FIA WEC – Davide Rigon on podium also for the 6 Hours of Shanghai
After the excellent second place at Fuji three weeks ago, Davide Rigon, paired with James Calado, wins again the podium, thanks to third place at 6 Hours of Shanghai, the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
With this valuable result, the 27-year-old Venetian driver confirms his feeling with China, which gave him his first victory in the World Championship just a year ago, and with his Ferrari 458 GTE-Pro #71 prepared by AF Corse Team. As planned, after giving something in Qualifying, the car of Maranello has recovered the gap, allowing the young pair Rigon/Calado to win the third podium of the season. “I’m really happy with this podium. I thank the team, because they did a great job in pits. Here in Shanghai we had a demanding race till the end and we tried to do our best“, Davide Rigon says.
There’s regret for what happened to the team-mates Brini-Vilander, forced to retirement a few laps before the green light. At the 10th bend of Shanghai International Circuit, the Ferrari number 51 of AF Corse team, led at that time by “Gimmi” Bruni, was involved in an accident with the LMP2 prototype car of KCMG Team, which had stopped because of a problem technical, fortunately without any consequences for the two drivers. It was really hard for “Gimmi” Bruni to avoid the contact, because the prototype was right on his own trajectory. “I’m really sorry for what happened to our team-mates“, the driver of Minardi Management continues.
With this new podium, Davide continues rising in ranking of his category, adding further fifteen points to his personal reward, that earn him the seventh place in world championship, maintaining Ferrari in the running for winning the constructors’ title in top races competition for GT cars. The “Prancing Horse” team leads the group with still other 2 appointments on the calendar for the month of November. “Keep it up. There are still two important appointments on the calendar“, Rigon concludes, “which, on paper, should be favorable to the characteristics of our car“.
“Another relevant result for Davide. As already happened three weeks ago in Japan, coming to race on tracks that are already known, he’s able to express 100% of his potential. This will be useful especially for the final part of the world championship. We must not forget that our main objective and task is to bring the Constructors’ title to Ferrari“, the manager Giovanni Minardi says. “I’m sorry for what happened to Gimmi and Toni, but I’m certain that in Brazil they’ll already be able to recover the payback with interests“.
Next 15th of November, it’s going to race in Bahrain, while the 30th of November, it’ll be the turn of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, for the last act of the FIA World Endurance Championship.