IMSA – Season Review 2018
Posted: 24.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Perfect end of the year for Scuderia Corsa
Maranello, 24 December 2018 – The 488 GT3 no. 63 of Scuderia Corsa driven by Cooper MacNeil was the only Ferrari to compete in the entire IMSA championship. Several drivers joined him throughout the season. The Californian team’s season was marked by ups and downs.
Positive season. A disappointing 24 Hours of Daytona was offset by second place at the 12 Hours of Sebring in which the American driver competed with Alessandro Balzan and Gunnar Jeannette. MacNeil grew in strength as the season drew to a close, with two third places at Lime Rock and Road America together with Jeannette and FIA WEC world champion, Alessandro Pier Guidi, before ending with a sensational victory in the Petit Le Mans with Jeannette and the very fast poleman Daniel Serra.
Risi Competizione. Risi Competizione’s season was very different, competing in just three races (Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans): its best result was two fifth places in the two longest races. The team finished in ninth place at the Petit Le Mans.
Thailand Super Series – Season Review 2018
Posted: 24.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Patamapongse wins title
Maranello, 24 December 2018 – Four teams and nine drivers raced Ferrari cars in the Super Car category of the Thailand Super Series. The customer drivers notched up several race wins plus the Am class title, which went to Nattaphol Patamapongse in the 458 Challenge EVO of GoPro Thailand Racing. The Thai driver won three races against two for habitual winner of the Ferrari Challenge APAC Ladies’ Cup, Kanthicha Chimsiri, who had to make do with second place in the car of the CTS Singha Motorsport.
Plus class. In the Plus class, Voravud Bhirombhakdi and Carlo Van Dam won the fifth round in the 488 GT3 of Singha Motorsport Team Thailand. The pair finished fourth in the championship with three other podium finishes.
Pro class. In the Pro-Am class Tin Sritai and Kantasak Kusiri triumphed in the sixth race of the season with Sritai recording another two podium finishes and third place in the championship standings.
CIVM – Season Review 2018
Posted: 23.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Peruggini nicks it in the last race
Maranello, 23 December 2018 – The Italian Hillclimb Championship (CIVM) saw another great season. Lucio Peruggini again kept the Ferrari colours high, starting the year superbly with the 458 Italia GT3 of AB Motorsport.
Head to head. Peruggini won all the early rounds, but from mid-season onwards had a very combative rival in Marco Iacoangeli. The two slugged it out race after race and only at the last round, the Luzzi-Sambucina, Peruggini managed to wrap things up. It was a hard-fought win but all the sweeter for it.
Gaetani and Colella. Luca Gaetani also collected six podiums in another 458 Italia GT3 for Vimotorsport. Ferrari’s drivers and customer teams also did well in other classes. Roberto Ragazzi totally dominated the GT Cup class with the 458 Challenge EVO of Superchallenge team, while Tommaso Colella won the GTS class with a glorious privately entered F430, followed by teammate Luigi Perchinunno.
ELMS – Season Review 2018
Posted: 23.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
JMW Motorsport seals a trip to Le Mans
Maranello, 23 December 2018 – JMW Motorsport will be once again on the grid in the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans as the Ferrari customer team finished second in the European Le Mans Series championship. The other top level Ferrari team, Spirit of Race, was fourth in the championship won by the no. 88 Porsche of Proton Competition.
Paul Ricard. The season opened with an extraordinary triumph over the Porsche, sealed on the last lap by an unstoppable Miguel Molina in the JMW Motorsport 488 GTE together with Liam Griffin and Alex MacDowall, while at Monza Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott dominated, winning by almost a lap ahead, courtesy of a near perfect race strategy by the Spirit of Race pitwall.
Silverstone. JMW Motorsport’s season was hit by Spielberg’s zero in the third race, due to a technical failure, because otherwise car no. 66 was always involved in thrilling battles, like at Silverstone when it beat the Porsche by a mere tenth of a second. On the other side, Spirit of Race’s season never quite recovered from the retirement in the first race of the season at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
FIA WEC – Season Review 2018
Posted: 22.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
Silverstone’s win the highlight of the first half of the Super Season
Maranello, 22 December 2018 – The 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship is the first season to span two calendar years, following a trend begun by Formula E. The championship opened in May with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps but only five races have been held so far and the Ferrari cars of AF Corse have enjoyed mixed results. In the GTE-Pro class at Spa-Francorchamps, the 488 GTE no. 51 was involved in a contact in the pit lane while a determined Davide Rigon drove no. 71 to a podium finish, taking advantage of excellent tyre management to overtake the Porsche of Lietz-Bruni on the last lap. The harsh Balance of Performance (BoP) that disadvantaged the Ferrari after they had dominated in 2017 played a big factor. It reduced the performance benefits of the Evo kit introduced this year, practically to zero in terms of results.
