Blancpain GT Sprint Cup – Season Review 2018
Posted: 31.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Two wins for Kessel Racing TP12
Maranello, 31 December 2018 – Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirombhakdi in the Ferrari 488 GT3 of Kessel Racing TP12 experienced all the ups and downs of an exciting season with a bitterly disappointing ending. The pair made a great start by winning both races at Zolder and the first at Brands Hatch. Then they recorded a long series of podiums to stay top of the championship standings until the final round at the Nürburgring.
Unhappy end. On Saturday on the German track the car of Kessel Racing TP12, starting from pole, came away empty handed for the first time in the season due to an accident. The following day, third place was not enough to regain their championship lead, so the team finished as runner-up.
Britcar – Season Review 2018
Posted: 30.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Triumph for David Mason and Ross Wylie
Maranello, 30 December 2018 – The Britcar championship saw several wins for Ferrari’s customer drivers plus the Class 1 title in the Sprint series. Once again, David Mason, with Ross Wylie in the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of FF Corse team, achieved his goal.
Seale. John Seale finished third in that championship, in the 488 Challenge of JMH Automotive and in a similar FF Corse car in two categories. Indeed, along with third place in Class 1, he also came second in Class 2A.
Overall. Mason and Wylie took second in the Overall standings. Ivor Dunbar and Johnny Mowlem also scored points in the 488 GT3 of FF Corse.
Blancpain GT Endurance Cup – Season Review 2018
Posted: 30.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Spirit of Race Pro-Am class champion
Maranello, 30 December 2018 – The 2018 Blancpain GT Series season will not go down as one of the luckiest for Ferrari teams and drivers. However, Spirit of Race took a Pro-Am class team title in the Endurance Cup, courtesy of the points accrued by Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin, along with Andrea Bertolini, Niek Hommerson and Louis Machiels. This helped the Swiss team beat its Strakka Racing rivals, while among the drivers Griffin and Cameron missed out on the winner’s laurels by just three points, despite their victory at the Paul Ricard. Third place went to Alexander Mattschull and Rinat Salikhov in the 488 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing, which won at Monza and the 24 Hours of Spa.
SMP Racing. The 488 GT3 of SMP Racing was hampered by bad luck in the Endurance Cup, despite often being the fastest car on track. The Ferrari driven by Miguel Molina, Davide Rigon and Mikhail Aleshin was impeded twice (Monza and Paul Ricard) by a couple of trivial problems when victory was almost within its grasp, while at the 24 Hours of Spa a puncture early on put paid to what looked like a certain good result. The only positive came in the last race in Barcelona, with a well-deserved podium.
Pirelli World Challenge – Season Review 2018
Posted: 29.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Ferrari dominates with R.Ferri Motorsport and Squadra Corse Garage Italia
Maranello, 29 December 2018 – The Pirelli World Challenge championship was dominated by the Ferrari 488 GT3. For the first time the championship was divided into two subclasses, one with the traditional format of one driver per car and the SprintX, which has double crews with mandatory driver change.
Vilander. Ferrari official driver Toni Vilander raced in both championships behind the wheel of the R.Ferri Motorsport team car, and was joined by his colleague Miguel Molina in the SprintX rounds. The Finnish driver used all his experience in solo races, bringing home points at every round, and taking care not to risk too much by going for the win. However, he was more aggressive when racing with Molina, emulating the Spaniard, and notching up many wins. As a result, Vilander and Molina easily took the SprintX title and Toni wrapped up the overall standings with a race to go.
Am class. It was similar in the Am class for Martin Fuentes who was joined by Caesar Bacarella in the SprintX races. We should also mention some good races by Daniel Mancinelli, winner at Long Beach, and the pair Wei Lu-Jeff Segal in the Ferrari 488 GT3 of TR3 Racing.
British GT Cup – Season Review 2018
Posted: 29.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Bailey and Glew dominate the championship
Maranello 29 December 2018 – Paul Bailey and Phil Glew dominated the GTC class of the British GT Cup championship. They enjoyed a perfect season in the 488 Challenge car of SB Race Engineering, picking up points in every race and also collecting a number of wins. They triumphed at Spa-Francorchamps in Race-2, at Snetterton in Race-3, and then again at Donington Park in Race-1 and Race-3.
Other wins. Other Ferrari customer drivers also notched up victories, although they were less consistent in terms of results. In Race-1 at Brands Hatch, Chris Froggatt and John Sawbridge scored a hat trick in the colours of FF Corse, while in Race-1 at Spa-Francorchamps Christoforou Pantelis and Fulvio Mussi donned the winner’s laurels, again with FF Corse. John Seale grabbed the glory at Snetterton in the 488 Challenge of JMH Automotive, and repeated the feat in Race-1 and Race-3 at Donington Park. John Dhillon also did the double at Snetterton in the 488 Challenge of Spirit of Race.
