Weekend Preview: Ferrari in action in Austria, Germany and Spain

The most important event in number terms will undoubtedly be the Austrian round of the International GT Open with seven Ferraris taking part. Prancing Horse commitments will continue over the weekend with two endurance races in Barcelona as part of the 24H Series and at the Nürburgring in the NLS.

GT Open. There will be a strong Ferrari presence for the fifth round of the International GT Open season which stops off at Austria’s Spielberg circuit this coming weekend. The Am class will feature the highest presence of red machinery, with four Ferraris lining up, where the no. 55 AF Corse team entry with Laurent de Meeus and Johnny Mowlem currently occupies third spot in the standings, 20 points behind the leaders. Undoubtedly weighing on their place in the rankings is their absence from the previous round in Budapest.
Completing the Am class line-up will be the Kessel Racing-run no. 11 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Stephen Earle and Erwin Zanotti, the no. 5 of Olimp Racing of Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski and finally, a new entry, the no. 91 belonging to Baron Motorsport. This marks a maiden season outing for the Austrian team, whose two drivers add to the ample presence of competitors originating from Ferrari Challenge Europe, with Ernst Kirchmayr, reigning Coppa Shell champion, accompanied by team owner Philipp Baron.
In the Pro Am class, Kessel Racing's two Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s will feature on the entry list, the no. 73 of Roman Ziemian and Axcil Jefferies and the no. 133 of Murat Ruhi Cuhadaroglu and David Fumanelli. Finally, also taking the start will be the no. 182 AF Corse entry made up of the Willem Van der Vorm and Michele Rugolo pairing. After the usual free practice and qualifying sessions, the 70-minute race will get underway at 16.40 on Saturday, while the one-hour Race 2 kicks off at 13.05 on Sunday.

NLS. The Nürburgring Langstrecken-Series championship returns after a long summer break and is set to tackle the 12th edition of the Stunden Nürburgring from 9 to 11 September. Two cars will take to the field in the SP9 class after a Ferrari absence at the previous event in July. Present will be the no. 26 of Octane 126 crewed by Björn Grossmann and Luca Ludwig and the no. 30 of Racing One with, as yet, only Christian Kohlhaas confirmed.

The format undergoes a regulatory novelty with the 12-hour event split into two races: the first part is scheduled for Saturday from 14.30 to 20.30, while the second gets underway at 10.00 on Sunday. The starting grid for Race 2 will be determined by the finishing order from the first race: the cars, however, will enter the track respecting the intervals set at the finish line the previous evening and will continue on-track at a speed of 60 km/h. Once all drivers have finished entering, the final part of the race will begin.

24H Series. Barcelona will host the final round of the European endurance 24H Series. Once again representing the Maranello manufacturer will be the WTM Racing team-entered Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 in the GT3 class. In its last appearance in early July at Portimão, the German team car managed to take the lowest step on the podium, only to have their hopes dashed with a disqualification for exhaust irregularities. Drivers Georg Weiss, Leonard Weiss, Daniel Keilwitz and Indy Dontje have been confirmed for the Portuguese stage, while in Spain, Nicolas Varrone is set to replace Jochen Krumbach. The 24-hour race is scheduled to start at 13:00 on Saturday, 10 September.