Building on Scuderia Corsa’s success from two recent podium finishes, Christina Nielsen and teammate Alessandro Balzan will race at the renowned Circuit of The Americas this weekend. Looking to repeat last September’s third-place performance, the duo and their No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 intend to strengthen their current second-place standing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“I’m looking forward to being back at COTA and of course with Scuderia Corsa – they’re such a great team,” said Nielsen. “We achieved two podium finishes over the last two races. It would be nice to continue that – we had a second place and third place but we’re still looking for that victory. We know we have a good package. The team continues to always execute well with everything from strategy to pit stops and driver changes.
“This is a great track,” she continued. “It has high speed corners, low speed corners like the hairpins, and corners with a quick load transfer, so it allows every manufacturer the opportunity to show their strong suit. I’m sure every car will have their section where they’ll be performing the best and where they’ll be the strongest. The goal is to keep that in mind and keep working on the weaker spots. It’s a great track to go racing at because there are so many overtaking possibilities, so there should be some good battles this weekend.”
In 2016, the team finished in third place at Austin and extended their late-season points lead, ultimately landing Scuderia Corsa the 2016 GTD class championship. This year, the Austin race is in May rather than its traditional September calendar slot, and the region’s unpredictable weather could throw a wildcard for all manufacturers competing at the 3.4-mile road course.
Due to the anticipated change in track conditions because of the climate, all of the teams will have to readjust their setup in preparation for the cooler temperatures. “Everyone has to start from scratch and see where they are with the setup.” explained Nielsen. “We haven’t done any testing, so everything will be based off the first practice when we get there.”
Between capturing her most recent podium at Long Beach and training for the upcoming race in Austin, Nielsen has been working on some exciting projects near her home in LA. She anticipates sharing these experiences with her family, friends and fans towards the end of May and beginning of June. However, first she’s looking forward to the COTA race and spending time in one of her favorite cities: Austin.
