Weekend preview: five Ferraris at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen

Five Ferrari 296 GT3 cars are set to compete in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, the third round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship – Endurance Cup. The Prancing Horse’s recent winning drivers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be in action in the US: Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina will be in the Maranello manufacturer’s series-derived car, and Nicklas Nielsen in an LMP2 class prototype. 

On the same weekend, the Hungaroring in Hungary hosts the fourth round of the International GT Open, and at Suzuka in Japan, there are dual events with the GT World Challenge Asia and the Japan Cup.

IMSA. Five Ferrari teams return to IMSA SportsCar Championship action in Sunday’s Six Hours of Watkins Glen, looking to build on winning momentum from the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours.

Risi Competizione followed up its GTD Pro class victory at Daytona with a second-place finish in the 12 Hours of Sebring in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3, with Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon looking to improve on two-consecutive second-place finishes at Watkins Glen International. The team is second following two rounds of the IMSA Endurance Cup, trailing the leader by only two points.

Conquest Racing continues its full-season GTD effort with the No. 34 Corsa Horizon Ferrari 296 GT3, with regular drivers Alberto Costa and Manny Franco joined by Cedric Sbirrazzouli. The team is tied for sixth in the Endurance Cup, trailing the leaders by eight points after opening the season by placing third at Daytona. In addition to running the full IMSA GTD schedule, Conquest competed in GTD Pro in the recent race on the streets of Detroit, where late race mechanical issues negated a strong showing.

Triarsi Competizione has the No. 023 Ferrari of Central Florida / David SW Ferrari 296 GT3 for factory driver Alessio Rovera joined by Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina. The team placed fourth at Daytona and finished fourth in GTD in its Six Hour debut last year. The team is third in the GTD Endurance Cup points, four points behind the leader.

 AF Corse took second at Daytona in the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 for factory pilot Miguel Molina, who will be joined at the Glen by Simon Mann and Francois Heriau. They are tied with Conquest for sixth in the Endurance Cup

Cetilar Racing returns its blue No. 47 Ferrari for factory driver Anthonio Fuoco, Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Sernagiotto. The team is fifth in the Endurance Cup, seven points out of the lead. The team finished second at Sebring, an event the team won in 2022.

6 Hours of The Glen: the history. Ferrari has scored four overall victories in the Watkins Glen classic – three of them by Gianpiero Moretti for Kevin Doran in the Ferrari 333SP. He was joined by Eliseo Salazar in 1994, Max Papis in 1996 and Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi in 1998. Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx scored a dramatic triumph in a Ferrari 312P in 1972. In addition, Scuderia Ferrari of Washington captured the GT class in the 2003 Sahlen’s Six Hours in a Ferrari 360GT, with a driver lineup including Bill Auberlen.

The Watkins Glen schedule opens with a 90-minute practice session on Friday at 1:25 p.m. Final practice is set for Saturday, with a 90-minute session at 9:10 a.m. Qualifying for the GTD Pro and GTD classes begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, with the race beginning Sunday at 11:10 a.m. Live flag-to-flag streaming on Peacock begins at 11 a.m., with SiriusXM broadcasting live beginning at 11 a.m. on Channel 206. (all times are local).

International GT Open. The series heads to the Hungaroring as the 2024 season reaches its halfway mark. Among the 33 entrants will be nine Ferrari cars. 

On the track in the Pro class, Spirit of Race fields the 296 GT3 number 51, driven by the pairing of Nicola Marinangeli and Vincent Abril. 

In the Pro Am class, which has the largest number of entrants, seven Ferraris will be in the chase for the win. Leading the standings are Marco Pulcini and Eddie Cheever III in the number 27 from Spirit of Race; the team also brings the number 88 Ferrari driven by Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo. AF Corse fields four cars: the number 16 with Brazilian pairing Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair, the number 25 with Alessandro Cozzi joined by young driver Eliseo Donno, the number 55 with Laurent De Meeus and Jamie Stanley, and the number 61 with Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald. Lastly, for Racing One, the number 11 will see Ernst Kirchmayr and David Fumanelli at the wheel. 

In the Am class, representing the Prancing Horse is the number 5 Ferrari 296 GT3 from Olimp Racing, driven by Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski.

After Friday’s free practice sessions, Saturday 22 June features qualifying at 9.45 a.m. and Race-1 at 2.30 p.m. On Sunday, qualifying takes place at 9.15 a.m. with the race at 1.45 p.m.

GT WC Asia. Forty-nine cars are expected at Fuji International Speedway for the double event with the GT World Challenge Asia, in its third round, and the Japan Cup, in its second round of the season.

Among the 33 GT WC Asia contenders are four Ferrari 296 GT3 cars: in the Pro Am class, the number 60 from LMcorsa with Kei Nakanishi and Shigekazu Wakisaka; in the Am class, the number 75 from Garage 75 with David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo (already winners of a race); in the Silver class, Harmony Racing’s number 77 with drivers Liang Jiatong and Luo Kailuo; and in the Silver Am class, the 296 GT3 from Absolute Corse driven by Andre Canard and Finn Gehrsitz.

In the Japan Cup, among the 16 cars starting are two other 296 GT3s: in the Am class, the number 7 from Comet Racing with Yusuke Yamasaki and Yorikatsu Tsujiko (who have so far secured two pole positions and two-runner up spots in the first round contested at Sugo), and in the Pro Am class, the number 98 from K-tunes Racing with Daisuke Yamawaki and Shinichi Takagi.

The schedule for the Japan Cup includes free practice on Friday 21 June; qualifying on Saturday, followed by Race-1 from 3.30 p.m. to 4.35 p.m. On Sunday 23 June, Race-2 will start at 2.15 p.m. For the GT WC Asia, the green light for the first race is at 12.40 p.m. on Saturday, while Sunday’s second race starts at 11.00 a.m. (local times).