26 March 2016
Le Castellet, 26 March 2016 - The Prologue of the 2016 season of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) has concluded at the Paul Ricard circuit. The season will get underway in just over two weeks at Silverstone, before moving on to the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the last appointment before the race that is worth a whole season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Programmes completed. There were three Ferraris on track, two new 488 GTEs in the GTE-Pro class and one 458 Italia in the GTE-Am, all flying the colours of the AF Corse team. All the cars have completed their programmes. Comparative tests were conducted on the 488 GTE no. 51, driven by Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and James Calado, and the no. 71 of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird. All the components were also tested, not least the new headlights that will be used at Le Mans. François Perrodo, Rui Aguas and Emmanuel Collard took turns at the wheel of the 458 Italia, planning an immediate attack on the title, which last year went to the Ferrari of SMP Racing.
Ready to go. The Franco-Portuguese trio and the two Anglo-Italian crews of the GTE-Pro class are now primed and ready. They are just waiting for the start of the season, when in the main class the new Ferrari will be pitted against Porsche, Aston Martin and newcomers Ford.