WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Toni Vilander (Kankaanpää, Finland) finished second in today’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring.
MacNeil started the No. 63 WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 488 Evo for the 15-minute qualifying session this afternoon under sunny skies and near 90-degree temperatures. He was able to post a time of 2:02.069 good for a third place starting position.
Taking the start and putting in an hour stint, MacNeil handed the Ferrari over to Vilander in the top three in GTD. The Scuderia Corsa crew made quick work under a green flag pit stop to get the Finn back into the fight.
Vilander proceeded to drive to the lead with an hour remaining in the two hour and forty-minute timed event. The balance of the mid-engine Ferrari was key in keeping the Michelin tires in racing shape throughout his time in the car. After his final pit stop the top three cars in the GTD Class were running together around the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway with WeatherTech racing in third. Vilander was able to reel in the BMW to take the second step on the podium.
“The WeatherTech Ferrari performed incredibly well today as you can see,” Vilander said. “I was a bit unlucky in traffic after my pit stop, but I was able to get around the BMW. In the end I was very close to the Lexus. I think if we had a few more laps we would be on the top of the podium. But second place is encouraging. I think we can build on this moving forward.”
“It was a really good day for our WeatherTech Ferrari prepared by Scuderia Corsa,” MacNeil said. “It honestly felt like a win with as fast as the Lexus was today. It did not deter us from pushing hard. I gave everything I had in my stint and Toni did as well. It is nice to be back up on the podium. P2 is a great reward for the team in the never-ending fight for wins. We are going to my home track at Road America in two weeks. Looking forward to that weekend. We’ll get back to the drawing board and see how we can make the WeatherTech Ferrari faster.”
The IMSA WeatherTech Championship will head north for round four to run at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin July 31 – August 2.
Source. Kyle Chura/WeatherTech Racing
Comments