Le Mans. Then, in the second race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, BoP again ruled out any chance of victory for the 488 GTEs, even though AF Corse had also added a third car. In the end, both Calado-Pier Guidi-Serra in no. 51 and Rigon-Bird-Molina in no. 71 were delayed by a puncture and a collision with a car part left on the track. The best Ferrari was then car no. 52 in fifth, crewed by Antonio Giovinazzi, Toni Vilander and Pipo Derani. The Ferrari of Spirit of Race and Keating Motorsport with, respectively, Giancarlo Fisichella, Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, and Ben Keating, Luca Stolz, and Jeroen Bleekemolen, took second and third place in the GTE-Am class.
Triumph. The third race of the year, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, saw an extraordinary strategic triumph for James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi who, unable to compete with their higher performing rivals in terms of pure performance, prevailed in the end through clever management of fuel consumption and tyres. However, the two races in Asia yielded no joy. There are three races left for completing the Super Season that will be held in the first half of 2019: the Sebring 1000 Miles on March, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May and the second 24 Hours of Le Mans of the championship on June.
Michael 50’ at Ferrari Museum
Posted: 15.12.2018
Source: Ferrari
The Schumacher exhibition to open on 3 January 2019
The Ferrari Museum is dedicating a special exhibition to Michael Schumacher, which will open on the occasion of his 50th birthday on 3 January 2019. It is intended both as a celebration and a mark of gratitude to the most successful Prancing Horse driver ever.
Schumacher has a special place in Ferrari’s history, which has been marked by his many records. Between 1996 and 2006 the German champion won five consecutive Drivers’ titles, from 2000 to 2004, and made a major contribution to the Scuderia’s haul of six Manufacturers’ titles over those years.
The Museum’s rooms will look back over the memorable seasons that the seven-time World Champion gifted to all Ferraristi, and that created a legend now bigger than ever in the hearts of all fans.
The exhibition will also show Michael’s crucial contribution to the development of extraordinary GT cars in his years at Maranello, as a driver and later as a consultant.
The ‘Michael 50’ exhibition is in collaboration with the Keep Fighting Foundation.
Ferrari SP3JC
Posted: 28.11.2018
Source: Ferrari
A one-off offering exclusive open-air V12 motoring at its purest
Maranello, 28 November 2018 – The latest Ferrari one-off project, the SP3JC, has been officially consigned to its owner. Designed by the Ferrari Styling Centre, the SP3JC was commissioned by a Ferrari client and collector whose brief set out to create a pure, uncompromising roadster using the chassis and running gear of the F12tdf.
The sole one-off car to be commissioned on this limited-series special, the SP3JC is the maximum expression of open-air motoring, harking back to Ferrari’s epic V12-engined spiders of the 1950s and ‘60s. The striking one-off makes an important and individual styling statement and represents the outcome of over two years of intense work, with close involvement from the client throughout the process.
The SP3JC features a very muscular stance with dynamic sculpturing on the flanks designed to emphasise the front-engine layout, a distinctive air intake outline at the front, and a dramatic rear fascia with horizontal slashes contributing to a wider stance.
The client’s passion for Pop Art is reflected in the strong graphics, and the unique combination of the Azzurro Met and Giallo Modena livery over the main Bianco Italia colour scheme underlines the car’s sensual volumes.
The sporting theme is reinforced by specific detailing such as split glass inserts on the bonnet to show off the 780cv V12 engine, a flying bridge between the fairings of the integral carbon-fibre roll hoops and a brushed aluminium external fuel filler cap.
The seats are trimmed in blue leather with a white insert. The blue leather extends to the lower dashboard and the colour is picked up in the contrasting stitching to the rest of the interior trim.
