07 February 2016
Bathurst, 7 Feb 2016 – Ferrari enjoyed little in the way of luck at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hours. The two 458 GT3 Italias at the Mount Panorama circuit encountered many obstacles in their path. Indeed, there were too many for a podium finish, even though the DeFelice Homes team car just missed out on a podium place in its category.
Trouble at the start. Car no. 88 Maranello Motorsport was quickly out of the running when Mika Salo bumped with the Lamborghini of Nick Percat on the second corner of the first lap. The rival car dropped out immediately while the Ferrari battled on until the third hour of the race, when on the 63rd lap it raised the white flag for excessive damage. The withdrawal left a bitter taste in the mouths of the other three crewmembers, Toni Vilander, Grant Denyer and Tony D'Alberto. The overall and class victory went to the McLaren of Tekno Autosports driven by Shane van Gisbergen, Alvaro Parente, and Jonathon Webb.
Just short of the podium. The other 458 Italia of DeFelice Homes finished fourth in the GT3-Am class. Andrea Montermini, who shared the car with Benny Simonsen, Tony DeFelice and Renato Loberto, lost a lot of time due to an accident when lapping. However, car no. 49's subsequent comeback nearly brought Ferrari a podium finish in the category won by the Audi of GT Motorsport, crewed by Greg Taylor, Barton Mawer and Nathan Antunes. Montermini and teammates will be back on track with Ferrari in the first race of the GT Australia championship, which will take place in conjunction with the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season at Melbourne in mid-March.