Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Bell, Sweedler return ‘home’ to Scuderia Corsa for NAEC effort

2015 - IMSA - VIR

Bob Chapman

Longtime co-drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler, who won the 2015 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona class championship with Scuderia Corsa, will return to Giacomo Mattioli’s team for another time in IMSA competition. Bell is an analyst for NBCSN’s coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series.

Bell and Sweedler lead the team’s Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup effort for the four endurance races on the calendar, and will share their No. 64 Ferrari 488 GT3 with Frankie Montecalvo for all of those four and Sam Bird for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Bell, Sweedler and Montecalvo shared an Audi R8 LMS with Alex Job Racing this season in the endurance races.

Bell and Sweedler have also enjoyed great success with Scuderia Corsa racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the last three years. They won the GTE-Am class co-driving with Jeff Segal in 2016, and have been on the podium in both 2015 and 2017 co-driving with Segal and Cooper MacNeil, respectively.

The team’s primary No. 63 car will see MacNeil and Alessandro Balzan co-driving for the full season, with Gunnar Jeannette third driver and Segal the fourth driver for Daytona. The No. 63 car has won three straight GTD championships, with Bell and Sweedler in 2015 and then Balzan and Christina Nielsen each of the last two.

“The return of Townsend and Bill to our organization is a testament to the quality of our relationship, and the addition of Frankie Montecalvo should be a great contribution,” stated Mattioli. “Combined with Sam Bird for Daytona and all of our resources, we’re very confident in a great showing and fighting for the best results possible.”

Bell said, “It almost goes without saying that Scuderia Corsa is one of the best teams in the business. Our IMSA championship, our Le Mans victory, are all directly attributed to their program, and we hope to repeat the same success this year. It’s the most competitive era in the history of IMSA, but we’re confident we can be right in the mix.”

Sweedler added, “I’m thrilled to be back with Scuderia Corsa, Ferrari, and my teammates from last year for the NAEC championship. We have had great success over the years with Giacomo and I look forward to renewing our combined competitive drive and spirit to win again. Scuderia Corsa has become a world class team and I am honored to be back. Forza Ferrari 2018!”

Follow @TonyDiZinno