Cetilar Racing on the track in Austin for the Lone Star Le Mans
After a 69-day break, the Cetilar Racing team returns to the track in the FIA WEC 2019-2020, with the season up and running with the Lone Star Le Mans this weekend on the circuit in Austin.
The 6 Hours of COTA, the fifth of eight races in the calendar, will be the first of two in the USA, ahead of the 1000 Miles of Sebring to be held in late March, the last of the overseas stages before the European grand final in Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is the year’s major event where Cetilar Racing will be appearing for the fourth year running.
In Texas, Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Andrea Belicchi will take turns at the wheel of the Dallara LMP2 n.47 managed by AF Corse, aiming to confirm the good results achieved at Silverstone, with a best sixth place, and then Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain.
Four races and four finishes for the “all made in Italy” team. This confirms the continuous commitment of Cetilar Racing, which recently increased its motorsport activities, extending the Cetilar Performance project for young sportsmen, which now includes a total of seven kart racers.
“It’ll be my first time here in Austin and I’m thrilled”, commented Roberto Lacorte, “Let’s hope it’s cold, as that will make our tyres perform better. For the rest, we will try to do our best as always”.
“This is the day before the first race of the year, even if the season is already half over. The first half was generally positive”, said Giorgio Sernagiotto, “We will try to stick in the group. We have a tyre handicap because Michelin will be bringing compounds which aren’t really suited to our chassis, but we will try to overcome this with our driving”.
“I’ve already raced once in Austin. The track is very interesting and varied, with a very fast series of bends rather like Becketts in Silverstone, and aerodynamics have a major role. The temperature could be a problem, as Michelin is bringing very soft compounds. With this type of tyre, if it’s not as cold as they say in Texas our Dallara could suffer”, Andrea Belicchi added.
The Lone Star Le Mans will start its engines on Saturday with two free practice sessions. The qualifying rounds will be held on the same day, one 20-minute session with the green light at 6.10 pm, which is 1.10 am on Sunday morning in Italy. The race is on Sunday, starting at 12 local time, or 7.00 pm in Italy, and will be broadcast live as ever on Eurosport and Sportitalia, as well as on the YouTube channel and official website fiawec.com.
