The sheer impressive scale of AF Corse operation never fails to impress and the seven Ferrari 458 Italias here at Paul Ricard once again reinforced their commitment to the ELMS.
The #51 Peter Mann/Raffaele Giammaria and Mattteo Cressoni car was circulating metronomically with Mann aboard in the first part of the afternoon session as we caught up with Giammaria.
“It is a nice balance to our team with Peter and Matteo in the car. Last season was good and Peter was getting more and more confident in the car. So far we have been getting used to the rubber and I was happy with the balance this morning. It is nice to be fastest in class but of course it is just testing and I am sure the competition will be quicker later and also tomorrow.”
The #55 AF Corse entry enjoyed a remarkable ELMS season in 2014 with Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin very unlucky to lose out on the title at Estoril. So is there is unfinished business for Cameron in ELMS this season?
“I suppose there is but really last year was very enjoyable in itself. We had a really strong year against some ferocious competition. This season we are doing Blancpain Endurance and GT Open too and I think we are racing every weekend up to Le Mans!”
Cameron and Griffin are so busy this year that they are even contemplating doing both the Silverstone ELMS race and the Blancpain Monza round on the same weekend!
“It is just about do-able I think as ELMS is a Saturday race and Blancpain on Sunday. I’ve got the kids too that weekend so a lot will depend on what state they are in!”
Cameron, who is so used to the Michelin rubber was complimentary on the new ‘spec’ GT product from Dunlop, saying: “I find there is a big difference with the Dunlop tyre this year. We are having to re-set the car up but first impressions are that the rubber is pretty durable and it has a couple of good quali laps in it at least and then it plateaus down to a reasonable level and there is no massive drop-off.”
Joining Cameron and Griffin at both the Spa 6 Hours/Spa 24 Hours and Le Mans this year will be Alex Mortimer. The 30 year-old took a break from racing between 2012-14 to concentrate on career in the defence industry before returning last season in Radical and also starting his relationship with Griffin and Cameron with an appearance at the Spa 24 Hours. We’ll have more from Alex tomorrow.
Moving up from the GTC class to LMGTE in 2015 is the AF Corse run Formula Racing squad. Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac will be joined by Andrea Piccini this season. The Italian, who is not at Ricard this week, deputised for Jan Magnussen at Imola last May where the team took victory. He re-joins the ‘bronze’ Laursen and the ‘gold’ Mac this season.
“It is another step up for me but I think we showed last season that we can do a great job,” said Laursen. “We are hoping to go to Barcelona for a few more days of testing next week before Silverstone. We are continually learning as a team especially with the new Dunlop rubber. It is interesting and I am enjoying working with the engineers on this.”
While Laursen chatted and waited in the pit for another stint in the 458 Italia, he and the team will also face a waiting game to see if they have a place at the 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
“We are in a bit of limbo as we are third reserve for the Le Mans 24 Hours. All we can do is be as prepared as we can be and wait. We will be ready though if we get the opportunity.”
