The first of a string of four races across three countries and two continents, Christina Nielsen and Scuderia Corsa will kick off a busy summer schedule this Saturday at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. On June 3, in the fifth round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Nielsen and teammate Alessandro Balzan will defend their second-place standing in the series championship.
No stranger to success at the Detroit-owned “island,” Nielsen has landed two podiums at the historic street course in the last two years, once with TRG and most recently with Scuderia Corsa. This weekend she and Balzan continue their rewarding partnership in the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3. Immediately after the Detroit race, Nielsen, along with teammates Balzan and Bret Curtis, will fly overnight to France to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed by IMSA WeatherTech races in Watkins Glen and Toronto before she wraps up her demanding six-week racing tour.
After their last race on the smooth, purpose-built Formula 1 track in Austin, the team will have to adjust to the bumpy streets on Belle Isle. This added variable makes car setup more difficult for all teams in the Championship, but Nielsen is confident that the team will make the best of it. Just as in Long Beach, another famed street course, the qualifying run will be extremely important. “Scuderia Corsa has proven to be the team that is willing to try the impossible even when nobody says it’s possible, and they did it at Long Beach,” she said.
Continuing her commitment to charitable causes, prior to the race Nielsen will visit young patients at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center as part of the Racing for Kids program. “We create an experience for kids who spend most of their time in the hospital,” Nielsen said. “We bring a little bit of the racetrack to them. You feel like you’re making a difference and giving an experience to kids who deserve it 100 percent: kids who are limited in life, who don’t have access to the same adventures and experiences that healthy kids have access to. They experience so much resistance, so giving them this experience is something that can take their mind off the sickness. It’s great to give them something they’re excited about, and they talk about it for a long time after we leave.”
Headed into race weekend, Nielsen acknowledges her ambitious summer schedule but is excited to get started. “It’s going to be six long weeks, but I’m already looking forward to it and to working with Scuderia Corsa and Alessandro Balzan,” she said. “They always do a great job and make time fly – I’m always having fun with them! We’re still in the hunt for the championship and are going to Detroit to first, have fun, but also have some good racing and hopefully get some great points.”
