Scuderia Corsa and Christina Nielsen Endure Challenging 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans, France (June 18, 2017) – The No. 65 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 sponsored by GANT Sportswear GTE had quite a week during the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. The multi-nation driver lineup of Christina Nielsen (Denmark), Alessandro Balzan (Italy) and Bret Curtis (United States) as well as the outstanding Scuderia Corsa crew worked hard throughout the week and on race day. The team completed the race with a 14th place finish, however the result does not reflect the commitment of the team, from the drivers to the crew, to overcome adversity.
Early in the week, Nielsen, Balzan and Curtis worked together developing a set up that all three drivers felt would make them competitive in qualifying rounds and on race day. During Qualifying 2 on Thursday, Nielsen made heavy contact with a curb damaging the 488 with a short 30 minutes before Qualifying 3. This prevented the team from setting a time in this session which turned out to be the fastest of the three qualifying sessions, leading No. 65 to start in 16th in GTE-AM.
"After repairing the Ferrari, the team focused on the pageantry of the event on Friday," said Nielsen. "All of the drivers were excited and enjoyed the interaction with the fans."
As it was all week, Le Mans was sunny and very hot for the 3 p.m. race start. Balzan started the No. 65 Ferrari. From the beginning of the race, it was obvious the work the team did to repair the 488 put the car in a good place for the race itself. Balzan was able to move from 16th to 10th by the time he finished his first single stint in the car.
Moving into Hour Two, Nielsen took the wheel of the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari. She felt very good in the car and took her double stint to continue to move the car forward into the top 10. By the time Balzan returned to take over at the top of Hour Four, Nielsen had progressed the team into a solid seventh place. A Balzan, Curtis, Balzan driving combination cycled the Ferrari during Hour Four through Hour 11. The No. 65 caught some bad luck with the yellow zones and stayed between seventh and 10th place during this time.
Nielsen returned to the No. 65 in Hour 12 assuming controls in eighth position during the night racing challenge. Nielsen and the rest of the GTE field had to work to keep track of the LMP1 and the massive fields of LMP2 cars that were looking to pass the GTE cars on the Le Mans track while also attempting to make progress up the GTE-Am field. After nearly three hours in the No. 65, she finished her triple stint in Hour 15 in 11th place.
As the No. 65 moved forward toward the finish, all three drivers found themselves spending time in control of the Ferrari. The drivers had settled into 10th place and were driving toward the race finish. Halfway through Hour 23, the Balzan-driven Ferrari was contacted from behind as it was breaking and turning past another GT class car. The contact resulted in a puncture and damage to the left rear of the car. Returning to the garage, the team repaired the damage, and Christina crossed the finish line in a 14th place finish in GTE-Am.
"This was a heartbreaking finish to a long and well-fought race," said Nielsen. "I am proud of how our driving team and pit crew pulled together throughout the week and handled the pressure of this high endurance race. We are disappointed with our finishing place and are confident our result would have been stronger had it not been for the damage to the car so near to the end of the race. However, this is part of racing and we caught some bad breaks. Regardless of the finish, I'm incredibly proud of our team. We hope to earn a ticket to return to Le Mans in 2018. If we are fortunate to get this opportunity we would come back stronger and prepared for a podium finish."
For live social media updates from Nielsen follow her @christinaracing on Instagram and Twitter and find her fan page on Facebook.
Homepage: www.christinanielsenracing.dk
Facebook: Christina Nielsen Racing
Instagram: christinaracing
Twitter: Christinaniels6
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