Weekend preview: Ferrari on track in America and Europe

This weekend marks the second round of the GT World Challenge America season, featuring two races at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Texas. Two Ferraris from AF Corse will be on track, while R.Ferri Motorsport will also be in Austin for round three of GT America.

At the Nürburgring’s Green Hell, the German NLS series also resumes for its second round, featuring Ferrari official driver Thomas Neubauer. Meanwhile, the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben hosts the opening event of an eight-round DTM season, showcasing three Ferrari 296 GT3 entries. As usual, the International GT Open kicks off in Portimão, Algarve, for its twentieth edition. This season will mark the series’ 300th race since its inception in 2006. Seven Ferraris will participate, while five will compete in the GT Cup Europe, also opening its season on the Portuguese circuit. 

The Ultimate Cup Series arrives in Italy for a round at Mugello, with one Ferrari in the GT Endurance Cup and eight in the GT Sprint Cup. Finally, the second round of the British GT Championship at Silverstone will feature the debut of three Ferraris.

GT World Challenge America. The two AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s head into the Texas round of the American series following a weekend at Sonoma Raceway, where their best results were seventh- and ninth places. On the 5.513-kilometre COTA circuit, car number 16 will race in the Pro-Am class with Brazilian drivers Allam Khodair and Marcelo Hahn, while in the Am category, car number 163 features another Brazilian Oswaldo Negri, paired with Jay Schreibman.

Following free practice sessions on Friday, qualifying for the first driver in each pairing starts on Saturday, 26 April, at 9:20 a.m., followed by qualifying for the second driver at 9:40 a.m. The 90-minute race will begin at 1:05 p.m. that day. Race 2 will start on Sunday at 2.15 p.m.

GT America. The third round of the GT America series will also take place at the Austin circuit, with two races over the weekend. After skipping the Long Beach event two weeks ago, Marc Muzzo returns to the grid with the R.Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3, following an impressive fourth-place debut at Sonoma at the end of March.

The weekend schedule includes qualifying on Saturday, 26 April, at 8:30 a.m., with Race-1 (40 minutes) starting at 11:20 a.m. Race-2, also lasting 40 minutes, runs on Sunday, 27 April, beginning at 10:05 a.m.

DTM. Three Ferrari 296 GT3s will line up in the German series, fielded by Emil Frey Racing. The 27-year-old Briton Ben Green – 2021 DTM Trophy champion – will drive car number 10. Alongside him, Jack Aitken returns to the championship in car number 14, having made his mark last season at Oschersleben with a victory in the opening event of the two-race round. Thierry Vermeulen will again drive the Swiss team’s third car, number 69.

Each round features two 55-minute races, with a new rule introducing a mandatory double pit stop in Sunday’s race. Free practice takes place on Friday, 25 April. Qualifying 1 is on Saturday at 9:20 a.m., while Race-1 gets underway at 1:30 p.m. The programme repeats itself on Sunday, 27 April.

NLS. Round two of the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series features the ADAC Ruhrpott-Trophy, a four-hour race on the German circuit’s legendary Nordschleife. Ferrari will be represented in the Pro class by the 296 GT3 number 45 of Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi, crewed by official driver Thomas Neubauer, Axcil Jefferies, and Felipe Fernández Laser.

Qualifying takes place on Saturday, 26 April, at 8:30 a.m., with the race starting at 12 p.m. 

International GT Open. The Maranello manufacturer will be well represented at the Autódromo do Algarve in Portimão for the twentieth edition of the International GT Open. Seven Ferrari 296 GT3s will line up across the various classes. In the Pro category, car number 17 from Elite Motorsport will feature British drivers Tom Lebbon and Tom Emson, while Carl Bennett and Italy’s Tommaso Mosca will take the wheel of AF Corse number 51.

In Pro Am, Polish drivers Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz will drive Olimp Racing number 777. Baron Motorsport fields car number 92 with Masoud Jaberian and Edoardo Bacci, while Luca Ludwig and Ivan Velasco will drive Mertel Motorsport’s number 80. AF Corse number 55 features Laurent De Meeus and Vincent Abril. 

