Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen claimed second place, their fourth podium of the season, in Saturday afternoon’s IMSA Sports Car Championship race at The Raceway in Belle Isle. With that second-place finish they have brought the championship lead within grasp as Balzan and Nielsen are now nine points behind the Riley Motorsports Team’s Mercedes of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen. Ferrari is also now within nine points of the GT-Daytona manufacturer championship lead, closing the gap to Mercedes.
Four out of five. Scuderia Corsa repeated the success it has enjoyed in Detroit by scoring its fourth podium finish in five appearances. Nielsen, who was seventh during Friday’s qualifying session, started the race and turned the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 to Balzan during the race’s lone caution period with the team’s fast work in the pits allowing Balzan to return to the track in third position. After a hard-fought battle for the lead, Balzan brought the Ferrari to the checkered flag in second position behind Andy Lally and Ketherine Legge in the Michael Shank Racing Acura.
Next round. The second-place finish is the fourth straight podium result of the season for Balzan and Nielsen, following a second-place at Sebring, third-place at Long Beach and third-place at Circuit of The Americas. The next round of the IMSA Sports Car Championship will be Six Hours of the Glen on June 29 – July 2 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. That race will serve as the third event of the North American Endurance Cup in which Balzan and Nielsen are in second place in the GT-Daytona standings behind the while Ferrari is third in the manufacturers standings.
Comments
