New faces and familiar Ferraris as team competes in third Rolex 24 at Daytona
January 21, 2014 (Los Angeles, Calif.) – A pair of Scuderia Corsa Ferraris are prepared to take on the Rolex 24 at Daytona as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship begins its 2015 season at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
For the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the new-look no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia will feature last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona winners Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Jeff Segal, who will be joined by Anthony Lazzaro. Sweedler and Bell will contest the entire TUDOR Championship season in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari. Sweedler and Bell, the 2014 Patron North American Endurance Cup, adapted to their new Ferrari during the three-day test.
“It was a real blast to get back behind the wheel of a Ferrari and get on track with the Scuderia Corsa guys for the first time,” said Sweedler. “The Ferrari has undergone some changes in spec from what we had last year, so it was really valuable to not only begin working with the team but to begin understanding how the car would be different than last year’s car. It was a great test, and with guys like Townsend, Jeff and Anthony sharing the car we’ve made a lot of progress already. It was clear from the moment we got there that the Scuderia Corsa team is a great organization. We would love nothing more than to defend our win from last year!”
“Love the new team,” said Bell. “Scuderia Corsa has a strong Italian flavor which is a fun new element that I am enjoying. We’ve also brought a few familiar faces on board with Scuderia Corsa in the engineering department and also in our mechanic group. Overall, I feel we are in very good shape headed into the start of the season. Daytona in 2014 was an experience I will never forget and we are hungry to make even better memories this year.”
For the third time, the ‘Brazilian’ Ferrari 458 Italia will race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The no. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia, wearing the colors of the Brazilian flag, will be driven by Brazilian StockCar star Daniel Serra, as well as fellow Brazilians Francisco Longo and Marcos Gomez. Factory driver, Andrea Bertolini will round out the driver lineup of the second Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.
“When I look at the lineup of drivers of our no. 63 and no. 64 I am very excited and motivated for Daytona,” said Giacomo Mattioli, team owner of Scuderia Corsa. “Townsend, Jeff, Bill and Anthony proved to be a fast combination and we are thrilled as well to welcome back the Via Italia Ferrari! Our friends from Brazil had a very good race last year, and showed they are extremely quick. We are looking forward to provide a great show to the fans!”
The broadcast of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will begin on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2 PM ET on FOX, before moving to FOX Sports 2 at 4 PM ET and FOX Sports 1 at 8 PM ET. The overnight hours will be streamed on IMSA.com beginning at 10 PM ET, before the final hours are shown on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 7 AM ET.