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GRAND-AM
ALMS: Risi’s Plans Still Up In The Air
While a two-car program for the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona is confirmed, team boss Giuseppe Risi tells SPEED.com that a full-season ALMS or GRAND-AM effort is dependent on funding...
Team owner Giuseppe Risi has yet to confirm either a full-season ALMS or GRAND-AM program and says it is dependent on funding. (Photo: Regis Lefebure/Risi Competizione)
Risi Competizione is out in force at this weekend’s Roar Before the 24 test, as the Houston-based squad gears up for the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona.
While Risi will debut a pair of new Ferrari F458 Italia Grand Am cars in the around-the-clock Florida classic, the veteran GT squad has yet to confirm a full-season program, either in GRAND-AM or a return to the American Le Mans Series.
In a SPEED.com exclusive, team owner Giuseppe Risi admits that funding is not yet in place for any program beyond this month’s Rolex Sports Car Series season-opener, while voicing his displeasure over recent rules changes in the ALMS.
“To do a GRAND-AM championship completely, I don't know,” Risi told SPEED.com. “It depends on funding at the moment. If I have a preference between the two, my preference would be to do ALMS. However, I wasn't thrilled at ALMS towards the end [of last year] because I think they had a lot of rule changes.”
The two-time ALMS GT champions suffered one of its worst seasons in recent memory, with drivers Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander scoring only a single victory and finishing sixth in the championship. A mid-season balance of performance adjustment given to the Corvette’s fuel flow restrictor was one of the rule changes Risi was most displeased with.
“It's like everything that was being done was trying to slow the Ferrari down and help everyone else,” Risi said. “It was very evident and clear. Anybody who knows anything about racing could see that was going on.
“So that was upsetting because we put our best foot forward to come to these races. Then to have things changed and waivers thrown at us, and all the other teams being helped... We never had a waiver. The Ferrari doesn't have one single waiver. When you look at the BMW has something like 18 [waivers] and Corvette has thirty-something [waivers].
“We're big boys. When we go racing, we're a professional team. We represent the most famous car maker in the world... I like the way ALMS is run, other than that. I think it's a great format. And when it's all working well, it works extremely well.”
Risi’s two new GRAND-AM-spec Ferrari F458 Italias, to be driven by an all-star lineup of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gimmi Bruni, Toni Vilander, Olivier Beretta, Andrea Bertolini and Rafa Matos, will be aiming for the GT class victory at Daytona later this month.
“GRAND-AM, quite honestly, I think some of the things they say and do are a little petty sometimes,” Risi said. “But the format of what this is, with everyone running on the same tires and you have to make the tires work for you... I think is great because it equals everything out.
“My concern is that you make a car competitive and it's going to be the same for everybody. We just don't want to be somebody waking up one morning and saying, 'We have to do something about these guys.' Because you're going to run us off.”
While his preference would be a full-season of ALMS instead of continuing in the Rolex Series, Risi said he’s waiting on sponsorship agreements to come into place that would need Ferrari’s blessing.
“It really depends on Ferrari right now,” Risi said. “We're waiting on what Ferrari is going to say because of all the things going on in terms of finance. You have to have the right finance in place to do it right. You can't shortchange the team or yourself. It has to be done right. We have done that over the years, so I'm not going to go backwards now.”
A return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team has earned two prior class victories, has also not been ruled out but depends on financing as well. Risi said he’ll be waiting until the Jan. 18 entry deadline to make a final decision.
And for a decision on whether to pursue an ALMS or GRAND-AM championship in 2012, he says it will come down to money.
“I'm at a different place in my life at the moment,” Risi said. “If it happens, it will happen. Because of all the other situations surrounding the economy and everything else, you cannot get yourself in a compromising position. I usually live by all my commitments. I'm not going to make a commitment that I'm going to have to back away from. That's just not what I do.”
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
While Risi will debut a pair of new Ferrari F458 Italia Grand Am cars in the around-the-clock Florida classic, the veteran GT squad has yet to confirm a full-season program, either in GRAND-AM or a return to the American Le Mans Series.
In a SPEED.com exclusive, team owner Giuseppe Risi admits that funding is not yet in place for any program beyond this month’s Rolex Sports Car Series season-opener, while voicing his displeasure over recent rules changes in the ALMS.
“To do a GRAND-AM championship completely, I don't know,” Risi told SPEED.com. “It depends on funding at the moment. If I have a preference between the two, my preference would be to do ALMS. However, I wasn't thrilled at ALMS towards the end [of last year] because I think they had a lot of rule changes.”
The two-time ALMS GT champions suffered one of its worst seasons in recent memory, with drivers Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander scoring only a single victory and finishing sixth in the championship. A mid-season balance of performance adjustment given to the Corvette’s fuel flow restrictor was one of the rule changes Risi was most displeased with.
“It's like everything that was being done was trying to slow the Ferrari down and help everyone else,” Risi said. “It was very evident and clear. Anybody who knows anything about racing could see that was going on.
“So that was upsetting because we put our best foot forward to come to these races. Then to have things changed and waivers thrown at us, and all the other teams being helped... We never had a waiver. The Ferrari doesn't have one single waiver. When you look at the BMW has something like 18 [waivers] and Corvette has thirty-something [waivers].
“We're big boys. When we go racing, we're a professional team. We represent the most famous car maker in the world... I like the way ALMS is run, other than that. I think it's a great format. And when it's all working well, it works extremely well.”
Risi’s two new GRAND-AM-spec Ferrari F458 Italias, to be driven by an all-star lineup of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gimmi Bruni, Toni Vilander, Olivier Beretta, Andrea Bertolini and Rafa Matos, will be aiming for the GT class victory at Daytona later this month.
“GRAND-AM, quite honestly, I think some of the things they say and do are a little petty sometimes,” Risi said. “But the format of what this is, with everyone running on the same tires and you have to make the tires work for you... I think is great because it equals everything out.
“My concern is that you make a car competitive and it's going to be the same for everybody. We just don't want to be somebody waking up one morning and saying, 'We have to do something about these guys.' Because you're going to run us off.”
While his preference would be a full-season of ALMS instead of continuing in the Rolex Series, Risi said he’s waiting on sponsorship agreements to come into place that would need Ferrari’s blessing.
“It really depends on Ferrari right now,” Risi said. “We're waiting on what Ferrari is going to say because of all the things going on in terms of finance. You have to have the right finance in place to do it right. You can't shortchange the team or yourself. It has to be done right. We have done that over the years, so I'm not going to go backwards now.”
A return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the team has earned two prior class victories, has also not been ruled out but depends on financing as well. Risi said he’ll be waiting until the Jan. 18 entry deadline to make a final decision.
And for a decision on whether to pursue an ALMS or GRAND-AM championship in 2012, he says it will come down to money.
“I'm at a different place in my life at the moment,” Risi said. “If it happens, it will happen. Because of all the other situations surrounding the economy and everything else, you cannot get yourself in a compromising position. I usually live by all my commitments. I'm not going to make a commitment that I'm going to have to back away from. That's just not what I do.”
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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