Ferrari 488 GTEs finish the WEC Prologue at Sebring

The FIA World Endurance Championship season got underway at Sebring International Raceway which hosted the two-day Prologue featuring four Ferrari 488 GTEs. The tests, in which the 499Ps in the Hypercar category also took part, anticipate the 1000 Miles, the first round of the championship which will be contested on Friday, 17 March on the 6.019 kilometre American track.

Day 1. Two sessions for a total of six hours, in dry track conditions and temperatures just under 30°C, characterised the first day, with the Ferraris completing a total of 493 laps.

In the morning, Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon set the fastest time among the Prancing Horse cars, 1'59'937, giving third place to the AF Corse team in VistaJet livery; sixth, with a time of 2'00'268, was the Richard Mille AF Corse 488 GTE, driven by Luís Pérez Companc and the two official drivers Lilou Wadoux and Alessio Rovera. Ninth and tenth, respectively, were the AF Corse Ferraris driven by Stefano Costantini, Simon Mann and Ulysse de Pauw, and the Kessel Racing car driven by Takeshi Kimura, Scott Huffaker and Daniel Serra.

In the afternoon, all the Ferraris finished the session in the Top 7. Second was the AF Corse car of Costantini-Mann-de Pauw with a time of 1'59''462; fourth and fifth, respectively, the 488 GTE of Flohr-Castellacci-Rigon and that of Kimura-Huffaker-Serra. Seventh was the Richard Mille AF Corse team.

Day 2. Clear skies and a temperature that exceeded 30°C were the backdrop to the second day, which ended with 441 laps for the Ferraris, which in the first session saw the 488 GTE of Kessel Racing take sixth place, by virtue of a best time of 1'59''332, ahead of the no. 54 488 GTE of AF Corse, just 0''060 away. Tenth and eleventh times were set by car no. 21 of the latter team and the no. 83 of Richard Mille AF Corse. 

Highlight of the afternoon was the Ferrari 488 GTE of Richard Mille AF Corse, with Lilou Wadoux, making her debut in the LMGTE Am class of the World Championship, who produced the best time of 1'59''263, worthy of second place just 0''010 from the leader. In the Top 10 were the other Prancing Horse cars: sixth was the no. 54 488 GTE, ninth the no. 57 and tenth the no. 21 Ferrari.