Portland-based team Vital Speed Motorsports has announced that Jeff Westphal, Trevor Baek and Marino Fanchitti will race its #47 Ferrari 488 GT3 in the California 8 Hours.
Westphal has a racing resume dating back to his open-wheel competition before entering sportscar racing. He has collected an impressive record including wins in Grand Am Rolex and IMSA WeatherTech Championship races.
In addition, Jeff has international experience, notable on the Nordschleife, becoming the first American driver to qualify on the pole for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2016 racing for Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus.
“It’s exciting to return to a classic circuit as Laguna Seca”, said Westphal.
“The Vital Speed Motorsports team is a young team but has many experienced personnel which helps in developing the Ferrari for the California 8 Hours. I have been impressed with Trevor’s abilities as a young driver and Marino is a longtime teammate and friend. I met Marino in 2015 and we became fast friends from the business and personal sides.
“He has come into the Vital Speed organization and has been a great asset for them to because he’s really good at the mental side.”
“We have a pretty good program and it’s a new team in terms of this style of racing (endurance). We’re cautiously optimistic and very excited. We love the track and we’re looking forward to racing at Laguna Seca. The Ferrari should be good there.”
Franchitti has a long history of competing in sportscars, winning the Sebring 12 Hours twice, and the British GT GTO Championship.
Meanwhile, Baek, the 20-year-old second-year racer, has been shown potential despite his limited pro racing experience including two second-place finishes in the Pirelli World Challenge GT SprintX Am classes as well as ranking third in the Ferrari Challenge series with a victory at Road Atlanta.
The California 8 Hours, the IGTC season finale is set to run on Sunday October 28th at Laguna Seca.
