Ferraris will be engaged on several fronts this weekend in Europe and Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun will see the second round of the Super GT, featuring two Ferrari 296 GT3s. Meanwhile, in Europe, Le Castellet will host the second rounds of both the European Le Mans Series and the Le Mans Cup. The Italian GT Championship debuts at Misano with the Sprint series, while the GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup series kicks off at Brands Hatch.
Super GT Japan . Fuji International Speedway, a 4,563-metre track on the slopes of the Japanese volcano of the same name, hosts the season’s second round. Two Ferrari 296 GT3s are fielded in the GT3 class. Kei Cozzolino and Frenchwoman Lilou Wadoux, a Prancing Horse official driver, will start in Ponos Racing’s number 45, while Yoshiaki Katayama and Roberto Merhi Muntan will drive the Uni-Robo Bluegrass team’s number 6 car.
The race runs over a distance of three hours and includes two pit stops for refueling.
ELMS . The second round of the 2024 European Le Mans Series will be held over four hours at Le Castellet. Formula Racing’s Ferrari 296 LMGT3 number 50 tops the standings following a triumphant first leg in Barcelona. The all-Danish crew comprising Johnny and Conrad Laursen, alongside Nicklas Nielsen – a Ferrari official driver competing in the FIA WEC’s top class with the 499P number 50 – secured the victory. GR Racing lies second with the number 86 of Michael Wainwright, Riccardo Pera and Davide Rigon, another Ferrari official driver.
The starters also include AF Corse’s Ferrari 296 LMGT3 number 51 with Charles-Henri Samani, Emmanuel Collard and Nicolas Varrone. Three other teams will field the same Maranello car in France: Spirit of Race with number 55 crewed by Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin; Kessel Racing with number 57 driven by Takeshi Kimura, Esteban Masson and Ferrari official driver Daniel Serra; JMW Motorsport with John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck and Philip Keen in the number 66 Ferrari.
Free practice is on Friday, while Saturday will see free practice 2 and qualifying, from 2.40 pm The 4 Hours of Le Castellet kicks off at 11.30 am on Sunday 5 May.
Le Mans Cup . The Paul Ricard circuit also hosts round two of the Le Mans Cup. After claiming the win on their debut in Barcelona, Matthew Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan are also in search of another top-three place in the south of France in the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 51 of AF Corse.
The runner-up spot on the Catalan circuit went to the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 74 of Kessel Racing with Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda Mateos, ahead of the AF Corse number 88 with Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini. The Swiss Kessel Racing team fields a second Ferrari with French driver Frederic Jousset in the 296 GT3 number 12 alongside David Cleto Fumanelli.
After two free practice sessions on Friday, 3 May and qualifying on Saturday morning, the Le Castellet race gets underway on Saturday, 4 May, at 5.50 pm
GT WC Europe – Sprint Cup . 25 cars will compete in round one of the Sprint Cup series organized by SRO at Brands Hatch over the weekend. The Pro class includes the two Ferrari 296 GT3s of Emil Frey Racing, number 14 with Konsta Lappalainen and Ben Green and number 69 with Thierry Vermeulen and Giacomo Altoè.
In the Gold class, Racing Team Turkey will race with Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood in the Ferrari 296 GT3, number 51. Meanwhile, in the Silver class, AF Corse features two crews: Jef Machiels and Sean Hudspeth in car number 52, and the standout performers of the 2023 Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli season, Eliseo Donno (series winner) and Thomas Fleming (Finali Mondiali champion), in car number 71.
Free practice and pre-qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, 4 May, from 11.55 am to 12.55 pm, followed by qualifying from 4.10 pm to 4.40 pm On Sunday 5 May the two races (each one hour long): from 11 am and 4 pm
CIGT Sprint . The 22nd edition of the Italian GT Championship Sprint series kicks off at the Misano World Circuit with 53 cars entered.
A new feature of this edition is the splitting of the races into different classes: two for the GT3 and another two for the GT Cup. Three Ferrari crews will start in the GT3 class: In the Pro series, Easy Race fields the experienced and multi -time champion Thomas Biagi in the 296 GT3 number 22, paired with 19-year-old Enzo Trulli, son of former Formula 1 driver Jarno. Emil Frey Racing will entrust its 296 GT3 number 52 to Swiss driver Jasin Ferati, flanked by Finnish driver Luka Nurmi. Nurmi has previously competed in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe and won the 2021 Finali Mondiali. Stefano Marazzi and Simone Buttarelli share the third 296 GT3, Rossocorsa’s number 74 in the Am.
In the GT3 Pro-Am category, three Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s are registered for the Misano round. Luigi Coluccio and Vito Postiglione will pilot the number 23 car for Best Lap, while Daniele Di Amato and Timur Boguslavskiy will take the wheel of the number 88 for AF Corse. Additionally, Leonardo Colavita and Giorgio Maggi of Double TT Racing will drive the number 75 car.
In 2024, the class for single-marque cars is split into two groupings. Four Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo crews, all from the Best Lap team, are in the first grouping. Lorenzo Pegoraro and reigning GT Cup Pro-Am Endurance champion Simone Patrinicola will be in the number 111 car. Mattia Bucci and Filippo Croccolino will take the number 178. Gianluca Carboni and Filippo Bencivenni will drive the 108, while Giovanni Naldi and Gianluigi Simonelli will be in the number 218.
From Germany, MERTEL Motorsport fields two Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos: the number 180 with Tommaso Lovati and Mauro Trentin, while Michele La Marca and Marco Verzelli will drive the 281. The Ferrari lineup is rounded off by two 488 Challenge Evo cars from Pinetti Motorsport. Giovanni Stefanin and Simone Vullo are in the number 229 car, while Victor Briselli teams up with the championship’s sole female competitor, 18-year-old Emma Segattini from Verona, in the number 280 car. Double TT Racing fields its 488 Challenge Evo number 177 with Belgian Gilles Renmans; Easy Race starts with the pairing of Emiliano Pierantoni and Diego Di Fabio in the number 222 car; AF Corse has readied car number 250 for Edoardo Borrelli paired with former Italian champion Lorenzo Casè.
After Friday’s free practice, the two separate official practice sessions for the two classes will run from 8.40 to 10.10 am on Saturday, 4 May, while Race-1 of the GT3 class will start at 4.35 pm, followed at 6.45 pm by the GT Cup class. The last two races will run on Sunday, at 1.40 pm in the GT3 class and 4 pm in the GT Cup class.
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