Ferrari debuts awaited 296 GT3 at Daytona Roar, 24 Hours

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Ferrari debuts awaited 296 GT3 at Daytona Roar, 24 Hours

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (15 Jan. 2023) – Ferrari will race the new Ferrari 296 GT3 for the first time in international competition with the Daytona 24 Hours on Jan. 28-29, the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Four teams and seven Ferrari factory drivers will race the new Ferrari in the series’ two GT categories for cars built to international GT3 specifications, GTD Pro and GTD. The official on-track debut of Ferrari’s much anticipated GT3 race car will be the Roar Before the Daytona 24, a three-day test beginning on Friday, Jan. 20.

Risi Competizione returns with the same Ferrari all-factory driver lineup that finished second in the 2022 event. FIA World Endurance GT champs Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado return with Davide Rigon and Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3.

Last year, the Houston-based team ran a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 in GTD Pro, missing the top step of the podium by only two seconds after 24 hours of racing. Serra and Rigon went on to take top honors in the IMSA Endurance Championship, finishing second in the six-hour classic at Watkins Glen.

AF Corse, Cetilar Racing and Triarsi Competizione will race in the GTD category for teams with Pro-Am lineups led by factory drivers.

AF Corse will have the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3. Factory driver Miguel Molina will co-drive with Simon Mann, Luis Perez Companc and Francesco Castellacci. The Italian team captured GTE Pro honors in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2019 and 2021, finishing second in the class in 2020 and 2022. Mann and Companc took second in GTD in the 2022 IMSA Endurance Cup.

Ferrari Factory driver Antonio Fuoco will share Cetilar Racing’s new No. 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 with Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Alessandro Balzan for an all-Italian line-up once again. Last year, Fuoco, Lacorte and Sergagiotto took the GTD victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Triarsi Competizione makes its Daytona 24 Hour debut with the No. 023 Ferrari of Central Florida / Ferrari of Tampa Bay Ferrari 296 GT3. Factory driver Alessio Rovera joins Onofrio Triarsi, Charlie Scardina and Andrea Bertolini at Daytona. The team will contest the four Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in 2023.

Triarsi Competizione made its professional debut late in the 2021 campaign with a GT World Challenge America Am class victory at Sebring International Raceway. The Orlando-based team ran the full season in 2022, capturing the Am championship on the strength of 10-consecutive victories by Onofrio Triarsi and Scardina.

The Roar Before the Daytona 24 includes five practice sessions, including opening practice Friday at 11 a.m. and a two-hour night session beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (all times ET). The weekend concludes with qualifying on Sunday to set the grid for the following weekend’s 61st edition of the Daytona 24 Hours. Both GTD classes will hold a combined 15-minute qualifying session on Sunday at 1:25 p.m.