The South Florida-based organization, in partnership with multi-time GT champions AF Corse, fought an electrical gremlin with its No. 81 Ferrari 458 Italia early in the running, which prevented its traction control system from functioning and dropping the Ferrari down the leader board. However, a decision to stay out on Michelin dry-weather tires during a sudden downpour early in the third hour elevated the GTE-Am car to second in class.

Despite having to replace its right-side door after contact with a prototype in the fourth hour, the 8Star Ferrari looked set for a stunning runner-up finish in the competitive category until a late-race bump from the third-placed Corvette, which resulted in a left-rear tire puncture with less than five minutes remaining. Forced to make an unscheduled stop, Aguas rejoined the race on the final lap and managed to bring the car to the checkered flag in third place.

“We’re happy with the result,” team principal Potolicchio said. “We finished on the podium after a somewhat difficult race for us. Philipp had a great start but he lost some time trying to figure out what was going on with the electronics. He figured out the problem but it meant we had no traction control. It hurt us a lot. Rui also had a difficult time when it started raining. We decided to stay out on slicks. That was the right call but it was easy for us to make the call from inside the pits. For him in the car, it was complicated.

“But in the end, we gained a lot of positions by staying on slicks. It really came down to great calls. The team did an amazing job with the pit stops. We had to change a door because we lost a mirror. In the end, it’s a good result. I’m really happy to have Rui and Philipp on the team. We just need to continue to work hard and give 100 percent again at Spa to continue our fight in the championship.”

The 8Star and AF Corse partnership will be looking to build on its strong start to the FIA WEC season next month in Belgium at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 2-4. However, 8Star’s U.S. operation will be back in action this weekend at Road Atlanta for the fourth round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. The two-hour and 45-minute Rolex Series race takes the green flag Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, with live coverage on SPEED.

Sunday’s 6 Hours of Silverstone will mark the first race of the eight-round FIA WEC championship that will spread across Europe, North and South America, as well as Asia, in what’s quickly become the most prestigious sportscar racing series in the world. 8Star team principal Enzo Potolicchio will be looking for back-to-back World Championships, after the accomplished Venezuelan racer won the LMP2 title last year, which included victories at Sebring and Le Mans.

This year, Potolicchio has put his focus in the GTE-Am class, with 8Star running a Ferrari 458 Italia in conjunction with multiple-time GT champions, AF Corse. The new partnership has already gotten off to a promising start, as the Ferrari was quickest in the second day of official pre-season testing at Paul Ricard last month. More than 800 miles were logged during the productive two-day test in southern France.

Joining Potolicchio in the No. 81 Ferrari for the this weekend’s FIA WEC season opening race, as well as the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps next month, will be experienced GT drivers Rui Aguas and Philipp Peter, as 8Star targets victory in their international debut.

“We definitely have a good feeling heading into this weekend,” Potolicchio said. “It’s an exciting time for 8Star and we’ve been very happy with this latest partnership between us and AF Corse for the FIA WEC. Our engineer is very good and I think we have a strong driver package as well. We can only expect to win. I’m really confident in this program.”

Considered as the “Home of British Motorsport,” the 5.901-km, 18-turn Silverstone circuit was the site of a close-fought second place finish in LMP2 for Potolicchio in 2012, the same race where AF Corse scored a double class victory in both GTE-Pro and GTE-Am.

“For me, it’s going to be a different experience now being in GTE-Am because I’ll have to look out for the LMP1 and LMP2 cars,” Potolicchio added. “But fortunately, I already know all of the tracks from last year. The Ferrari 458 Italia is a car I like and drive well. If we can have clean races, there’s no reason why we can’t win. It’s an exciting approach to Le Mans, as that’s our main goal.”

The 6 Hours of Silverstone opens with two Free Practice sessions on Friday. Qualifying is set for Saturday afternoon, with the FIA WEC season opening round beginning Sunday at 12 p.m. BST (7 a.m. ET). The race will be broadcast live on Motors TV in Europe, along with live video and timing and scoring available at http://live.fiawec.com to viewers worldwide.

The South Florida-based team headed into the shortest Rolex Series race of the season with plenty of optimism, after its No. 3 Corvette DP topped the time sheets in Friday’s final practice and proved to be a threat in nearly every session of the weekend, both in wet and dry conditions on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course.

However, 8Star’s podium hopes were dashed on the very first lap of the two-hour race, when team principal Potolicchio was collected in an incident, which damaged both the front and rear of the Pratt & Miller-built Corvette DP. The Venezuelan championship racer remained on track until the first, and only full-course caution on Lap 13, when he pitted to hand over to Sarrazin, which also gave the team an opportunity to assess the damage.

Battling an ill-handing car for the remainder of the race, the Frenchman made the most of the challenging situation. Sarrazin stayed in contention, and even led for three laps until making his final green-flag pit stop with less than 50 minutes to go. The orange-colored Corvette took the checkered flag in 10th position, a result that no doubt came as a slight disappointment given that a podium finish was in sight.

“We definitely had a car to battle for the win, especially with Stephane’s speed earlier in the weekend,” Potolicchio said. “But I was caught up in a racing incident that I just couldn’t avoid. Things like that happen. The hit I had against the wall was really big. I was surprised how well the car held up. We were able to run competitive times in the end but were just too far behind the leaders. It’s a shame because I think everyone had hopes of getting on the podium, but we’ll work harder for the next one at Road Atlanta.”

“It was a tough race for me,” Sarrazin added. “I struggled with the car after Enzo’s incident. We had a problem with the front and the rear. We managed to finish the race, which is always good. We scored some points, but not as many as we had expected. We were very fast here so it shows that the team is improving. The car was really good all weekend so we’ll see how the next race goes.”

Potolicchio, Sarrazin and the 8Star team head into the next round of the GRAND-AM RolexSports Car Series season at Road Atlanta sitting sixth in the championship standings. The series’ first trip to the world-class facility in Braselton, Ga. is scheduled for April 18-20. The race can be seen live on SPEED, Saturday, April 20 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring can be found at http://www.grand-am.com.