Triarsi: Partial Sprint Effort Has “Always Been a Plan”

Photo: Perry Nelson/IMSA

Onofrio Triarsi said that a two-car sprint race effort has “always been a plan” for his Florida-based Triarsi Competizione team at selected IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds this season, including this weekend’s race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

After initially announcing an expanded two-car GTD Michelin Endurance Cup program, Triarsi’s previously endurance-only No. 023 Ferrari 296 GT3 with Triarsi and Riccardo Agostini at the wheel joins its sister, season-long No. 021 Prancing Horse for Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer at the Monterey road course.

The No. 023 Triarsi machine was last on track at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where its race ended prematurely after a first-hour crash for Charles Scardina following the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, which saw the team also unable to take the checkered flag despite running inside the top five at times.

“It’s always been a plan to do the sprint races,” Triarsi told Sportscar365. “We just weren’t sure which ones we’d be able to do.

“With what happened in Sebring with the unfortunate accident, it limited the seat time there, so we thought this was a good opportunity to jump in.

“I haven’t been to this track in a long time, so I’m super excited to be back. It’s a good opportunity to get some seat time in for the [Sahlen’s Six Hours of] The Glen as well.

“It’s a different mindset for the sprint races. The planning’s totally different. The training is totally different. But I like that pace. Since the pace is going to be flat-out from the start, it’s not really something where we need to manage pace.

“We’re going to be pushing as hard as we can from the start. My cardio has stepped up. My weight training has stepped up. I’ve been conditioning hard for it, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Triarsi’s last outing at Laguna Seca came during the 2014 Ferrari Challenge season, though he spoke fondly of driving around the 2.238-mile Monterey road course as well as about the potential pace of his Ferrari GT3 machinery at this circuit.

“It’s always really neat driving around this type of scenery,” Triarsi said. “I’m probably most excited for turn six. It’s really neat when this car is under a lot of load and the aero is working. It’s going to be an opportunity area for lap time there.

“I think the tracks are similar to [Watkins] Glen in a way, with the long, fast sweeping corners. The Ferrari tends to perform pretty well under those conditions, and that makes the car a lot of fun. ”

Road America a Likely Addition To No. 023 Ferrari’s Sprint Program

While no official sprint entry for the No. 023 Ferrari has been announced past this weekend’s round, Triarsi is aiming to be back on the grid for August’s IMSA SportsCar Challenge at Road America.

“I had a blast at Road America last year and would love another shot at a podium there,” he said. “So I think there are plans to go back there this year.

“It depends from a scheduling standpoint and what’s going on around that time, but I would love for it to be the next one we do. Scheduling-wise, we were able to put it all together.”

Triarsi also noted that the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the first sprint round of the season, was among the non-endurance rounds considered for his No. 023 entry this year, and that it would be high on his list of potential races next season.

“Long Beach is one that everybody always wants to do,” he said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that worked out for me this year, but it’s potentially on the table next year, depending on availability with IMSA.

“Right now, it’s this event [at Laguna Seca] and Road America is all that we’re planning to do.

“Whenever you have two cars running, there’s always a challenge, but I have really great people behind me that put this all together, so I get to focus on driving while I’m here.

“It’s great to have two cars in the sprint format from a data perspective and from a setup standpoint. We can try different things with the limited practice sessions that we get, and then we can all come together and figure out what worked best.”