pair of Pirelli World Challenge podiums
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August
23, 2015 (Los Angeles, Calif.) – From the drop of the green until the
drop of the checkered, the Oak Tree Grand Prix weekend belonged to
Scuderia Corsa as drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell drove the no.
63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia to a runaway victory in Sunday’s
race at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Starting
from third position, Sweedler executed a pair of daring passes –
including one at the start – to move the Ferrari into the GT-Daytona
class lead. Flawless pit stops by the Scuderia Corsa crew, and
inch-perfect driving by Bell kept the Ferrari up front for the duration
of the race. The victory means that the team has closed the gap in the
GT-Daytona team championship as Scuderia Corsa now sits in second
position. Bell and Sweedler are now also in second position in the
driver’s championship, having also narrowed the gap to the leader, and
are coming on strong just as the TUDOR Championship season heads into
the final couple of races.
“What a great race,” said Sweedler.
“The Scuderia Corsa guys did a flawless job. The drivers, crew,
engineer, strategy were all flawless. We have been working hard for
this, and frankly, this victory coming towards the end of the year with
us in the championship hunt. We knew that if we were unable to put good
points on the board, or win, at VIR that our chances for the
championship were slipping away. So our focus was to make no mistakes,
and it’s worked out perfectly for us.”
The championship was also
on the mind of his teammate, as Bell defending the lead in the early
part of his stint from one of the other GT-Daytona championship
contenders.
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“We’re
coming for that championship,” said Bell. “It was nice to finally have a
venue where we could show what the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari is capable
of. The Ferrari was perfect all day. And what a job that my teammate
Bill Sweedler did! He drove the Ferrari to the lead and then the
pressure was on me to keep it there. We had a good battle with the 48,
but then we settled down and we were able to pull out a gap. I’m so
happy for the guys – we’ve had some good results but they really deserve
this victory.”
Sweedler and Bell would not be the only Scuderia
Corsa drivers to spray champagne this weekend. While the Oak Tree Grand
Prix was in the closing stages, Scuderia Corsa driver Martin Fuentes was
standing on the GT-A podium after Sunday’s Pirelli World Challenge race
at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Fuentes, driving the no. 07
Scuderia Corsa / HUBLOT Ferrari 458 Italia, also finished second in
Saturday’s PWC race. Both results strengthen his position in the GT-A
class championship. Duncan Ende, driving the no. 64 Scuderia Corsa
Ferrari 458 Italia, finished 13th in the GT class in Saturday’s race and
14th in Sunday’s.
“It was a good weekend for me and for
Scuderia Corsa with a strong finish in both races,” said Fuentes. “We
are shortening the gap between us and the points leaders and I’m looking
forward to the next race. This might not have been the best circuit for
the Ferrari, but we were able to get some strong points and we are
looking forward to the last two races of the season. It was a great job
by the Scuderia Corsa team, this championship won’t be over until the
last battle in Laguna Seca!”
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It
was a strong weekend for the team in both championships, and team owner
Giacomo Mattioli was thrilled to celebrate the team’s performance.
“What
an amazing feeling for Scuderia Corsa this weekend,” said Mattioli.
“This was a perfect race for our team. Bill drove an amazing race, it
was a really good feeling to see him take the lead. The guys in the pits
executed perfectly. Townsend did a very solid job as Iceman to close
the race. Today we seized the opportunity that we had. This is what a
championship caliber team does and this is what we did. I couldn't be
more proud of my guys. For a while, I had one eye on the track and
another one on the race from Miller Motorsports Park where Martin scored
two great podiums and is right there in the GT-A championship
contention as well.”
Fuentes and Ende will be back in their
Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italias this weekend as the Pirelli World
Challenge hosts a doubleheader at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.
The next round of the TUDOR Championship will be the Lone Star LeMans at
the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on September 17-19.
__________
About Scuderia Corsa
2015
24Hours of Le Mans Podium and 2013 Grand-AM Rolex GT
championship-winning team Scuderia Corsa was founded in 2011 by Giacomo
Mattioli and Art Zafiropoulo. The team was created for the sole purpose
of supporting the racing needs of Ferrari clients and includes turnkey
programs, GT endurance racing, the North American Ferrari Challenge
Series and track events. Giacomo Mattioli is the owner of Ferrari
Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and South Bay and partner in Ferrari Maserati
Silicon Valley with Art Zafiropoulo.
Follow Scuderia Corsa on
Twitter @Scuderia_Corsa, on Facebook at Scuderia Corsa, Instagram at
#Scuderiacorsaferrari and ScuderiaCorsa.com
Team Sponsors:
Ferrari
Beverly Hills / Los Angeles / Silicon Valley / South Bay - North
America's premiere Ferrari dealership group specializing in new and
pre-owned sales, Classiche designation work, collision repair and
factory trained service and original parts. Robert Graham – with its
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including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Montreal,
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its launch in 2001, it introduces sophisticated, eclectic style to the
fashion market as an American-based company with an intention of
inspiring a global movement and includes four menswear and women’s wear
collections a year—spring, pre-fall, fall and resort. Royal Purple -
Royal Purple manufactures high performance lubricants for most
automotive, industrial, marine, motorcycle and racing applications. The
Houston, TX based company is considered the best synthetic oil by many
end users and its synthetic oil and synthetic lubricants are formulated
to maximize performance in real world applications. Kaspersky -
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint
protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four
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than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT
security and provides effective digital security solutions for large
enterprises, SMBs and consumers. With its holding company registered in
the United Kingdom, Kaspersky Lab operates in almost 200 countries and
territories, providing protection for over 400 million users worldwide.
Ferrari
Palm Beach - Providing the exclusive Palm Beach market with a premium
inventory of new and pre-owned Ferraris, state-of-the-art facilities and
technicians for expert maintenance and repair. Wide World Ferrari -
Located in Spring Valley, New York, offering Ferrari customers a premium
selection of new and pre-owned Ferraris, expert authorized service and
exclusive Ferrari certified body repair. Hublot - A champion of
innovation, Hublot revolutionized the watch industry with the
introduction of the Big Bang, a multiple award winning timepiece created
using a combination of precious metals with rubber. Since then, the
Swiss brand has become universally known for the concept, “Art of
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such as Ferrari and the Los Angeles Lakers, Hublot is constantly
evolving and looking to the future. Passtime - Is a leading designer,
manufacturer and distributor of wireless GPS telematics devices for the
global automotive industry in the vehicle finance and fleet
transportation sectors offering a web-based software portal with a
complete end-to-end software solution designed specifically for the
automotive industry. Ultratech - A pioneer of laser processing,
Ultratech designs, manufactures and markets photolithography and laser
processing equipment.
Technical Suppliers
Motegi Racing -
through technical partnerships with leading professional racing teams,
Motegi Racing Competition and High Performance Tuning wheels are
designed and engineered for performance. Motegi Racing is a Wheel Pros
brand. Wheel Pros products are sold worldwide in more than 20 countries
on four continents and through a U.S. network of more than 10,000 active
dealers. Sabelt - leading manufacturer of seat belts and safety
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worldwide. AllState - Allstate Roadside Services strives to provide the
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