Il Cavallino Rampante carried off a dominant victory in GTE Pro, with the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia trio of Scuderia Ferrari test and development drivers Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and multiple GT-championship winning Corse Clienti driver Toni Vilander.

Giancarlo Fisichella:  “It’s been a fantastic race, amazing.  It didn’t start very well on Wednesday when I crashed the car.  Fortunately we changed the chassis but it was bad.  The mechanics did a fantastic job and build a new car in less than ten hours and it was great to get out in the last 20 minutes of qualifying on Thursday.  I have to say thank you very much to them, to AF Corse and Amato Ferrari because without them we couldn’t win this race.

“I’ve won a few races in Formula One but this is a great victory and it’s very special.  Winning this race was my dream and it came true.  Thank you too to Gianmaria and Toni – they are professional drivers who did a fantastic job. All together we had a great season already last year and now this year.”

Toni Vilander: “As Giancarlo said we had some issues in practice but we never lost the faith.  We knew when the team put the new car together we’d have the speed.  Last year we were very close and came second in the end after leading by one lap with six hours to go.  This year we believed we could win from the beginning but it was a nerve-wracking last few hours as it feels like they’ll never end.  The team did a very special job in the preparation – taking 10 hours instead of two weeks – and then it was our job to finish it and we did it in the right way.

"I enjoyed the race a lot.  The start was interesting to see how a 24 hour race can be like a one hour spint.  Drivers were going for positions from the green flag or start of the race and I’m also happy with the weather.  I don’t really enjoy driving at night with the bad weather so overall it was a good Saturday and Sunday.”

Gianmaria Bruni : “Obviously it’s a great feeling, especially like Giancarlo and Toni have said, last year we were so close and we missed it.  This year we knew we could win the race, even when something happened like it did in free practice and we didn’t run at all with our car. We were a bit down, for sure, but we knew we were all together as a team and we could win.  We have a very good package.  To win this race means everything; it’s my second time but I hope to be up here many more times and still doing a good job.  I’m happy for Ferrari and the factory; we’ve worked so hard from last year with testing and everything and it’s great we’re able to take this trophy back to Maranello.”

Photo:  CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 17TH JUNE 2012.  Former Ferrari F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella won his first 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy in the GTE Pro class.