Risi Competizione upgrades to the new Ferrari F458 Italia in 2011. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

Risi Competizione, Ferrari F458 Italia

No. 062: Jaime Melo, Toni Vilander, Mika Salo

Risi Competizione seeks a rebound in 2011 after a crushing end to its 2010 campaign. There’s no better place to start for the Houston squad led by Giuseppe Risi than Sebring, where the team has won in class the last two seasons. It’s of extra importance this year as this is the debut race for Risi’s new Ferrari F458 Italia, the successor to the F430 GT.

Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander finished 2010 as co-drivers and will race together for the entirety of 2011. Two of the quickest drivers in the field look to build on the team’s six poles and three class wins of a year ago. Mika Salo, who ran sporadically in Risi’s second car last year, returns to Sebring for the first time since 2009 as the car’s third driver.

This is part of a series of previews on Michelin technical partner teams in this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring.