Risi Competizione, a professional race team, was founded in 1997 by
Giuseppe Risi, team principal and Managing Director, as Doyle-Risi
Racing. The team first rose to prominence campaigning the Ferrari 333SP
in international competition, which included a first in class at the
world’s most famous and difficult race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Risi Competizione is based in Houston, Texas and located at the Ferrari of Houston dealership. The race team has its own Race Shop and storage for the team transporters as well as access to the mechanical and operational assets of Ferrari of Houston From this base, the Doyle-Risi 333SP won the World Sports Car Championship in 1998 in its first year of competition. Adopting the name Risi Competizione in 2001 to reflect Giuseppe Risi’s sole ownership of the team, Risi Competizione campaigned 333SP Ferrari sportscar in the 24 hours at Daytona in 2002; the car suffered a gearbox failure while leading the race.
Also in 2002, Risi Competizione, acting as race support, development,
and management, for Rand Racing, produced a perfect season in the Grand
Am SPII class capturing ten poles, ten fastest laps, and ten victories
while running a pair of Lola B2K chassis powered by Nissan engines.
In
late 2002, the team started development and on-track testing on the
Ferrari 360GT, a sports car based on the highly popular Ferrari 360
Modena. Racing in the ALMS (American Le Mans Series) series in
2002, the team captured two podium finishes. In 2003, running the same
360GT again in ALMS, the team finished the series second only to the
factory Porsche team of Alex Job Racing.
That same year, Risi Competizione
finished second, overall, at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the 360GT; Risi
Competizione also won the prestigious IMSA Cup in 2003 as the top private
team racing in ALMS. In 2004, racing the next generation 360GTC, Risi
Competizione became the only team to beat the factory Porsche teams
(Porsche had three factory backed teams in 2004) in the history of
the ALMS with a win at Lime Rock.
In 2005, Risi Competizione provided
U.S. logistical support and technical assistance for Maserati Reparto
Corse (Italy), who campaigned the Maserati MC12 in the ALMS series.
For 2006, Risi Competizione returned to the ALMS series with the
new Ferrari F430GT, which made its North American Debut at the
12 Hours of Sebring with a strong 3rd place finish.
Consistent
Performance
Risi Competizione is one of the
most consistent organizations in professional sports. The professionalism
of the team has combined to created a team capable of winning any race.
To date, the team has won two championships, achieved
29 podium finishes and has a race completion ratio of 84%, and a podium
place ratio of 64%.
1997 Team founded by Giuseppe Risi in Houston, Texas. Risi is also the owner and CEO of Ferrari of Houston and Maserati of Houston.
1998 The team, as Doyle Risi Racing, wins the LMP1 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (8th overall) with Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez in a Ferrari 333SP. It competes in championships both in Europe and North America.
The same car also wins outright the inaugural Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta. Van de Poele, Taylor and Emmanuel Collard completed the 1,000 mile race in 8 hours 46.24 minutes.
Doyle Risi captures the Manufacturers Cup in the IMSA Professional Sportscar Racing Series.
1999 Competed with two Ferrari 333SP racing cars in the American Le Mans series (ALMS).
2000 Entered a Ferrari 333SP at Daytona 24 with Allan McNish, Alex Caffi, Ralf Kelleners and Mimo Schiattarella but engine woes led to a disappointing and early end.
2001 Entered a Ferrari 333SP in the Daytona 24 with Allan McNish, Ralf Kelleners, David Brabham and Eric van de Poele. This was the last competitive showing of the Ferrari 333SP. DNF due to accident.
2002 Ran a pair of Lola-Nissans for Bill Rand/Terry Borcheller/Anthony Lazzaro in SRP II class in Grand Am Series for Rand Racing. Achieved a perfect season: 10 races; 10 poles; 10 fastest laps, and 10 wins.
Campaigned a Ferrari 360 with Anthony Lazzaro/Ralf Kelleners in the ALMS. The team captured podiums at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca with a late season program.
2003 Risi Competizione wins the ALMS IMSA Cup Championship for the best private team. Kelleners/Lazzaro and Johnny Mowlem finish second overall at the Daytona 24 with a Ferrari 360GTC.
2004 A further season in the ALMS with the 360GTC. A win at Lime Rock for Lazzaro and Kelleners breaks Porsche’s 21-race win streak. The team finishes 4th in the IMSA Cup Championship.
2005 Joint technical partnership with Maserati Corse to enter a Maserati MC12 GT1 in the American Le Mans Series.
2006 Risi Competizione wins the American Le Mans Series GT2 Team Championship for the first time, racing a Ferrari 430GT. Victories at Utah, Portland, Mosport, and Laguna Seca; finished 3rd in GT2 at Sebring.
2007 A full season, two car entry in the ALMS. Risi Competizione captures the 12 Hours of Sebring GT2 title, winning the closest race in Sebring history; to date the team has won a total of seven ALMS GT2 races.
16.05.2008 | Utah Grand Prix
RESOURCEFUL RISI LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK IN UTAH
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