Giancarlo Fisichella, age 43, was born in Rome, Italy, and drives the No. 62 Ferrari 488 GTE in the IMSA WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.
Giancarlo raced in Formula 1 from 1996 through 2009 driving for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. He had 229 starts, 4 pole positions, 3 wins and was on the podium 19 times.
In endurance sportscar racing, Giancarlo has won the 24 hours of Le Mans twice in class driving for AF Corse in a Ferrari 458 GTE.
Giancarlo takes us for a quick tour of his Ferrari 488 GTE and discusses the challenges that the team is having with the “BoP”, or Balance of Performance. IMSA rolled out a new proprietary scrutineering data logger system this year for the GTLM and GTD cars that measures various things including engine RPM, throttle position and airbox pressure. The new BoP allows IMSA to implement changes to the race cars (i.e. adding weight or restricting air intake to the quicker cars) to create a more competitive field and better racing for the spectators.

The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTLM finished 7th in the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The team was awarded the DEKRA Green Challenge Award for the third time this season. The award is given to the team who exhibits the cleanest, fastest and most efficient pit stop performance and is determined through green racing protocols established by the United States Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Society of Automotive Engineers International as part of their alliance with IMSA.
Giancarlo Fischella: “It was a good start of the race. I overtook one Corvette. I was overtaking the BMW, but then he closed the door. I lost again the position. I was trying to keep the pace. It was difficult with the car sliding a lot. I think the hard rain the night before the race made it difficult for everyone. I lost the car [spun] in the hairpin. Then I came in for driver change. We started seventh and finished seventh. That’s about where the Balance of Performance (BoP) has us currently, but we’ll keep pushing.”