Our good friend Jeff Westphal has big news… he is the newest driver at Scuderia Corsa for the Grand Am series here in America! If you’ve followed F1B for a while you’ll recall Jeff as a terrific addition to our podcasts offering an additional driver perspective to our racing coverage. Jeff also wrote several pieces for his column here at F1B granting us access to the driver’s mind and preparation as well as on-event action during his race weekends.
Jeff will be driving the #63 Ferrari for the remainder of the year. Here is the official press release and details:
Release
April 1, 2013 – Los Angeles, California – Scuderia Corsa, the Los Angeles based Ferrari team competing in its first full season of Grand-AM, has announced that young driver Jeff Westphal will join Alessandro Balzan behind the wheel of the #63 Ferrari 458 for the remainder of the season in the Rolex GT class.
Westphal, a 26 year-old San Francisco native, started his racing career at a local northern California indoor go-cart track when the track owner was so impressed with his raw talent that he sponsored him for the 2004 Red Bull Driver Search Runoffs. During the past few seasons Jeff has gained attention for his record-breaking victories in the Global Time Attack series and others early career highlights included a record string of victories in the Pacific F2000 series where he took the championship with 9 wins in 12 races. Jeff has earned numerous Continental Challenge starts together with two participations in the Rolex 24H At Daytona.
Team principal Giacomo Mattioli, said;
“Jeff has been in the squad since the beginning as a driver and as a coach for the Ferrari Challenge team, I have appreciated his commitment and contribution to our team. I think he earned the opportunity to drive #63. Together with Balzan they formed a fast and reliable duo. I am looking forward to a great season with Jeff.”
“I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to drive the #63 after working with Scuderia Corsa and Ferrari for over a year” said Jeff Westphal. “The two have a reputation nothing short of stellar and I look forward to moving forward with both in the rest of this 2013 season. The remaining races encompass quite the challenge with some world-class facilities and events, tracks that I cannot wait to see again from behind the wheel”.
About Scuderia Corsa
Giacomo Mattioli and Art Zafiropoulo created the Scuderia Corsa racing team in 2011 for the sole purpose of supporting the racing needs of Ferrari clients. Turnkey programs include, GT3 endurance racing, Ferrari Challenge Series and track events. Giacomo Mattioli is the owner of Ferrari Maserati Beverly Hills and partner in Ferrari Maserati Silicon Valley with Art Zafiropoulo.
