The final round of the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance season gets underway this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a three-hour race that will feature the highest number of participants ever registered in the eight-year history of the series, with a 54-strong field of cars entered.
Among them five Ferrari 296 GT3s will take to the track, two in the Pro class and one in each of the Silver, Bronze and Pro-Am classes. In the top class, in the colours of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, will be Prancing Horse official drivers Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco at the steering wheel of the number 71. The trio boasts as a best result – in the debut season for Maranello’s latest sports car – a fifth place at the 1000 km of Paul Ricard in June.
The Piacenza-based team’s Ferrari sister car, the number 51, will be crewed by two other official drivers, Alessio Rovera and Nicklas Nielsen, flanked by Robert Shwartzman, who were able to pick up points at both the Monza opener and Paul Ricard.
In the Silver class, AF Corse set out with a new crew, made up of another Prancing Horse official driver, the young Frenchwoman Lilou Wadoux in the number 53 296 GT3, together with the Monegasque driver Cédric Sbirrazzuoli and Manuel Franco, with a long experience in GT World Challenge America, who will make his European debut.
Meanwhile, in the Bronze Cup, representing AF Corse in the number 52 Ferrari will be veteran champion Andrea Bertolini and the two Belgian drivers Louis and Jef Machiels.
Lastly, the Pro-Am class line-up for the Catalan round will also feature the crew of ST Racing with Rinaldi, in car number 38, which will see Isaac Tutumlu, Samantha Tan and Lorcan Hanafin take turns at the wheel.
The schedule for the Spanish weekend will see the cars take to the track on Friday, September 29, at 9.00 a.m. and 1.20 p.m. for two Free Practice sessions lasting one hour each, followed at 4:50 p.m. by the Bronze Test. Another one-and-a-half hour Free Practice session is scheduled for Saturday from 9.00 a.m., while Pre-Qualifying will be held at 1.20 p.m. Finally, on Sunday, October 1, Qualifying takes place from 9.45 a.m. to 10.45 a.m. with the three-hour race set to start at 3.00 p.m.
