Category Archives: Allgemein

This is what it’s like to drive a Works Ferrari 458 Italia GTE at the Red Bull Ring

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Despite tearing the serenity of the Styrian hills to shreds during this year’s Challenge & GT Days at the Red Bull Ring, the 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia GTE proved itself to be a surprisingly approachable and absolutely engaging modern-era sports-racing car. Now for the debrief…

The Red Bull Ring, Austria. A racetrack which looks as though it was nonchalantly draped over a pocket of undulating Styrian landscape. A picture of rural serenity. That is until the soul-stirring eight-cylinder symphony of 50-plus Ferrari Challenge and GT cars cuts through the cowbell-dotted stillness like a knife.

eam Girardo & Co. travelled to the Red Bull Ring this week for the 2023 Challenge & GT Days – an event conceived by the Austrian collector Heinz Swoboda to provide owners of modern-era competition Ferraris with a private, relaxed and non-competitive environment in which to enjoy their cars.

Indicative of the broader surge in interest for modern-era endurance competition cars in the collector-car market, these Prancing Horses have become extremely sought after. Besides their historical significance, rarity and (newfound) eligibility, these cars have skyrocketed in desirability for another reason: the ease at which they can be used. And the Challenge & GT Days is the perfect excuse to exploit that fact.

“The Red Bull Ring, Austria. A racetrack which looks as though it was nonchalantly draped over a pocket of undulating Styrian landscape. A picture of rural serenity.”

Read the full story with a lot of great photos HERE at Girardo Co.

Thank’s to Max and his team for joining us – Grazie Max

NEW Timetable for our Challenge and GT Days 2023

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Here you find the NEW timetable for our Challenge and GT Days without the RACE

All details and informations about the event HERE

 

*Timetable Day One Tuesday 23. May – Drivetime:

08.30-08.55  Drivers meeting (mandatory) VIP lounge

09.00 – 10.20 Group 1 and 2

10.25 – 12.00 Group 3 and 4

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break

13.00 – 14.20 Group 1 and 2

14.25 – 15.40 Group 3 and 4

15.45 – 17.20 Open pitlane for group 2, 3 and 4

17.25 -18.00 Foto session at the starting grid

 

*Timetable Day Two Wednesday 24. of May – Drivetime:

09.00 – 9.35 Group 1

09.40 – 12.00 Group 2, 3 and 4

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break

13.00 – 13.35 Group 1

13.40 – 15.20 Group 2, 3 and 4

15.25 – 16.00 Group 1

*The schedule is not fixed and can be adapted any time

 

Groups and eligible Ferraris*

Group 1 – All Road going Ferraris including the Ferrari Club Austria

Group 2 – 1993 to 2006: Ferrari Challenge/GT – Challenge 348/355/360/430 inkl. the Michelotto 348 GTC / LMs, the 360 Challenge and GTs N-GT, GT, GTC and 430 GT3/GT2 (on invitation for Maserati Ghibli Open Cup and Trofeo Race Cars). Also Ferrari 512 BB LM, F40 GT/LM/GTE, 333 SP, 550 GTC, 575 GTC and similar GTs incl. the and Maserati MC 12 GT1 (please ask for different and older Ferraris)

Group 3 – 2006 to 2021: Ferrari Challenge/GT – 430/458/488 Challenge inkl. 430 GT3/GT2, 458 GT3/GT2 and 488 Challenge/GT3/GT2

Group 4 –  Endurance Racing Legends or similar racing cars from the 1990s to the 2000s. Mc Laren, Mercedes, Porsche etc. – WELCOME!

* The final grouping will take place at the event and can be changed any time

For sale – 2011 Ferrari 458 GTC

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All informations and more pictures: HERE at ClassicDriver

We are delighted to offer this stunning 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia GTC VIN Nr #2834 – for sale.Ferrari unveiled their new GTE-class racer in 2011 to take part in Championships sanctioned by ACO and FIA. The 458 Italia GTC drops the “flex splitter” found in the road cars in favour of a more conventional inlet, with the air exiting out through the louvers in the bonnet.

With its beautiful Pininfarina design, aluminum monocoque, a total weight of just 1245kg and new restrictor regulations, the 4.5-litre V8 engine generates a power output of 470 PS (350 kW; 460 hp) and is coupled to a Hewland 6-speed sequential gearbox.The 458 is one of Ferraris most successful models and in racing it was not different, the factory sanctioned and Michelotto built ultimate Ferrari GT racer 458 GTC was the car to have. Just 50 cars were built in Padova; 11 for AF Corse as Works cars and 39 for customer teams. The 458 GTEs record is astonishing; they entered 617 races between 2011 and 2017, winning 104 of them. The last race entered by a 458 GTE was the 2017 Monza round of the European Le Mans Series, which it won, even against much later machinery. The 458 GTE has won the following; Le Mans 24 Hours (Pro) twice, Le Mans 24 Hours (Am) twice the World Endurance Challenge (three times) the European Le Mans Series (X4), the Asian Le Mans Series, the Sebring 12 Hours, the ILMC GTE Title, International GT Open Teams Championship and so on The 458 GTC is Ferraris final naturally aspirated GT racer which was replaced for the 2016 season by the 488 GTE.

