GT World Challenge America – Ferrari Sweeps Watkins Glen Weekend

Watkins Glen, 25th July 2022

Ferrari continued to roll in GT World Challenge America Am class competition Sunday at Watkins Glen International, closing out the weekend with another victory and also scoring fourth in the Pro-Am category after taking its 20th consecutive Am category victory on Saturday. Represented in this case by only the Triarsi team after AF Corse withdrew their effort from the weekend following an incident earlier in the season, the team nevertheless further added to the Prancing Horse’s winning record.

Saturday
In their first full season of professional competition, Triarsi finished 6th in the Pro-Am category and also won the Am category on Saturday. Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina took their fifth-consecutive triumph in the No. 23 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020. Triarsi qualified ninth overall in the 17-car field, and was running third at his pit stop near the midway point of the 90-minute race. Scardina took over in 11th and was first in class, working his way up to a 10th-place overall finish.

The team also raced the No. 13 Ferrari GT3 Evo 2020 in the Pro-Am class. Justin Wetherill qualified ninth in class and 15th overall for the team – which scored its first victory in the most recent event at Virginia International Raceway. Wetherill moved up to sixth and 11th overall at his pit stop, when he turned the Ferrari over to Ryan Dalziel. Rejoining the race ninth in class and 13th overall, Dalziel managed to place sixth in class and seventh overall.

“I was very excited to join Triarsi Competizione,” Dalziel said. “They have a great team and package. Justin had some bad luck when he was taken out in our primary car in the earlier race. We will regroup tonight and be ready for tomorrow.”
In Saturday’s GT America powered by AWS action, Wetherill was taken out before completing a lap in the No. 13 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

Sunday

It was another impressive performance, series newcomer Triarsi Competizione took both class poles for the Sunday feature. Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi gave Ferrari its 21st-consecutive triumph in the Am class as the duo netted the sixth-straight victory for the No. 23 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020.

“Just getting more track time in the car was most important today,” Triarsi said. “I was having trouble getting the tires up to temperature and was getting a lot of pickup getting out of the pits. Otherwise, the car was great. The team did an amazing job setting the car up for this weekend. I’m happy to finish where we did.”
“We made some changes overnight,” Scardina offered. “I really wanted to push hard today. We made the right changes to the car, and at the start of the race we were able to do really well. I was able to keep the pace up during my first stint, and handed the car over and we finished off the job.”

Ryan Dalziel won the pole in Pro-Am in the No. 13 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, and joined Justin Wetherill in finishing fourth in class and fifth overall. Dalziel led the class throughout his opening stint, and was up to third overall at the beginning of the pit stop window. Dalziel cycled to the overall lead when he pitted. Wetherill rejoined the race in third position in class, and went on to place fifth overall and fourth in Pro-Am.
Wetherill had a change of fortune in Sunday’s GT America powered by AWS sprint. After being taken out without completing a lap on Saturday, he drove the No. 37 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 to a third-place finish in the Sunday race. Wetherill trailed the winner by 3.741-seconds at the checkered flag.

Schedule
The next event for SRO competitors will be at Road America on August 19-21, including both the Pirelli GT4 America and GT America powered by AWS in a pair of races.