Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Ferrari’s new 296 GT3 car breaks cover in Fiorano shakedown test

Ferrari’s next-generation GT3 car, the 296, made its track debut at Fiorano on Tuesday, kicking off a development programme ahead of its racing debut in 2023.

La nuova Ferrari 296 GT3 a Fiorano

La nuova Ferrari 296 GT3 a Fiorano

Ferrari

The car is the successor to the hugely successful 488 GT3 and has been built in conjunction with ORECA.

A statement from Ferrari said that "the day's programme alternated between sessions of laps on the track and stages when the 296 GT3 was checked by the technicians".

Factory Ferrari drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi and Andrea Bertolini took turns behind the wheel of the car, which ran in a scarlet and black camo livery and features a six-cylinder engine but with no electrical hybrid system, unlike the road-going version.

"Today marks the occasion of GT racing becoming part of our future and it’s a special moment," said Stefano Coletta, the boss of Ferrari’s Attivita Sportive GT department. "We chose to carry out the first tests in Fiorano because it’s our home and to allow the people who worked on the project to share a very special emotion.

"The car has an intense testing programme ahead of it, but we’ve already had some good feedback from this first session."

Ferrari 296 GT3 at Fiorano

Ferrari 296 GT3 at Fiorano

Photo by: Ferrari

The 296 GT3 will be introduced to competition in the GTE classes next year in a parallel programme to the new Le Mans Hypercar in the World Endurance Championship, which heralds Ferrari’s return to the top class at the Le Mans 24 Hours – a race it has won overall on nine occasions, the last coming in 1965.

The Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar is being developed by AF Corse and is expected to hit the Fiorano test track in June.

Read Also:

During the Daytona 24 Hours in February, Coletta told Autosport: “For us, the most important anniversary for us is that 2023 is 50 years since we last raced in prototypes, the best and most important category.

“When Ferrari chose to be involved in the top class, it just had to be in Le Mans Hypercar. Ferrari has made all the cars in its history, so no choice really, this is our philosophy.

“I can say our project is going ahead very fast. It’s very complicated, because the LMH is more complicated than the LMDh, but this is what we have chosen.

“Our technicians have already created a map of the test programme.”

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation

Related video

Previous article ByKolles completes "very good" first test with Vanwall Hypercar
Next article The Chinese sportscar protege targeting a path to the top with Porsche

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe