Weekend preview: Ferrari featuring on the track from Laguna Seca to Thailand

A race-packed weekend for the Ferrari 296 GT3s sees them competing in California for the third leg of the IMSA, in the second round of the GT World Challenge Asia at the Chang International Circuit, and in Europe, at the Hockenheimring, with the International GT Open and GT Cup Europe.

IMSA. A new challenge for Conquest Racing: at the weekend the team will line up in the Course de Monterey at the Laguna Seca Raceway. After third place in the 24 Hours at Daytona and a first podium on their series debut, Albert Costa and Manny Franco secured 11th place in the 12 Hours of Sebring at the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GT3. That means the pairing will arrive at Monterey placed third in the overall standings.
15 teams will start in the GTD class and face 2 hours and 40 minutes of racing on the classic circuit with its iconic Corkscrew bend. From 15 to 20 May 2024 the circuit hosts Ferrari Racing Days, with the F1 Clienti programme and the Ferrari Challenge North America.

International GT Open. The starting grid will feature 32 entries for the return of the series to Hockenheim after a five-year absence. A full nine Ferraris will line up, ready to match and improve on the results gained in the season’s first outing at Portimão, starting in the Pro class with Spirit of Race’s number 51 296 GT3, driven by Nicola Marinangeli and Vincent Abril.

In the Pro Am class, the largest with a full 17 entries, the winners of the races in the Algarve will start as favourites: Spirit of Race’s number 27 with Marco Pulcini and Eddie Cheever III and AF Corse’s number 25 with Giorgio Sernagiotto and Alessandro Cozzi. The Piacenza-based team’s other cars will feature the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Hahn and Allam Khodair (number 16), Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald (number 61), and Laurent De Meeus and Jamie Stanley (number 55). Spirit of Race’s second car, the number 88, will see Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo taking turns at the wheel.
It will be a race on home soil for racing one, with the number 11 296 GT3 driven by Ernst Kirchmayr and Luca Ludwig, fresh from its debut weekend in the Ferrari Challenge Europe at Mugello.

Lastly, in the Am class, Polish team Olimp Racing will field Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski in the number 5 car.

The qualifying session is scheduled for Saturday 11 May at 10.05 a.m., with Race-1, which lasts 1 hour and 10 minutes, kicking off at 2.35 p.m. On Sunday 12 May, timed practice begins at 9.35 a.m. and the 60-minute Race-2 gets underway at 1.10 p.m.

GT Cup Europe. After a hugely successful start to the season in the Algarve, the GT Cup Europe heads to the heart of Europe for the second round where, for the first time, it will be hosted by the Hockenheimring.

Taking to the fast 4.574-km track will be Iván Velasco and Luca Ludwig, leaders in the standings, with their number 80 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo, fielded by MERTEL Motorsport. The same team will also line up in the second round with another three cars in the Pro Am class: the pairing of Stefano Bozzoni and Arturo Melgar will drive the number 84, while the number 85 will be crewed by Jorge Cabezas alongside Swiss driver Anny Frosio. Another Ferrari, Rossocorsa Racing’s number 17 with Lorenzo Ferdinando Innocenti and Andrea Bellicchi, also features in the Pro Am.

In the Am class, all of the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos are fielded by MERTEL Motorsport. In the number 86 will be Martinus Richter and Davit Kajaia, Georgia’s top driver, well-known due to his success in TCR events and for being a policeman away from the track. Laura Van den Hengel and Alba Vázquez will be in the number 83, with Leon Rijnbeek and "Mark Speakerwas” in the number 82; the number 81, meanwhile, will be driven by Fernando Navarrete and Álvaro Lobera.

Friday sees free practice taking place, while on Saturday qualifying is from 10.45 to 11.05 a.m., with the 50-minute Race-1 scheduled from 4.20 to 5.10 p.m. On Sunday, qualifying is from 9.05 to 9.25 a.m., with Race-2 running from 2.45 to 3.35 p.m.

GT World Challenge Asia. Four Ferrari 296 GT3s line up for the second round of the championship, which moves from Sepang to Thailand for the third and fourth races of the season at the Chang International Circuit.

In the Silver class, Harmony Racing once again fields Liang Jiatong and Luo Kailuo in its number 77 car following their 12th place finish in Race-2 in Malaysia. The LMcorsa team also features in the same class, with the number 60 crewed by the Japanese pairing of Ryo Ogawa and Shigekazu Wakisak. In the Silver Am class Andre Canard and Finn Gehrsitz will be in Absolute Corse’s number 296, while David Tjiptobiantoro and Italian Massimiliano Wiser will represent Garage75 in the Am class with the number 75 car.

Qualifying 1 is scheduled for Saturday 11 at 11 a.m. and Qualifying 2 at 11.22 a.m., with Race-1 taking place the same day at 3 p.m. Race-2 kicks off at 10.45 a.m. on Sunday. Both races last one hour. All times are local.