Weekend preview: Ferrari chasing titles

Several championships are approaching their conclusion, with Ferrari holding strong title hopes. Starting at Road Atlanta, where the IMSA Petit Le Mans will be held, seven cars from the Maranello manufacturer will take to the track. In France, the penultimate round of the Ultimate Cup Series will see Ferrari competing in both the Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup, while in Barcelona, the final Sprint Cup event will take place with five Prancing Horse cars on the track.

IMSA. Seven Ferrari teams are set to answer the bell when IMSA’s 2024 season concludes with Saturday’s Petit Le Mans, a 10-hour classic at Road Atlanta that brings down the curtain on both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Endurance Cup. Ferrari will have two cars competing in GTD Pro for teams fielding GT3 machinery with Pro drivers, and five teams in the GTD category for Pro-Am lineups.

Anticipation is high for Risi Competizione, which began the 2024 IMSA season with a class victory at the 24 Hours at Daytona, before clinching second place at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The team will field the Ferrari 296 GT3, number 62, driven by official drivers Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, and Alessandro Pier Guidi. The team currently sits second in the Endurance Cup, just five points behind the leaders.

One race after its IMSA debut with Ferrari, DragonSpeed steps up to GTD Pro, joining Risi Competizione. Ferrari Ambassador Toni Vilander will share DragonSpeed’s No. 82 10Star/Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale Ferrari GT3, joined by Ferrari official drivers Thomas Neubauer and Vincent Abril. The team debuted with Ferrari in Indy’s recent Battle on the Bricks with their new Ferrari 296 GT3. DragonSpeed has competed in Indycar and also ran the opening three rounds of the Endurance Cup in LMP2.

In the GTD class, the Ferrari number 34 from Corsa Horizon will compete, with Cedric Sbirrazzuoli joining Albert Costa and Manny Franco. Costa and Franco are currently sixth in both the season-long points standings and the Endurance Cup, with their best result being second place at the Six Hours of Watkins Glen.

One race after its Ferrari debut at Indianapolis, Inception has the No. 70 Ferrari for Brendan Iribe, Frederik Schandorff and Ollie Millroy. They enter the finale second in the Endurance Cup, only one point behind the leader. Their best finishes of the regular season were second at Road America and third at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with another manufacturer. 

AF Corse returns with official driver Miguel Molina, Simon Mann and Francois Heriau in the No. 21 Ferrari. The team finished second in the Daytona 24 Hours, missing a class victory by 2.7-seconds.

Triarsi Competizione has Onofrio Triarsi, Charlie Scardina and factory pilot Alessio Rivera in the No. 023 Ferrari of Central Florida / David SW Ferrari 296 GT3 that placed fourth at Daytona. They are fifth in the Endurance Cup, seven points out of the lead.

Cetilar Racing has the official Ferrari Driver Antonio Fuoco, Georgio Sernagiotto and Roberto Lacorte in the No. 47 Cetilar Ferrari. The team's best finish this season is second at Sebring, a track where it won in 2022.

The Road Atlanta schedule opens on Thursday with a 90-minute practice session beginning at 10:40 a.m. (all times ET), followed by a one-hour, 25-minute session at 3:20 p.m., and 90-minute night practice at 7:30 p.m. GTD Pro/GTD qualifying is at 3:25 p.m. on Friday, while the race takes the green flag Saturday at 12:10 p.m.

 Live flag-to-flag streaming on Peacock begins at noon. Live coverage on NBC runs from noon-3 p.m., followed by USA Network from 6 p.m. to the finish. SiriusXM will broadcast live beginning at noon on Channel 206.

Ultimate Cup European Series. Following the round at Mugello, the championship moves to Magny-Cours for its fifth and penultimate round of the season, where the overall standings could be decided. In the Endurance Cup, reigning champions Visiom – Jean Paul Pagny, Jean Bernard Bouvet, and David Hallyday – will seek to return to the top step of the podium in their Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, number 1, entered in the UCS1 class.

XP Racing also returns to the UCS3 class after competing in Portimão, fielding the 488 Challenge Evo number 29, driven by Philippe Papin, Roland Marchix, and Enzo Richer, the current leader of the Ultimate Formula Cup.

The 4 Hours of Magny-Cours will kick off on Sunday, 13 October, at 10.10 a.m.

In the Sprint Cup, SR&R has dominated the season and has a strong chance of securing the title this weekend. The team of Manfredi Ravetto could seal victory in both the team and driver standings. Francesco Atzori, driving the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, number 3, entered in the UCS1/UCTC class, leads the standings with a 29.5-point advantage over his closest rivals.

The Italian team will also field two Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars in the UCS3/UCTC class: Lyle Schonfield and Laurenço Monteiro will drive number 353, while Francesco Coassin and Harrison Walker will handle number 333. Also competing in the same category are the number 91 Ferrari from Racing Spirit of Leman with Frédéric Lacore and the number 73 Ferrari from OMR driven by Patrick Michellier.

The first race will take place on Friday, 11 October, at 6.15 p.m., followed by three races on Saturday, 12 October, with start times at 9.35 a.m., 12.05 p.m., and 4.45 p.m., each lasting 25 minutes.

GT World Challenge Europe. A total of 32 cars will be on the track for the final round of the Sprint Cup at the Circuit de Catalunya, where all the titles will be decided. In the Pro class, Ferrari 296 GT3 number 14 from Emil Frey Racing, driven by Ben Green and Konsta Lappalainen, enters with slim hopes of taking the title, following an unfortunate weekend at Magny-Cours. The sister car, number 69, will be driven by young talents Thierry Vermeulen and Giacomo Altoè, the recent winner of the Ferrari Challenge Europe. 

In the Bronze class, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever, driving Ferrari 296 GT3 number 93 from Sky Tempesta, have stronger title chances, sitting 12 points behind the leaders. 

AF Corse will field two Ferraris in the Silver class. Young drivers Eliseo Donno and Thomas Fleming will be behind the wheel of Ferrari 296 GT3 number 71, while Sean Hudspeth and Jef Machiels will drive the sister car, number 52. The Piacenza-based team is currently at the top of the standings. 

After free practice sessions on Friday, Saturday 12 October will feature qualifying 1 at 9.45 a.m., with the first race starting at 2 p.m., lasting one hour. Sunday will follow the same schedule, with qualifying at 9 a.m. and Race-2 starting at 2 p.m.

All times are local.