Vaughan's Ferrari team finishes second in race two of Honda Indy in Toronto

YorkRegion.com
July 25, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

Remo Ferri set three goals for his Ferrari team heading into the Honda Indy in Toronto this past weekend - keep the cars intact, score points and win the races.

But he had to settle for two out of three during a weekend of racing marred by heavy rain and several crashes due, in part, to slick track conditions.

Veteran driver Anthony Lazzaro, piloting a rebuilt No. 61 Ferrari 458 GT3 after a devastating collision last month, finished fifth in race one and took second place in race two, just behind Montreal’s Kuno Wittmer in the Dodge Viper.

“It’s always exciting to be in Toronto. We have a lot of fans, we have a lot of clients and we have a lot of support,” said Ferri, team principal of R. Ferri Motorsport Racing with Ferrari. “I think we did the best we could. I was happy to be in second place.”

Lazzaro’s performance earned him enough points to hang onto fifth spot overall in the Pirelli World Challenge series.

“I’m very pleased with No. 61,” Ferri said. “I think the results are excellent so far.”

Nick Mancuso had a tougher weekend in the No. 16 car. He finished in eighth spot following a collision in race one and failed to finish race two following a crash, Ferri said.

On the upside, the car wasn’t severely damaged, he noted. Mancuso remains in seventh place overall in the series.

Ferri believes that “with a little bit of luck” his team has a shot at winning the championship in its first year of competing in the series.

“I think as we get on to the rest of the circuits, which are raised circuits, we’ll do much better,” Ferri said. “We’ve been on the podium every race, except the last race in Elkhart Lake where we crashed. Otherwise, it couldn’t have been better results for us for the season. I didn’t expect us to get into this and be the dominant team, ... but, I must say, I’m very, very pleased.”

Next up for Ferri’s team is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, in Lexington from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3.

“We feel very good about it. I think that’s a good track for us,” Ferri said. “From there, we move on to Sonoma, which is another very good track for us. And then we do the last one, which is at Miller (Motorsports Track). So the championship is wide open.”