Among the participants in last week’s Michelin on-track opportunity at Daytona International Speedway was Cooper MacNeil, driver of the No. 63 WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 for Scuderia Corsa.
MacNeil closed out the 2018 season with a flourish. He scored a GT Daytona class victory alongside co-drivers Gunnar Jeannette and Daniel Serra in October’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and then went on to win the Ferrari Challenge North America championship in early November’s Ferrari World Final at Italy’s famed Monza circuit.
Just prior to the Michelin on-track opportunity, the team announced that longtime Ferrari factory driver Toni Vilander would be MacNeil’s full-season teammate for the 2019 WeatherTech Championship, with Jeff Westphal and Dominik Farnbacher completing the team’s Rolex 24 At Daytona driver lineup.
IMSA caught up with MacNeil for a quick conversation between sessions in the Daytona International Speedway garage.
Q: Cooper, you’ve got a new teammate for 2019. What can you tell us about Toni Vilander joining your team?
MacNeil: Toni brings a wealth of Ferrari knowledge and experience to the table. It’s hard to say, but I would say even more so than Balzan. Not that it was a contributing factor at all, but I’m happy to have somebody that’s in the car that knows the make, the model, and the team very well. He’s run with Scuderia Corsa before, so as far as team continuity goes, no issues there. Toni is obviously very proven. He’s won Le Mans twice, multiple championships, including most recently last year with World Challenge, so he’s a very competent and accomplished driver. He’s a good fit.
Q: We’re here this week for Michelin tire testing. What is your impression of the new tires?
MacNeil: It’s a very similar tire to what they run at Le Mans, so I’ve got a lot of experience on the tire on this chassis, just not in America. I’ve just got to apply what I know about it to these tracks and go from there. It’s just going to be, I think, a better tire overall, not that the Continental was anything to throw rocks at. But Michelin, I think, will just be the next step as far as the evolution of the tires and the series goes. It’s nice to have them onboard for the full season and many years to come, I hope. It’s a great tire.
Q: Since we saw you last in the WeatherTech Championship, you won a championship in Ferrari Challenge. Does that give you more momentum heading into 2019?
MacNeil: It’s good. It’s a good way to end the year on a nice, high, positive note, both in IMSA with the win at Petit Le Mans and then the Ferrari Challenge championship. Going into the offseason felt pretty good, but today marks the first day of the 2019 season and we’ve still got a few weeks left in this year to go. We’re just kind of getting our ducks in a row for next year. It’s a new year, new championship, new tire, new co-driver, so as far as winning the Ferrari Challenge championship goes, it’s got nothing to do with this next year. But I’ve got a nice, shiny trophy at home, so that’s nice.
Q: What items are on the team’s “to-do” list between now and the Roar?
MacNeil: We have a few house-cleaning items to go over, just mechanical stuff on the car and driver comfort stuff. That’s about it. I mean the car is the same car we ran all year this year, so it’s pretty dialed in.