13 June 2016
Maranello, 13 June 2016 – Ferrari has a busy week ahead, especially its GT racing cars. All eyes are on a single venue, the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans, where at the weekend Prancing Horse cars will compete in three competitions.
Challenge Europe. Forty-five Ferrari 458 Challenge EVOs will take part in the fourth round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe with all the great stars of the season on track plus a few drivers irresistibly drawn by the glamour of the Sarthe. This is the case for Australia's Liam Talbot, a driver with some experience in GT competition who will compete for Kessel Racing, or Steve Wyatt who leads the Trofeo Pirelli APAC standings. There will also be the three women fighting for the Ladies Cup, Manuela and Corinna Gostner and France's Deborah Mayer, racing on home turf. It will be the third time on the historic French track for the one-make championship. Four drivers were there in 2011 and 2013: David Gostner, Philipp Baron, Fons Scheltema and Erich Prinoth. Qualifying is on Thursday and the race on Saturday morning.
The 24 Hours. Qualifying for the world's toughest race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will start on Wednesday. Eight Ferraris will line up at the start, three 488 GTEs and five 458 Italia GTEs divided into two classes, the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am. Two 488 GTEs will be entered by the AF Corse team, which usually competes in the World Endurance Championship. No. 51 will be crewed by Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and James Calado, who in France will also be joined by Alessandro Pier Guidi, while car no. 71 will be in the hands of championship leaders Sam Bird and Davide Rigon plus the highly experienced Andrea Bertolini. The third 488 will be that of Risi Competizione with Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander and Matteo Malucelli. Of the 458 Italias competing in the GTE-Am class we should mention the crew of Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Rui Aguas, currently second in the WEC, and that of Formula Racing where Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac Jansen will be joined by Christina Nielsen, a very talented woman currently leading the GT-Daytona class of the IMSA SCC championship.
GT3 Le Mans Cup. Another eight Ferraris will be on track in the "Road to Le Mans", a race solely for GT3 cars participating in the GT3 Le Mans Cup. Four cars will compete under the banner of AF Corse, two 488 GT3s and two 458 Italia GT3s, while FF Corse team will field another 488. The remaining 458 Italias will fly the flag for Scuderia Villorba Corse, Classic and Modern Racing and Duqueine Engineering. The race takes place on Saturday at 11 am and qualifying on Thursday.