AF Corse will be out in force at the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans with three Ferrari 488 GTEs in the LMGTE Am class, hoping to collect valuable results. The crews are the right mix of young and experienced drivers.
The team. In 2021, AF Corse and Ferrari celebrated their first victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGTE Am class. Nicklas Nielsen, François Perrodo and Alessio Rovera climbed the top step of the podium. This year’s assault on the title starts with three all-new crews.
Number 21 crew. The trio of Simon Mann, Christoph Ulrich and Toni Vilander, also competing in the 2022 WEC season, will line up in the number 21 Ferrari. The 21-year-old but already successful Mann, with titles in the Italian Gran Turismo Sprint Championship and Endurance Pro Am, will be joined by Christoph Ulrich in his second appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With Ferrari since 2015, the Swiss driver has excelled in various championships, including the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup. The experienced Toni Vilander, twice victorious in the great French race, former WEC champion and winner of many other national and international championships, completes the line-up. This is his twelfth appearance, all with Ferrari.
Number 54 crew. This crew, also participating in the WEC 2022, raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021. The trio comprises Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Nick Cassidy, the latter called in to replace Giancarlo Fisichella. Flohr is making his sixth appearance, all at the wheel of a Ferrari. He debuted in GT racing in 2012 and in the endurance world championship in 2017 with Francesco Castellacci, who is still his teammate. The Italian, the 2011 Euro GT3 champion and multiple winner, has always performed well at the La Sarthe circuit. Nicholas Cassidy completes the crew. They aim to improve on their eleventh place in 2021.
Number 61 crew. The number 61 is the least experienced of the Piacenza-based team’s three crews. Two rookies, Louis Prette and Conrad Grunewald join Vincent Abril in his third appearance. The Italian, the winner of the 2019 Trofeo Pirelli Europe and with several GT championships under his belt, is competing in the Asian Le Mans Series with AF Corse in a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 alongside teammate Grunewald. The US driver is the GT World Challenge America Am reigning champion, with twelve victories to his credit. He also won the Ferrari Challenge North America in 2015. French gold driver Vincent Abril appears in the Asian Le Mans Series with Ferrari and boasts a third-place finish in the International GT Open GT3 Pro in the 2020 season.