Ferrari Spa should spend more money on GT3 and GTE programs to compete against Chevrolet, Ford, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes. Let us see where the Ferraris end up in the teams/manufacturers championship around the world in 2016 and 2017 and how many GT3 and GTE races they are going to win (or class win)
However i can't understand that. Ferrari was doing great with the 458. Where is the bloody problem with the 488? The car is brand new, has a lot of potential but ok, i see that some problems are due the early stages of the car's development. BMW dosn't compete to Le Mans (yet) but i would be great to see them again racing there.
The more F cars on the track the more feed back Michelotto has built many 458GT3s and GTEs but there won't be that many with the 488 at least not GTE. Times have changed in GT racing. Many F teams bought Lamborghinis, McLarens or even LMP3 cars.
A few years ago you was able to use the GTE in several championships, now not anymore. And the 488 GTE can only be used in the PRO category in 2016. lets see what ACO will do for 2017 in terms of turbo cars... Dont forget the size of the company Ferrari compared to BMW, Porsche... Ferrari is a small company and budget is limited in terms of Factory support. The Game is expensive. Also first customer cars of the 488 have been delivered in april! (few exeptions before) Ferrari has sold about 30 488 and teams get more and more used to it. The car is totally different from the 458 and it needs his time to gain the results. The car is fast, very fast. I saw what an unrestricted 488 GT3 did in Monza. Current BoP not in his favor.
If BoP unchanged there won't be much success for the 488; at least not in Blancpain, IMSA or PWC. Not even talking about GTE in the major sports car events.
Many championships, variations on regulations, Each governing body applying varied BOP... Better to focus on a few championships than spend fortunes trying to conquer many. Privateer F cars against factory backed Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and BMW at N24? ... Does not financially add up IMHO.. The variety of factory developed competition is far greater today than it was when the 458 entered competition.
Correct, e.g. GT Open 2012/2013: Ferrari 458 GT2 and GT3 997 GT3 R / RSR Aston Martin SLS GT3 Corvette Gallardo Audi R8LMS and maybe a Ford GT about 18-19 cars each event. In other FIA/Blancpain events you could see McLaren MP4-12C and Z4GT3 Nowadays we see: Chevrolet, Mercedes, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW, Nissan, Aston Martin, McLaren, Porsche and Lexus/Toyota (and in USA even Cadillac!) and Honda plans a GT3 as well.
Another issue with Ferrari for race cars They change so much year to year vs Porsche and BMW more tweek the same models year after year to make them better. Building a 3 series or a 9 series also has so much more engineering data available.
I would like to hear more on this if it is possible Chris. BTW let's see what Stéphane Ratel has in mind about the new championship. That would be interesting.
Porsche updates their 911 GT3 R also every year as do all other manufacturers. Ferrari is no different. BoP is the the reason for failure or succes of a GT3 car.
I dont see a Problem with the 488? Look at the Le Mans GT3 Cup, the Car won 3 out of 4 races! even with the BoP killing all the power. Spa 24hours, Car 50 had an amazing pace but two major problems (1 time in the gravel plus tire blow up in eau rouge) destroyed any hope for beeing on the podium. the pace is there, the car is fast. The 488 GT3 is more like a GTE/GT2 and coming from the 458GT3 you need to get use to it which can only be made with a lot of testing. Braking is totally different as you dont have support from the engine brake plus aero is much more advanced, but drivers need to get time on track. the 488 will be very successfull, no doubts
What many F fans want to see is AF Corse running 2-3 cars in PRO class at 24H Spa Not the pro-am, nice but not the real deal.
as already mentioned there is no Factory Program from Ferrari for the GT3 series. All GT3 F Cars are privately funded. Ferrari acts only in Global Series which are F1 and WEC and I believe that this will not change. so then car #50 is the only warrior in the PRO Class. unfortunately...
I understand, a pity though for all F GT3 fans Next week at Spa we going to see who is top and who is flop and soon find out in the major 4/6/12/24H races the Fs are on the race results lists. (Imsa/pwc/blancpain/gtopen/bathurst etc etc)
Good to hear that Kessel won Blancpain GT series with their 488 in Pro-Am class at the Nürburgring today (and also won AM championship) McLaren won the OA championship in Pro with their 650s
I understood that the Black Pearl Racing 458 GT3 won the Pro-Am at the Nürburgring this weekend finishing 5th overall. The Kessel 488 GT3 was second in the Pro-Am and 14th overall. Here are some pics from nr 66 (© Bert de Boer) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
My mistake, you were talking about winning the season, not the race at the Nürburgring yesterday. Some photo's from the Kessel car.. © Bert de Boer Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good news! VLN and hopefully 24H Nürburgring 2017... WTM Racing by Rinaldi https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.nl&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://sportscar-info.de/2016/09/19/vln-wtm-racing-startet-mit-ferrari-488-gt3/&usg=ALkJrhgFRcOOJX9S6h7mwcbYpt4bPVgLRw
Kessel just won the blancpain gt sprint series pro am as well with the 488GT3 Lanting won the Iron Cup in the Blancpain GT sportsclub with his 458 GTE
Trass Family Motorsport (458 GT3) The first drivers to win the North and South Island Endurance Series. Succes again for the 458
