24h Le Mans
Last year was Scuderia Corsa's maiden Le Mans and the team met with success right from the start, clinching third place in LMGTE Am. The sort of result that encourages you to come back for more!
SCUDERIA CORSA (USA)
Owner: Giacomo Mattioli
Base: Van Nuys (California, USA)
2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results :
24 Hours of Daytona: 20th, Nielsen/Balzan/Segal/Renauer (DNK/ITA/USA/DEU), #63 Ferrari 488 GTD (6th GTD)
12 Hours of Sebring: 22nd, Nielsen/Balzan/Segal (DNK/ITA/USA), #63 Ferrari 488 GTD (1st GTD)
Laguna Seca: 9th, Nielsen/Balzan (DNK/ITA), #63 Ferrari 488 GTD (2nd GTD)
American team Scuderia Corsa was invited to make its 24 Hours of Le Mans début in 2015 on the back of its results in the 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship (now the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship).
It was set up in 2011 by Giacomo Mattioli, the owner of Ferrari dealerships in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and South Bay, and Art Zafiropoulo, with whom he holds Ferrari Maserati Silicon Valley. The aim of this team is to meet the needs of Ferrari’s US clients in endurance racing and also the North America Ferrari Challenge Series.
En 2013, Scuderia Corsa won the drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ titles for Ferrari in the GT class of the Grand Am championship. The following year, the team joined the newly formed Tudor United SportsCar Championship, as did Bill Sweedler and former IndyCar driver Townsend Bell. Although Scuderia Corsa finished well down the field at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Sweedler and Bell teamed up with Jeff Segal to top the GTD (GT Daytons) class rankings in a Ferrari 458 Italia fielded by Level 5 Motorsports, before finishing second at the 12 Hours of Sebring a few weeks later. Despite another runners-up spot at Watkins Glen, the pair won the North American Endurance Cup (NAEC), the mini-championship covering the four long races in the TUSCC calendar.
In 2015, Scuderia Corsa again fielded a Ferrari 458 Italia in the TUSCC GTD class, and also competed in the North American Ferrari Challenge Series and the Pirelli World Challenge. The performances of Sweedler and Bell in a Ferrari hadn’t gone unnoticed and the pair were recruited for the 2015 season. After a modest 6th place at Daytona, followed up by a 3rd place at Sebring, the pair teamed up once again with Segal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the Ferrari 458 Italia was decorated with the American flag as Scuderia Corsa followed the tradition of Luigi Chinetti’s famous NART squad’s outings at the legendary French endurance race.
As first-timers, the American trio were required to attend the Test Day which proved to be a rather tumultuous experience. After competing in the Detroit round of the TUSCC on the Saturday, Sweedler and Bell flew over to France but almost missed their train to Le Mans due to the late arrival of their private jet! Fortunately, the race itself went far more smoothly as Sweedler, Bell and Segal took third place in the LM GTE Am class.
This was just the start of what was to be an outstanding season for Sweedler and Bell culminating in the Drivers’ title, despite picking up just a single GTD class win in Virginia. Scuderia Corsa took the Teams’ crown and offered Ferrari the Manufacturers’ title.
For 2016, Ferrari rewarded Scuderia Corsa with the opportunity of racing the new Ferrari 488 in the GTLM (GT Le Mans) class, alongside Risi Competizione. The Italian constructor’s new weapon began with a fourth place at Daytona, before claiming a runners-up spot at the iconic Laguna Seca track. Scuderia Corsa also continues to race in GTD too with the new Ferrari 488 GTD. With last year’s experience of the 24 Hours of Le Mans under their belt, the trio of Sweedle, Bell and Segal in the #62 Ferrari will be one of the favourites this time round.