Le Mans Cup – Season Review 2018
Posted: 28.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Ferrari teams dominate the scene
Maranello, 28 December 2018 – Ferrari drivers and customer teams in the Le Mans Cup, which is open to GT3 and LMP3 cars, won six out of six races and monopolised the top four positions in the Drivers’ and Teams’ standings.
Five out of seven. Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini did the lion’s share of the work with five wins out of seven races in the 488 GT3 of Kessel Racing, triumphing at the Paul Ricard, Monza, Spielberg, Spa-Francorchamps and Portimao to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important race in the world. Paradoxically, the only track that Pianezzola and Piccini failed to conquer was Le Mans, where two races were held.
Le Mans. On the historic French track Spirit of Race and AF Corse, with two Ferrari 488 GT3s, respectively won Race-1 with Marco Cioci and Piergiuseppe Perazzini and Race-2, with Christoph Ulrich and Maurizio Mediani. To these successes the three podiums of Claudio Schiavoni and Andrea Piccini, with the second car of Kessel Racing, must be added.
Australian GT Series – Season Review 2018
Posted: 28.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Dave Stevens wins in Sydney
Maranello, 28 December 2018 – The 2018 Australian GT championships were rather unsatisfactory for Ferrari teams and drivers. Maranello Motorsport suffered an accident and didn’t have much success.
Podium in Melbourne. One highlight was the second place of the 488 GT3 of Maranello Motorsport driven by Giancarlo Fisichella and Peter Edwards in Race-2 at Melbourne, on the same weekend as the Formula 1 Grand Prix. However, there was nothing else to shout about in the main GT championship.
GT Trophy. A few other results came from the GT Trophy Series with three Ferrari teams and four drivers. Dave Stevens was the best of these, winning in Sydney with a 458 Italia GT3 and amassing a few podiums to finish the season in fourth overall. John Nikolovski and James Arratoon also competed with the 458 Challenge EVO of Aranik Racing along with Wayne Mack with the 458 Italia GT3 of team Mack Bros Roofing Products.
GT Open – Season Review 2018
Posted: 27.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Mikkel Mac and Luzich Racing 2018 champions
Maranello, 27 December 2018 – One of the greatest triumphs of 2018 came in the International GT Open Championship, which was highly competitive again this year with a full contingent of drivers and cars. Denmark’s Mikkel Mac raced for US team Luzich Racing that won on its competitive debut.
With Pier Guidi. Mac was assisted throughout the year by reigning FIA WEC world champion Alessandro Pier Guidi and Marco Cioci. The Dane finished consistently in the points and scored four decisive victories when paired with Pier Guidi: two at Estoril on the opening weekend, one at Spa-Francorchamps and one at Monza.
Other wins. There were also wins for Daniele Di Amato and Andrea Montermini at the Paul Ricard in the 488 GT3 of RS Racing and for Serra and Cioci at the Hungaroring and at Silverstone. In Pro-Am class, we should mention Eddie Cheever III and Nicklas Nielsen’s success at Monza, Alexander West and Michele Rugolo’s four podiums for Luzich Racing, David Perel and Rinat Salikhov’s two podiums with the 488 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing and Rinat Salikhov’s victory in the Am class at Spa-Francorchamps.
ADAC GT Masters – Season Review 2018
Posted: 26.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
A podium for HB Racing
Maranello, 26 December 2018 – In 2018, Ferrari returned full season to the German ADAC GT Masters championship. HB Racing, with the technical support of Rinaldi Racing, deployed a 488 GT3 for Luca Ludwig (his father Klaus, was a GT and DTM star of the 1980s and 1990s).
Podium in Oschersleben. The German driver made the podium in the second race of the season, at Oschersleben. He also picked up a fourth at Most and two seventh places at Spielberg and Hocknheim.
Driver change. He started the season with Dominik Schwager but was later joined by official Ferrari driver, Davide Rigon. In the end, Ludwig finished just outside the top ten, while HB Racing team came fifth in the standings.
ALMS – Season Review 2018
Posted: 26.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
A victory for Fist Team AAI
Maranello, 26 December 2018 – Ferrari almost notched up a second consecutive win in the Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS). This was courtesy of Fist Team AAI, which switched to a Ferrari 488 GT3 from the second race after competing with another manufacturer’s car in the first outing.
Runner-up spot for Millroy. Ollie Millroy finished the season in second, mainly due to an unlucky race at Buriram. However, Millroy, Yu Lam, the team’s true deus ex machina, and Marco Cioci still had the satisfaction of winning a race, dominating in Fuji ahead of the BMW of Jesse Krohn and Jun San Chen who went away with the title. The team finished second in their rankings.