05 May 2016
Spa, 5 May – The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will be held on Saturday; it is the second of the nine events that make up the World Endurance Championship (WEC); it is also the last race before the 24 Hours of Le Mans scheduled for mid-June. Ferrari will field three cars, all under the colours of the AF Corse team.
GET-Pro. The usual pair of 488 GTE will compete in the GTE class. Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, winners of the first race of the seasons at Silverstone will be in car number 71, while James Calado and Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni will alternate at the wheel of car number 51. These two cars started the season with a one-two finish, but there is reason to believe that the challenge will be much stiffer on the Ardennes track. At Silverstone, Porsche kept a very fast pace before pulling out, while Aston Martin, last year's winner here, and Ford will certainly improve, as the American constructor is galvanised by its win in the Imsa race of Laguna Seca.
GET-Am. In GTE-Am class, Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo, and Rui Aguas will attempt to duplicate their perfect race at Silverstone, although there is no shortage of competition in this class. If first place eludes the 458 Italia number 83, it will be important for the three drivers to climb the podium and score points, as championships are won also with consistent results. The race will be held on Saturday, with a 2:30 p.m. start and finish at nightfall at 8:30 p.m.
Previously. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is very special to all drivers, teams and constructors. But Ferrari and the Ardennes track have a genuinely special relationship. It was at the 24 Hours of Spa on July 9 1932, in fact, that the Prancing Horse made its debut on Enzo Ferrari’s Alfa Romeos. The emblem inherited from Francesco Baracca brought instant good luck as the race was dominated by the Scuderia Ferrari’s 8C 2300 MMs. In fact, Antonio Brivio and Eugenio Siena were first across the line ahead of the car of their team-mates, Piero Taruffi and Guido d’Ippolito. In the intervening years, the Ferrari name and badge has taken the top step on the Belgian podium over eight times. The first actual Ferrari car to win at Spa was a 166 MM entered and driven by Luigi Chinetti who had Jean Lucas as his co-driver, in the 1949 24 Hours. The last Prancing Horse victory came as recently as 2015 courtesy of the AF Corse 458 Italia driven by Pasin Lathouras and Michele Rugolo who won the race valid for the International GT Open Championship.