Weekend preview: Ferrari in action on tracks worldwide

Ferrari is set for a truly global weekend, with cars competing in multiple championships worldwide – from the United States, where the IMSA series appears at the Detroit street circuit, to the GT World Challenge Asia at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit. Australia also features with the GT World Challenge on the track at the Queensland Raceway, while in Europe, the focus shifts to the Ultimate Cup at Portimão and the British Endurance Championship at Snetterton.

IMSA. Ferrari looks to build on its GTD Pro momentum in Saturday’s Detroit Sports Car Classic, a 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint on the streets of Motor City. The race pairs the GTD Pro competitors for GT3 teams with Pro driver lineups with the GTP category for LMDh and Hypercar machinery. Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoe return in DragonSpeed’s yellow No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3. The pair come off a second-place finish in the most recent race for the Pro category at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in addition to class poles at both Sebring International Raceway (Costa) and Laguna Seca (Altoe). Costa and DragonSpeed are third in the respective driver and team championships, only five points behind second. Last year, Costa finished seventh at Detroit in a one-off appearance for Conquest Racing in the Pro category. Joined by Ferrari factory driver Daniel Serra, the team ran in podium contention before being spun twice. Ferrari’s history in the event includes two victories at the former Belle Isle Circuit. Risi Competizione won an ALMS race in 2007 with Mike Salo and Jaime Melo in a Ferrari F430GT, while Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal won the inaugural United SportsCar Championship race in 2014 driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

The event opens with a pair of practice sessions on Friday, May 30. A 15-minute qualifying session follows that afternoon at 4:50 p.m. ET, with the race on Saturday, May 31, at 3:40 p.m.

GT World Challenge Asia. Round three of the Asian series concludes its Southeast Asia leg, featuring two races at the circuit outside Buriram. Among the 30 entries, three Ferrari 296 GT3s are primed to tackle the 4.554-kilometre, 12-corner layout of the Chang International Circuit.
In the Pro-Am class, the LM Corsa number 60 returns to the grid, with Shigekazu Wakisaka and former Formula 1 driver and Ferrari Ambassador Giancarlo Fisichella at the steering wheel. In the Silver Am class, Winhere Harmony Racing will field the number 55 car, crewed by Liu Hangcheng and Elias Seppanen.
Finally, in the Am class, David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo will aim for a victory in Garage 75’s number 75 car, following their third-place finish at the Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia. The pair currently sit second in the overall standings, just three points behind the leader.

Qualifying will be on Saturday, 31 May, with the first session starting at 11 a.m. and the second at 11.22 a.m. Race-1, lasting 60 minutes, will get underway at 3 p.m. Race-2 is slated for Sunday, 1 June, at 10.45 a.m., once again running over a one-hour distance.

GT World Challenge Australia. It is also the third round of the season for the Australian series, which moves to Queensland Raceway following the rounds at Phillip Island and Sydney. The fifth and sixth races of the year are part of the Shannons SpeedSeries’ EVENTelec GT Festival Queensland.

With three victories from four races, Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte arrive at the event with a 39-point lead in the standings, driving the number 26 296 GT3 for Arise Racing GT. Aaron Love returns to GT racing after a break, stepping in for his brother Jordan to join Stephen Wyatt in the team’s second entry – the number 77 – which also competes in the Pro-Am class.

After free practice and pre-qualifying, qualifying takes place on Saturday, 31 May, at 9.40 a.m., with Race-1 scheduled to start at 1.45 p.m. Race-2 will begin on Sunday, 1 June, at 12.50 p.m., once again over a distance of 60 minutes.

Ultimate Cup Series. For the second time in its history, the championship heads to the Algarve circuit in Portugal for the third round of the series. In the Endurance Cup, which features a four-hour race, reigning champions Visiom will field their usual crew, Jean-Paul Pagny, Jean-Bernard Bouvet, and David Hallyday, in the Ferrari 296 GT3 number 1, aiming for a third consecutive victory following Le Castellet and Mugello.
A Ferrari 296 Challenge will also be on the grid in the Sprint Cup: the CMR number 73 entry, driven by Patrick Michellier and competing in the Ultimate Cavallino Tridente Cup.
The four Sprint Cup races will take place on Friday, 30 May, at 7.25 p.m., and on Saturday, 31 May, at 9 a.m., 5.40 p.m., and 8.15 p.m.

British Endurance Championship. The third round of the British series takes place at Snetterton, just outside Norwich. The Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo, number 16, will also be on the grid, with drivers Bon Grimes and Johnny Mowlem representing the FF Corse & Red River team.

The championship format features two 45-minute races, both on Saturday, 31 May, starting at 2.00 p.m. and 4.05 p.m., respectively.

All times are local.