It will be an intense weekend for Ferrari as it competes on multiple fronts. In Europe, the action will take place in England at Brands Hatch with the GT WC Europe Sprint and in Silverstone with Britcar, in Italy at Misano with the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship, and in France at Paul Ricard with the ELMS and Le Mans Cup. Meanwhile, the GT World Challenge Australia will be staged at Sydney Motorsport Park, while the second leg of the Super GT Japan will unfold at Fuji Speedway.
GT WC Europe Sprint. The English track of Brands Hatch will host the season-opener of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint on the weekend of Saturday, 3 and Sunday, 4 May, with 30 crews expected on the starting grid. Among them, no fewer than five Ferrari 296 GT3s will be fielded. In the Pro class, two cars are entered by AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors: number 50, with official drivers Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer, and number 51, with Vincent Abril and reigning Endurance champion and official Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera.
The Italo-Belgian team also lines up a third car, number 52, in the Silver class with confirmed driver Jef Machiels and new entry Marcos Siebert. Also in the Pro class is the number 14 of Emil Frey Racing with Konsta Lappalainen and Ben Green. The same team will also field number 69, with Thierry Vermeulen and Chris Lulham.
Free practice sessions, pre-qualifying and qualifying are scheduled for Saturday (from 4.35 to 5.05 p.m.), while Race-1 will take place on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by Race-2 from 3.45 to 4.45 p.m.
European Le Mans Series. The second round of the championship will see seven Maranello cars on track at the southern French circuit, featuring two home drivers. In the number 50 296 LMGT3 of Richard Mille AF Corse, Prancing Horse official driver Lilou Wadoux will be joined by Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini. In number 51 from AF Corse, Frenchman Charles-Henri Samani will line up alongside fellow official driver Davide Rigon and Conrad Laursen.
Kessel Racing fields number 57, which finished second in the season-opener at Barcelona, with Ferrari driver James Calado stepping in for fellow official driver Daniel Serra, who delivered a strong performance in Spain. The driver of the number 51 499P that won the recent FIA WEC 6 Hours of Imola will be joined by Takeshi Kimura and Ben Tuck. The team’s sister car, number 74, retains its line-up from the first round with official driver Miguel Molina alongside Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda Mateos.
The number 55 296 LMGT3 from Spirit of Race will feature Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin, fourth in Barcelona, while number 86 of GR Racing will be driven by Michael Wainwright, Riccardo Pera and Tom Fleming, and number 66 from JMW Motorsport will see Antony Noble, Jason Hart and Gianmaria Bruni behind the wheel.
LMGT3 qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, 3 May at 2.20 p.m., with the 4-hour race kicking off on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Le Mans Cup. Following a win and a third place on its debut in Barcelona, Kessel Racing aims to repeat their success at Le Castellet, returning to the track in number 33 with Murat Cuhadaroglu and David Cleto Fumanelli – victorious in Spain – and number 17 with Lorenzo Innocenti and Andrea Belicchi, who shared the podium in Catalonia.
Hoping for redemption after a difficult opening round are Eliseo Donno and Alessandro Cozzi in number 51 from AF Corse.
A fourth Ferrari on track will be number 23 from Biogas Motorsport, with Spaniards Josep Mayola Comadira and Marc Carol Ybarra at the wheel.
Qualifying will take place on Saturday, 3 May at 11.50 a.m., with the two-hour race set to start later that day at 4.45 p.m.
GT World Challenge Australia. Elliott Schutte and Jaxon Evans head to Sydney Motorsport Park as championship leaders after scoring a win and a third place in the two races at Phillip Island at the wheel of the number 296 GT3 from Arise Racing GT. Also on the Pro Am starting grid is the sister car, number 77, with Stephen Wyatt and Jordan Love.
The second round of the GT World Challenge Australia headlines the Shannons SpeedSeries. After free practice sessions on Friday, two qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday, 3 May at 1.40 p.m. and 2.10 p.m. Race-1, held under the lights, will get underway at 7.55 p.m. and last one hour. Race-2, also an hour long, will start on Sunday, 4 May at 2.10 p.m.
Super GT Japan. The Super GT Japan returns for its second round at Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, with a 3-hour race. In the GT300 class, three Ferrari 296 GT3s will be on track on 3 and 4 May. In number 45 from Ponos Racing, Kei Cozzolino will be joined by Takuro Shinohara. In number 6 from Velorex, Yoshiaki Katayama and Roberto Merhi Muntan will take turns at the wheel, while Carguy MKS Racing will field number 7, driven by Zak O’Sullivan and Rikuto Kobayashi.
Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo. Engines fire up for the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance series, which resumes at the Misano circuit for its 23rd season. In the GT3 class, the Ferrari 296 is the car to beat, bolstered by the 2024 success of Scuderia Baldini with Fisichella-Leclerc-Mosca, although this crew will not be on the grid.
AF Corse will be on track with four crews: in number 50, Simon Mann, Edoardo Borelli and Christoph Ulrich; in number 51, Lorenzo Ferrari, Mahaveer Raghunathan and Riccardo Ponzio; in number 62, Leonardo Colavita, Ibrahim Badawi and Ajenjo David Vinales; and in number 83, Jason Ambrose, David McDonald and Francesco Castellacci.
Also in the running for victory are the 296s from Easy Race and Rossocorsa, fielded respectively with Luigi Coluccio, Leonardo Gorini and Carlo Tamburini in number 98, and Stefano Marazzi and Samuele Buttarelli in number 74.
Also entered is a 488 GT3 Evo, number 3, representing Pellin Racing with Paolo Ruberti and Terje Haugen.
In the GT Cup class, Ferrari 296 Challenge cars are eligible this year, with AF Corse entering number 107 with Andrea Bogh Sorensen and Mikkel Mac, number 151 with Leonardo Megna, Edoardo Barbolini and Vincenzo Scarpetta, and number 169 with Stefano Gai and Fabrizio Fontana.
Best Lap enters two cars: number 111, driven by Sabatino Di Mare, Filippo Croccolino and Pietro Agoglia, and number 219 with Andrea Levy, Ivan David Mari and Mattia Bucci.
In the 2nd Division with Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo cars are Lorenzo Bontempelli, Diego Di Fabio and Vito Postiglione (Easy Race), Matteo Marulla, Gilles Renmans and Nicholas Risitano in number 577 (Double TT Racing), and Mattia Simonini, Giacomo Parisotto and Hirsiger in number 552 (RAM Autoservice), all vying for the Italian Pro Am and Am titles.
The Misano Endurance weekend will open on Friday with free practice sessions and three-part qualifying (from 6 to 7.50 p.m.), which will determine the starting grid for the 3-hour race scheduled for Sunday at 2.10 p.m.
Britcar Endurance Championship. The second round of the Britcar Endurance Championship will be held at Silverstone on Saturday, 3 May. The entry list for the Challenge class includes the number 16 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo from FF Corse & Red River Sport with drivers Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem, while number 21 from Steer Group will be driven by Andy Christopher.
The schedule unfolds entirely on Saturday, with qualifying from 10.15 to 10.35 a.m. and the race starting at 1.50 p.m. and finishing at 3.20 p.m.
All times are local.