Test Abu Dhabi – “I’d been waiting for this day for a long time”
Posted: 28.11.2018
Source: Ferrari
Charles Leclerc completes tyre test for Scuderia Ferrari: “A special feeling”
Yas Marina, 28 November –135 laps, or around two and a half Abu Dhabi Grand Prix distances. That’s what Charles Leclerc achieved today, with his new team, as the SF71H bowed out of official duties. In fact, the end of the Pirelli test also marks the end of the 2018 season, even if the focus of these two days was very much on the future, evaluating next year’s tyres.
“Of course it was emotional,” commented the 21 year old Monegasque driver. “Because driving a Ferrari is special and because this was a day I had been waiting for, for so long without being sure if it would happen. I am pleased about that and with the work we did. Our entire programme was based on comparison testing between this and next year’s tyres. For me, it was important because I also got to know the team better, although some were no strangers to me, given my time with the Ferrari Driver Academy. Over the next few weeks, I will work to be in the best possible shape and to learn from everyone in the team and my team-mate. I can’t wait for next season to start…”
By the end of the day, Charles’ best time was a 1’36”450, set on the Hypersoft tyres.
Abu Dhabi Test – “No major surprises”
Posted: 27.11.2018
Source: Ferrari
Seb’s comments after testing new tyre specs for 2019 at Yas Marina
Yas Marina, November 27 – Sebastian’s racing year came to an end today as he completed 68 laps of the Abu Dhabi track, with a best time of 1min36.812, which came courtesy of a fresh set of 2018-spec Hypersoft tyres.
“The purpose of this test is primarily to get a first feeling of the new tyres, with the impressions of the last weekend of racing still fresh in our minds,which gave us the possibility to compare. Unfortunately, today we lost some track time to repair work, but overall I think there were no major surprises as these tyres seem to work and to be fairly similar to the ones we used this season. Now we’ll see how the new regulations for 2019 affect the speed of all cars and how they work in combination with the tyres, also depending on the compound choices at the various tracks”.
Tomorrow, for the second and last day of tyre testing, Charles Leclerc will take over from Seb with a similar programme.
The Ferrari 488 Pista is BBC TopGear Magazine’s Supercar of the Year
Posted: 26.11.2018
Source: Ferrari
Ferrari’s latest special series car continues to garner international recognition
Maranello, 26 November 2018 – Ferrari’s latest mid-engined Special Series V8, the 488 Pista, has been nominated “Supercar of the Year” by BBC Top Gear Magazine. This brings Ferrari’s tally of BBC TopGear Awards to 16, and complements the 488 GTB which won the same award in 2016.
When deciding on the Ferrari 488 Pista as the Supercar of the Year, the editors at BBC TopGear were overwhelmingly impressed by the 488 Pista’s playfulness and the ease with which Ferrari’s control systems allowed the driver to enjoy the full 710hp available from the car’s award-winning twin-turbo V8:
“The Pista is a natural-born performer, a four-wheeled peacock wearing white and blue war paint, constantly wanting to be under the spotlight while creating a plume of smoke out of its arches from disintegrated rubber.”
This is the fourth international accolade taken by the 488 Pista since its launch at the Geneva Show this year. In June the Ferrari 488 Pista’ s 3.9 litre twin-turbo V8 was nominated the best engine in the world in the 2018 International Engine of the Year Awards – the third year running that Ferrari’s V8 has taken this award.
In October the 488 Pista was nominated Car Magazine’s Sports Car of the Year 2018 and, more recently, the best Imported Production coupé over €150K in the readers’ poll of leading German automotive magazine, Sport Auto.
Fuoco ends Formula 2 season with a win
Posted: 25.11.2018
Source: Ferrari
The Ferrari Driver Academy driver won the final race of the year at the Yas Marina circuit
Antonio Fuoco was a convincing winner of the second Formula 2 race held at the Yas Marina circuit. The 22 year old FDA driver got a great start from second on the grid, which saw him take the lead at the first corner. “I knew I had a chance at the start,” explained Fuoco. “And I managed to get off the line really well, passing the pole man to take the lead right away. Once out in front, I concentrated on driving as cleanly as possible so as to manage the tyres well.”
This he did, building up a lead which he then controlled to the chequered flag. “It’s always great to end a season with a win,” added Antonio. “It’s been a long tough season and I think I made a solid contribution to a team that was in its first year in this championship. It’s the perfect way to end 2018.” Thanks to the victory in Abu Dhabi, Fuoco has finished sixth in the championship, with two wins to his name.