Weekend preview: Ferraris in action across Europe

This weekend’s programme sees Ferraris competing across Europe: in Germany at the Norisring for the DTM, at Imola in Italy in the European Le Mans Series (with four official drivers on the grid), the International GT Open in Budapest, Hungary, the 24H Series at Paul Ricard in France, and the Britcar Endurance Championship at Thruxton in England.

DTM. Round four of the DTM, the championship’s halfway mark, takes place at the Norisring, a street circuit within Nuremberg. Emil Frey Racing will field two Ferrari 296 GT3s on the 2.126-kilometre circuit, the shortest on the DTM calendar. Jack Aitken, in car number 14, currently sits seventh in the overall standings with 68 points, while Thierry Vermeulen, in car number 69, is in 16th place with 20 points.

The weekend starts on Friday with free practice, followed by qualifying on Saturday morning and Race-1 from 1.30 to 2.30 p.m. On Sunday, after morning qualifying, Race-2 also gets underway at 1.30 p.m.

ELMS. The European Le Mans Series returns to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari for round three. This is its seventh visit to the circuit, which hosts the 4 Hours of Imola. The Maranello manufacturer has always enjoyed strong results here, with three wins to its name. Seven Ferrari 296 LMGT3s will participate in the event. The number 50 Richard Mille AF Corse entry is currently second in the standings, crewed by official driver Lilou Wadoux alongside Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini. Buoyed by victory in the previous round at Le Castellet, the trio will aim to continue their winning streak and close the gap to the top, which is now just four points. The number 55 296 LMGT3 of Spirit of Race, with Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin, holds third place. It leads the number 57 Kessel Racing car by four points. Takeshi Kimura and Ben Tuck will share the Kessel entry at Imola with official driver Daniel Serra, who returns after missing the Le Castellet leg. The number 86 GT Racing car, which finished third in the previous round, will once again feature Michael Wainwright, Riccardo Pera, and Tom Fleming. Official driver Davide Rigon (who finished 11th in the Bronze Cup at last Sunday’s 24 Hours of Spa alongside Perel) is in the number 51 AF Corse car, alongside Charles-Henri Samani and Conrad Laursen, who have claimed two fifth-place finishes so far. Antony Noble, Jason Hart and Gianmaria Bruni will drive the number 66 JMW Motorsport entry. Official driver Miguel Molina (fourth in the Pro-Am Cup at the 24 Hours of Spa) returns to action in the number 74 Kessel Racing car with Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda Mateos.

On Saturday, qualifying runs from 2.30 p.m., while the 4-hour race kicks off on Sunday, 6 July, at 12 p.m.

International GT Open. The Hungaroring, the historic Budapest circuit, in its revamped form following a year-long refurbishment, hosts the fourth round of the season. This event marks a milestone as the Hungarian track celebrates its 300th race in the series’ history. Seven Ferraris from the Maranello-based manufacturer will compete across the various classes. The Pro category features the number 17 296 GT3 of Elite Motorsport with Entire Race Engineering, driven by Tom Lebbon and Tom Emson, and the number 51 296 GT3 of AF Corse with Carl Bennett and Tommaso Mosca, who are currently seventh in the overall standings (with Mosca having finished ninth among the Bronze drivers at Sunday’s 24 Hours of Spa). The number 80 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo of MERTEL Motorsport will also compete in the Pro class, driven by Luca Ludwig and Andrea Montermini. 

In the Pro-Am class, AF Corse fields the number 55 296 GT3 with Laurent De Meeus and Vincent Abril (who finished third overall at the 24 Hours of Spa), and Baron Motorsport Team deploys the number 92 with Edoardo Bacci and Masoud Jaberian. Finally, in the Am class, the number 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse, driven by Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo, sits second in the standings, just four points behind the leader. The number 5 296 GT3 of Olimp Racing, driven by Stanislaw Jedliński and Krystian Korzeniowski, is also competing.

After free practice on Friday, Qualifying 1 takes place on Saturday from 9.45 to 10.10 a.m. and Race-1 from 2.40 to 3.50 p.m. On Sunday, Qualifying 2 runs from 9.15 to 9.40 a.m. and Race-2 from 1.45 to 2.45 p.m. 

24H Series. Round four of the Michelin 24H Series Europe involves a leg in France with the 12 Hours of Paul Ricard, where three Ferrari 296 GT3s will compete. The number 56 car from Scuderia Praha leads the overall and Pro-Am class standings, with Miroslav Vyboh, Dennis Waszek and Josef Kral still behind the wheel. The Czech team, just two points clear of their nearest rivals, will have to overcome powerful challenges, including from the number 81 296 GT3 of Era Motorsport. This American crew adds Andreas Laskaratos to their usual line-up of Kyle Tilley, Dwight Merriman, Jake Hill and Ryan Dalziel. The US team lies fourth, eight points behind Scuderia Praha.

The number 98 car from Dragon Racing Xollie is also on the entry list, crewed by Letlaka Axcil, Jefferies Stuart White, Khaled Al Marzouq and Ramez Azzam.

Following Friday’s free practice and qualifying sessions, the race will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday and finish at 10 p.m.

Britcar Endurance Championship. The fourth round of the Britcar Endurance Championship takes place at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire, South East England. Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem will race in the Challenge class, at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo for FF Corse & Red River Sport. The programme is all on Saturday, with free practice and qualifying in the morning and two races in the afternoon, from 2.10 to 2.55 p.m. and from 4.45 to 5.30 p.m.

All times are local.