Finally, Olimp Racing’s second entry, car number 5, will compete in the Am class with Stanislaw Jedliński and Krystian Korzeniowski.

The weekend programme includes free practice on Friday, followed by Qualifying 1 on Saturday, 26 April, at 10:10 a.m. and Race-1 (70 minutes) at 2:45 p.m. On Sunday, Qualifying 2 takes place at 9:00 a.m., with Race-2 (60 minutes) set for 1:15 p.m. 

GT Cup Europe. The seventh edition of the sister series to the International GT Open kicks off in the Algarve with a 26-car grid. The six-round season introduces a new Silver class exclusively for drivers in this category. Two Ferrari 296 GT3s from Mertel Motorsport – reigning 2023-2024 overall drivers’ champions – will compete in this class. German driver Antoine Berberich will race car number 1, while Italians Simone Patrinicola and Luca Demarchi will share the number 80 entry. The German team will also field a Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo in the same class – car number 83 – with young Italian drivers Matteo Luvisi and Davide Larini at the wheel.

In the intermediate Pro Am class, another Italian pair – Mauro Trentin and Tommaso Lovati – will drive car number 82, also entered by Mertel Motorsport. The team will also field an entry in the Am class – car number 81 – with “Leo Chen” at the wheel. 

Qualifying 1 is on Saturday, 26 April, at 8:55 a.m., with Race-1 (50 minutes) starting at 12:20 p.m. On Sunday, 27 April, Qualifying 2 takes place at 8:30 a.m., followed by Race-2 (also 50 minutes) at 2:55 p.m.

Ultimate Cup Series. A month after its season opener at Paul Ricard, the series heads to Italy for its Mugello round. Following their victory in France, Jean-Paul Pagny and Jean-Bernard Bouvet return to the GT Endurance Cup alongside David Halliday in car number 1 – a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 entered by Visiom in the UCS1 class. Following qualifying at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, 26 April, the four-hour race will start at 10:50 a.m. on Sunday, 27 April.

Eight Ferraris will compete in the GT Sprint Cup, six fielded by SR&R – the dominant force in the 2024 season, boasting three overall titles and one in the Ultimate Cavallino Tridente Cup. Aramis will drive the F430 Challenge number 3, while Emilio Rocchi and Alfredo Salerno will share the 488 Challenge Evo number 333. Maurizio Fondi will race car number 350. Andreas Borris and Mikkel Mac will team up in the 488 Challenge Evo number 351, while Paolo Ruberti and Lyle Schofield will pilot the 296 Challenge number 353. Finally, Simone Conti will take the wheel of the F458 Challenge Evo number 357, also entered by Manfredi Ravetto’s team. 

Francorchamps Motors Racing Classic will enter two cars: the Ferrari 430 GT3 number 96, driven by Gregoire Benedet in the UCS1 class, and the F430 Challenge number 69, with Mardeen Benjamin competing in UCTC.

Four races will take place over the weekend at the Scarperia circuit, following qualifying on Friday, 25 April, from 2:30 p.m. The green flag will wave for Race-1 on Saturday, 26 April, at 9 a.m., followed by Race-2 at 11:20 a.m. On Sunday, 27 April, Race-3 is at 9:45 a.m., with the final race at 3:55 p.m. – all races will run over a 25-minute distance. 

British GT. Following the season opener at Donington, the British GT Championship heads to Silverstone, where three Ferraris will make their season debut. Spirit of Race will field two Ferrari 296 GT3s: car number 28 in the Silver-Am class with Marcos Vivian and Francesco Castellacci – fresh from a fifth-place finish in the LMGT3 class of the 6 Hours of Imola in round two of the FIA WEC – and car number 55 in Pro-Am with Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin.

Kessel Racing will enter a third Ferrari 296 GT3 – car number 74 – with Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda in the Silver-Am category. 

British GT qualifying is on Saturday, 26 April, from 4:15 p.m. The three-hour race will start at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

All times listed for the various championships are local.