New Country Competizione Runs Four Ferraris at Circuit of The Americas

Austin Texas, United States, September 19th, 2017 – New Country Competizione experienced mixed fortune at their fifth round of racing for the 2017 Ferrari Challenge North America season. Running four different cars amongst the field of forty-six, the team was faced with good competition and blistering temperatures at Circuit of The Americas over the past weekend.

Championship leader, Peter Ludwig’s weekend started sour after a difficult qualifying session due to a red flag early on. The flag caused great delay and ultimately put Ludwig towards the back of the grid, but was able to make his way to fourth place to finish race one the same day. On Saturday, Ludwig started race two in fourth position, but was troubled with electronic issues resulting in a same finish as race one.

Todd Morici joined the team for the second time racing the #72 Ferrari 488 in the Trofeo Pirelli Am class. This was Morici’s first time racing at Circuit of The Americas, so each session had a learning curve. Despite his debut on the 3.4 mile circuit, Morici was able to show progress throughout the weekend finishing sixth in race one. The American was hit by a competitor in race two, but was able to finish and throw out good lap times despite the contact.

Danny Baker represented New Country Competizione in the Trofeo Pirelli 458 class. Baker’s experience at Circuit of The Americas came into play as he had his best performance of the season. After some intense battling in race one, Baker finished fifth. Nearly mirroring his result from race one, Baker claimed the sixth spot for race two.

Chris O’Donnell also had his first go-around at the All-American circuit over the race weekend. Showing good performance and speed in race one, O’Donnell had a contact on the last corner of the last lap. The crew worked hard to repair the car overnight but unfortunately he had to retire in race 2 with electric problems.

New Country Competizione will make their way to Homestead, Florida for round six of Ferrari Challenge North America. There, they will add Ross Chouest to their roster who will drive a new Ferrari 488 in the Trofeo Pirelli Am category. After racing in the Lamborghini Trofeo Challenge, Homestead will be Chouest’s debut race in Ferrari Challenge North America in preparation for the 2018 season.

Driver – Peter Ludwig

“It was a difficult weekend but fortunately we are still leading the championship by 16 points on Martin Fuentes. We will regroup and I am convinced we will be strong again for the last North American race in Homestead.”

Driver – Danny Baker

“After a frustrating season so far, it was a great weekend of racing at COTA for myself with New Country Competizione. Finishing fifth on Friday and seventh on Sunday in the 458 Challenge Class were my career first and second best finishes.”

Team Manager – Eric Bachelart

“We had a challenging weekend at COTA, especially with Peter, but it was good to see Danny being very racy and competitive while Todd had to learn the track and improving all weekend long having some very fast laps in race two.

Chris achieved his second race weekend and he is still on a learning curve. It is good to see his focus and his urge to improve all the time. We are busy preparing the cars for Homestead where we will welcome the debut of Ross Chouest.”