Salo, Ferrari entertain at Long Beach

Risi Competizione driver Mika Salo was featured Tuesday along with some of the top names in Hollywood at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Press Day. The event focused on the celebrities who will compete in the Pro/Celebrity Race on April 13 as well as Salo, who provided rides for the media in a Ferrari 430 GT Challenge car. It was provided by Giacomo Mattioli, who owns the No. 61 Ferrari of Risi’s American Le Mans Series operation. Mattioli also owns and operates Beverly Hills Ferrari.

Celebrities included producer/director George Lucas; actresses Kelly Hu (“Growing Pains"), Kathryn Morris (“Cold Case"), Emily Procter (“CSI: Miami") Aisha Tyler (“Talk Soup") and Kendra Wilkinson (“The Girls Next Door"); actor Joshua Morrow (“Young and the Restless"); former NBA star and talk show host John Salley; former tennis superstar Martina Navratilova; X-Games champion Dave Mirra; and Robin Quivers (“Howard Stern Show").

“It was a fun day," said Salo. “Not only did we get a chance to show off the Ferrari 430 GT, but we were able to introduce the American Le Mans Series and its great style of racing to a new market and some influential members of the entertainment industry."

Salo and teammate Jaime Melo lead the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series, having captured wins in the first two races of the season at Sebring and St. Petersburg. They will go for their third straight victory of the year at Long Beach on April 14, a race that will be televised by SPEED from 8:00-10:30 p.m. ET (same day tape delay). MotorsTV in Europe, SPEED Latin America and 7TV in Russia will carry the race live. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.