Where are the Ferraris?

Thanks.
Soo .. Let's keep fingers crossed for Toni (#62 GTLM), Peter and Maurizio (#51 GTD), and Alessandro (in #63 GTD), with their team mates.

 

That has not been my experience. We've been doing track days for 3 years in a 458 Challenge, and the costs are [a] track rental & support (same for any GT car), tires (ditto), [c] fuel (ditto), and [d] brakes. Maintenance was $5K/yr (yes, per year) -- the 458CH just runs and runs. No billionare would even notice the costs involved.

Now, if said customer *crashes* heavily on a regular basis, perhaps driving Ferraris isn't the right choice. But that's not a problem with the running costs...

 

to pile on

Running a Challenge car is about the same, or even less expensive, than running a Porsche Cup Car. The Porsche is much higher strung, and engine/gearbox builds are "normal maintenance".

Now, let's be clear to separate a few things...

Doing track driving (DE) and racing do have different cost profiles; support tends to be more, the cars get "used up" quicker and might require more proactive maintenance (eg. instead of $5K, it's $15K a year).

The single biggest variable expense is crash damage or major component failure (eg. throttle body, gearbox) - though the Challenge cars have proven reliable when maintained properly.

The newer GT cars ARE much more expensive pieces of hardware (2-3x) - so if you crunch a fender, it will be a multiple of a Challenge car piece; need to replace a hub or suspension piece, much more expensive.

Last, running 12 sprint races (30-45 minutes) vs. a full season of endurance racing is an order of magnitude different. In IMSA, the first 2 events of the year (plus testing) are equal to about 2-3 years of typical sprint racing, and there are 2 later events that are worth an additional 2 years - so while parts and service/support might be the same rate, you incur it a lot more often. Race cars very much comply with the "it depends on how hard you drive it, how long you drive it, and where you drive it" rules in terms of what it takes to keep them in top shape.

 

Ford, Porsche and 3. for Ferrari in GT LM

 

Porsche produce 220'000 cars a year, 6000 Millions on profit... Ferrari output is 7660 cars and 290 millions on profit...Ford invest 50 Millions in this racing project, no street car has jet hit the street ( or maybe 2-3...) and porsche will not produce the mid engine race car as a street car...

The Risi Dealer team gave them a hard time today... we will come back.

 

Well said.

 

I always keep my fingers crossed!

 

what a race....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmLdnnjC0q4

11:49:49...
Cheers!

 

yes and I have never doubted. the 488 GT3 is the GT3 benchmark. You might remember some older posts from my side. I have seen what the car is able to do without BoP and this is just incredible. Ferrari and even Michelotto are small players against the Audis, Mercedes, Porsches etc. but the 488 GT3 is an truly an amazing car. Sure some reliability Issues have seen recently and F & M is working hard to fix it.

At Daytona I had a chat with a Chap who is doing the Comparisons of all GT3 Cars for SRO/FIA for the BoP's. I have forgotten his name... ;-) but he told me the first time he drove the 488 GT3 in Le Castellet he came back to the pits after a few laps and said that this car is incredible and that they need to slow it down massively otherwise it will dominate. With buying a 488 GT3 you get also 70% of a GTE. so best of two worlds. All the driver aid of a GT3 (ABS, Traction Control, engine milage) with the aero advantage and stability of a GTE Car. But you need a Driver who can release the potential of the Car.

I will get mine somewhere later this year... ;-)

 

It is an astounding car. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. And, it is very friendly to drive as well.

 

No