Yas Marina hosts Winter Challenge 2024

Ferrari Racing Days Abu Dhabi 2024 will take place at the Yas Marina Circuit from 1 to 4 February 2024.The main event is the Winter Challenge, featuring three Ferrari Challenge races with 17 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars on the track. Drivers will compete in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, Coppa Shell, and Coppa Shell Am classes. This event in Abu Dhabi also offers a unique glimpse of sessions with F1 Clienti single-seaters and the XX Programme cars.

Ferrari Challenge. Yas Marina Circuit will host the Ferrari Challenge’s Winter Challenge. This event only visits Abu Dhabi for one weekend and welcomes drivers from various Ferrari Challenge one-make series, including Europe, North America, the UK, and Japan.  Spectators can see Ferrari Challenge drivers pushing 488 Challenge Evos to their performance limits.

In the Trofeo Pirelli Am at Abu Dhabi, all eyes will be on the contest between Ernst Kirchmayr (Gohm – Baron Motorsport), a long-standing Ferrari Challenge driver, winner in 2021 of the European and Finali Mondiali titles in the Coppa Shell, and Motohiko Isozaki (Cornes Motors Shiba), the 2023 champion in the same class. Dylan Medler (The Collection), star of the North American series, is behind them in third.

Several newcomers will join familiar faces from the Prancing Horse one-make series in the Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am, including Paolo Scudieri (Sa.Mo.Car.) and Lisa Clark (Pellin Racing), winner of the 2023 Ferrari Challenge North America - Coppa Shell Am, who also takes part in the European series.

The schedule. Qualifying kicks off on Friday, 2 February, at 6.50 p.m., which decides the starting grid for Race 1 at 9.25 p.m. The second qualifying session is on Saturday, 3 February, at 9:55 a.m., followed by Race 2 at 2.25 p.m. The third qualifying session will be on Sunday, 3 February, at 1.55 p.m., with the last race, Race 3, at 6:45 p.m. All times are local.

F1 Clienti and XX Programme. The Abu Dhabi circuit, which opened in 2009, hosts the F1 Clienti and XX Programme sessions. These feature single-seaters that have raced in the Formula One World Championship with Scuderia Ferrari and ‘laboratory’ cars that are not road-homologated but showcase cutting-edge technological solutions.

These two non-competitive programmes allow customers to participate in dedicated track sessions as part of the calendar organised by the Maranello manufacturer. Among the cars at Yas Marina Circuit is a Ferrari F138 from the 2013 season, the last to use the iconic V8 engine.

The XX Programme for non-series cars, launched by Maranello in 2005, features models with the V12 combustion engine and technologically advanced solutions. The event will include three 599 XX and six Ferrari FXX-K Evo cars. The Maranello’s engineers’ track racing experience significantly influenced the latter’s development, with the combustion engine delivering an extraordinary 1050 hp and a maximum torque of 900 Nm.