Le Mans, France, (September 18, 2020) – WeatherTech Racing has completed two days of running at the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France in preparation for Saturday’s Le Mans 24 Hours race.
Running an abbreviated schedule from a traditional Le Mans week drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Toni Vilander (Kankaanpää, Finland), and Jeff Segal (Miami, Fla.) put in 98 laps (833 miles) around the 14-turn track in the No. 63 Ferrari GTE 488 Evo in France over two days. In qualifying Vilander posted a lap time of 3:52.508 good for a fourth row starting position in LMGTE Pro.
The team is pleased with the preparation of the Scuderia Corsa managed WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, but rain is anticipated for the race.
“We haven’t had any major issues,” MacNeil said. “We have been focused on fine tuning our set-up for the race. Our attention is on running clean, fast and consistent laps. However, we have weather coming in the form of rain and that could throw a wrench into things. The WeatherTech Racing Ferrari GTE Evo is running well and the preparation from the team has been very solid so far. Looking forward to a long competitive race.”
“It was a good two days of practice,” Segal said. “We came out of the box strong in the WeatherTech Racing Ferrari which is to be expected with the experience of this team. We showed good speed from the very beginning. There are improvements to be made as the track surface is a little bit different from what we encounter in June. There is a little bit of learning left to do. Toni did a great job in qualifying. We were in the hunt to be in Hyperpole qualifying until the end. A little unfortunate we didn’t make it. It is a long race and we have a good starting position. We are going to stick to our plan, work on our driver changes today and get rested up for the big one!”
“The WeatherTech Ferrari has been running well,” Vilander said. “We have good pace and it handles well. We were in the fight for the Hyperpole. Traffic is an issue here this year, I got caught on my best lap. My second lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. We made a change and tried to get better, but we are happy with the car and our starting position. Everything looks good. It looks like a lot of rain is coming. That will be a big factor for the race. There is a lot of AM [amateur] cars and lot of P2 with varied skill level. Rain and night racing is not a good combination for drivers with not so much experience. We anticipate a lot of yellows and slow zones. We are looking forward to having a good race.”
The race will be carried live on MotorTrend TV, download the app. The race will start at 2:30 p.m. CET (7:30 a.m. ET) tomorrow, Saturday, September 19.
For more information on WeatherTech Racing, including race recaps, photos and team gear, please visit the team site at www.WeatherTechRacing.com.
WeatherTech ®: WeatherTech, headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, has long been recognized by the discerning automotive enthusiast as a supplier of accessories of unparalleled quality. Best known for its WeatherTech FloorLiners™ and commitment to all-American manufacturing, the company supplies products to many automobile manufacturers as an original equipment supplier. More information can be viewed at www.weathertech.com.
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