Working against the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT will be the fact that the car is brand new "out of the box" as it has never been raced in anger yet - until this coming weekend. However, the team has been highly impressed with the F430GT ever since they pitched up at Sebring last Monday to start testing, and with a week-long development program now completed, they faced today's first official practice sessions with renewed confidence and enthusiasm.

"We simply just can't wait to get this new car into the fray," said the team's Chief Engineer Rick Mayer yesterday. "It has so much potential and we are really excited by the whole package. Everyone in the team believes it can be a sure GT2 class winner. We have been working on the overall set-up as well as tire analysis over the last week and I think we have made pretty good headway. We have learnt a lot already," he adds.

The team's progress has been greatly helped by the inclusion of Jaime Melo in the driving lineup for this weekend, the rapid 25-year-old Brazilian joining Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro at the wheel of the No. 62 car for the season opener. Jaime arrived at Sebring last Thursday and has been able to provide a wealth of experience to the team as he was involved in the factory development of the new F430GT.

"Jaime's pace and technical ability has been a revelation," says Risi. "He came highly recommended and so far has lived up to this. With his experience in developing the F430GT project he has been able to provide invaluable feedback to our engineers. We already know Ralf and Anthony have the speed, now Jaime completes what I believe to be a very strong driver line up."

Risi Competizione's 2006 American Le Mans Series participation is supported by Lucien Piccard (LP Italy) Stratosphere, AMD, Putnam and Boost/Motorola.

The 2006 American Le Mans Series and 12 Hours of Sebring officially got underway this morning with the first official practice session from 10:20-11:20 a.m. (all times are local times), with a second session running at 12:45-1:45 p.m. (Both sessions were open to all classes). GT2 qualifying will take place tomorrow (Thursday) from 2:35-3:00 p.m. (the session shared with the GT1 runners). The traditional night time practice which gives drivers the chance to acquaint themselves with the circuit in dark conditions, will take place between 1930-2100. Friday sees the teams free to undertaken final race preparations before the 54th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring starts at 10:43 a.m. on Saturday 18th March, with the race scheduled to finish at 10:43 p.m.