As they say, two heads are better than one. That must be the reason why Scuderia Corsa, founded in 2011 by Giacomo Mattioli and Art Zafiropoulo, is headed to two entirely different racetracks in two different countries this coming weekend.
Near Toronto, the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal will compete in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. It will be both drivers’ first visit to the circuit, noted for being one of the most challenging in North America with a collection of high-speed corners and large elevation changes.
“Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is a fairly fast track having an average speed of over 115 mph,” said team engineer Joe La Joie. “Turns 1, 2, and 4 are all long sweepers between 100-to-130 mph and produce 2 lateral G’s. Therefore, the car has to be well balanced in high speed with enough support to handle these turns. Considerations must be made with the gearing so that the downshifts and throttle applications do not unsettle the car here either. Turn 5 is the slowest turn on the track and leads to the longest straight. The lead in to turn 5 is challenging because of the decreasing radius of Turn 4, a heavy brake zone, and a tricky double apex. The car must accelerate well out of turn 5 with good throttle application and proper gearing in order to drag down the back straight which leads to turns 8, 9 and 10.”
Balzan and Westphal finished in fifth position at the previous round at Watkins Glen International, putting in a strong performance after the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia suffered contact in the early stages. That finish, along with their victory at the previous round at the Raceway at Belle Isle, has pushed them to sixth in the TUDOR Championship’s GT-Daytona championship standings.
While Balzan and Westphal compete at CTMP, the Scuderia Corsa drivers who compete in the North America Ferrari Challenge will be in action at another great North American circuit – Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Driver Chris Ruud, who lives near the circuit in Milwaukee, currently leads the Coppa Shell championship ahead of teammate Jon Becker. The two drivers have taken nine out of a possible ten victories in the Coppa Shell class this season. They will be joined by John Horejsi, who competes in the Trofeo Pirelli class.
“We anticipate that we will have a big challenge on our hands at CTMP with the high level of competition in the GT-Daytona class as well as the big differences in speed with the Prototype cars”, said Giacomo Mattioli, team owner of Scuderia Corsa. “Alessandro and Jeff have been doing a fantastic job, as has the crew. In Ferrari Challenge, Chris and Jon have been very impressive and are first and second in the Coppa Shell championship. They are pushing each other very hard and have almost swept the season, while John has been making huge strides after being away from racing for several years. Hopefully after the end of the weekend, we are celebrating several wins for Scuderia Corsa!”
Scuderia Corsa will remain busy after the weekend, as team Sporting Director Stefan Johansson will then take part in a Ferrari Driving Experience event at Mont Tremblant that is exclusively dedicated to clients of Ferrari Beverly Hills and Ferrari Silicon Valley.
The Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix will be shown live on Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 PM ETon FOX Sports 1.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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