Risi Competizione will hope to secure championship glory in the American Le Mans Series as the season draws to a close at Laguna Seca this coming weekend.
Risi is aiming to capture its second straight crown, while the hugely successful pairing of Jaime Melo and Mika Salo are looking to secure their first ALMS title together. Also at stake is a first manufacturers' championship for Ferrari with Melo and Salo currently leading Jörg Bergmeister and Johannes van Overbeek by 22 points in the drivers' standings and Risi 13 points clear of the Flying Lizard Motorsports team.
“Once again, the GT2 Championship will come down to the final race at Laguna Seca,” team owner Giuseppe Risi said. “We have been talking all year about how competitive the GT2 series is in the American Le Mans Series, and this final race will prove it.
With the rare-for-2007 advantage of having raced at the circuit before Salo is looking forward to a return visit to the Californian circuit as he aims to wrap up the title.
“There are some tricky parts and some similar corners to some of the street circuits we've raced at this year,” the Finn said. “It's more difficult maybe to memorize than most of them because of the elevation changes, and also the low grip is an issue there. It was my first time at Laguna Seca last year. It was a beautiful track. It's a nice place, the whole area there. I really enjoyed it and we're just going to try to repeat the same thing this year and see how fast we can go there."
Competing alongside the championship contenders in the Krohn green Ferrari 430 GT will be Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson. After the disappointment of not finishing the Petit Le Mans event due to oil pump failure, the pair will hope to end the season in style.
"I think the Ferrari has shown to be very good on braking and good to put power down but Laguna Seca is a very low grip track,” Jonsson said. “They actually resurfaced the track a few years ago and it's still very slippery because of the sand that blows across the track all the time. It's like polished asphalt and it's very slippery.
“I think though it should be a very good track for the Ferrari because the geometry on the car helps it get good traction. Even though we have traction control, the geometry and the set-up the engineers give us with the shocks and everything, should benefit us on that track."
