James Calado told MotorsportWeek.com that he’d like to bring the Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P to Daytona, to compete for the overall win.
“Yeah, it’d be nice to bring the car [to Daytona] to do the GTP stuff and fight for the overall win,” said the British driver.
However, a Ferrari spokesman was quick to add that Ferrari has no plans to bring the 499P to Daytona, and is focused on its FIA World Endurance Championship factory campaign.
Calado, a Ferrari factory driver who races the 499P Hypercar in the WEC, is racing the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship alongside fellow Ferrari factory drivers, Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, and his 499P teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi.
They will start the race fifth in the GTD Pro class, and 12th in the combined GTD Pro/GTD class. Calado was quick to repeat that despite the fact he’d like to bring the 499P to Daytomna, he’s racing in the GT class this year.
But we’re in GT, and we can still fight for the GT win,” said the 2023 Le Mans winner.
However, he also appears to not be a massive fan of the Daytona International Speedway road course.
“I think the track’s a bit boring, if I’m honest,” he said when asked how the track compares to others he’s driven.
“But it makes for good racing because it’s so close. And obviously with a long straights it bunches everyone up, and the good thing about IMSA is that they bunch everyone up with the yellows, which always makes it exciting.
“So it’s always a little trickier getting through the traffic, whereas like Le Mans for example, it’s a bit longer. So you’ve got the same amount of cars but all spread out. So yeah it’s just two different ways of approaching it.
But the track itself… I mean, it’s just a few corners. You can’t really compare it to places like in the Le Mans or Spa, but it’s still enjoyable,” he concluded.
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