The Ferrari 458 Italia GTC presented here is chassis F142GT*2834*, and was raced by the French team Luxury Racing during the 2011 and 2012 race season at some of the most prestigious races, including the Sebring 12 hours, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1000 KM of Spa. In 2011, #2834 was entered in the GTE Pro class with race Nr 58 and primary drivers JD Deletraz, A. Beltoise, F. Jakubowski whereas A. Bardi and R. Firman were the drivers in the FIA GT championship. After just under 2 hours running in the 2011 Le Mans 24 hours, 2834 was hit by the Audi #3 of Alan McNish (who wanted to pass the Audi #1) causing one of the biggest and most spectacular crashes in Le Mans history. The Audi #3 was totally destroyed but luckily McNish was unhurt and #2834 was able to regain the pits and continued the race but retired after 136 laps.  For the 2012 season the car was entered in the GTE Am class with drivers P. Ehret, F. Montecalvo and G. Jeanette. It retired at Sebring and Le Mans with its best result being a 5th in class at the Spa 6 hours.

The full racing history of #2834 can be found in the History section below.After the 2012 season, the car was retired from competition and remained with Luxury racing until 2018 when it was bought by its current owner. A full overhaul of the car was done by ByKolles Racing in Germany with the engine and gearbox being rebuild by Michelotto. The work included the crack testing of suspension elements and wheels, overhauling of the brakes and clutch, installation of a new seat and fuel cell and a general go-through with new fluids etc.. Since its overhaul, the car has only run for 3 hours at the end of 2019 and has not been used since.

All date-related items (seat, belts, fuel cell, etc.) are current while spares are 3 sets of wheels and all operation manuals.This is a rare opportunity to acquire one of Ferraris most beautiful and final non-turbo GT racer with excellent race history and in race-ready condition. This matching numbers and just 2 owners from new Ferrari 458 GTC would sit proudly in any discerning Ferrari collection while also being eligible to race in Masters Endurance Legends and Ferraris Club Competizione GT program.   … For more information please visit www.rmd.be.

For sale – 1998 Ferrari F355 GT3

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More details about the sale HERE at Jan B. Lühn and HERE at ClassicDriver

Model history:
Making its debut in 1995, the Ferrari F355 Challenge was designed specifically for use in the Ferrari Challenge series. The earliest F355 Challenges were road cars modified by official dealers using a conversion kit from the Ferrari factory, just like the earlier 348 Challenge. Each car was powered by a 380 horsepower, 3.5-litre V-8 engine, coupled to a six-speed manual gearbox. With each passing year, Challenge cars were supplied from the factory with an increasing number of performance components, reducing the amount of conversion work required by dealers. By 1998, Ferrari took the decision to build all Challenge cars in- house, and all subsequent F355 Challenges were built at the Maranello factory.

But for the real racers, the Challenge car was not enough! As it was fully based on the road car, it was neither competitive enough for international racing series, nor was it homologated for anything else than the Ferrari Challenge series.
Before the 355 model, racing teams were able to purchase the 348 GT/ Competizione or even the ultra rare 348 GT/LM, both built by Michelotto in Padua for Ferrari. These models were fully homologated for international racing and especially the GT/LMs proved to be competitive cars, even at the 24h of Le Mans! But when the F355 came out, Ferrari (and Michelotto) were too busy building and developing the Ferrari 333SP as well as the racing versions of the F40, the F40 LM and the upgraded F40 GTE, so there was capacity to build a upgraded version of the F355 Challenge. Cristiano Michelotto also confirmed us in a recent conversation, that they very early started to work on the Ferrari 360 GT and N/GT, so the F355 was simply left out!
But Italy would not be Italy, if there were not some motorsport enthusiasts who simply wanted more, that brings us to our car …

Specific history of this car:
Among the racing teams who wanted a bit more out of the F355 model range than a Challenge version, was the Italian company Supertech of Franco Scapini and his father. Franco Scapini was a successful racing driver who even made it up to Formula 1 as a test driver and raced at the 24 hours of Le Mans in a Lancia LC2 and a Spice SE88. Scapini almost retired from racing in 1991, but a friend of his father convinced him to race in the 1997 Italian Ferrari Challenge with a brand new Ferrari F355 Challenge from the Ferrari dealership in Modena, where he finished several times on the podium. The problem was that Scapini Junior was pretty bored of these Challenge cars, they were just too slow for him. In a recent article he confesses „I did it for my father“. So the idea was born to start a new project, the Ferrari F355 GT3 by Supertech. Soon, the „Le Mans blu“ colored F355 Challenge with chassis number ZFFPR41B000104675 was completely stripped in Scapini Seniors workshop, which was an official Ferrari service point for over 30 years. Every component was checked for potential improvements. Scapini: We reconstructed everything: suspension, engine, chassis and body parts. We did everything ourselves and in the workshop at my father’s in Gallarate (VA). The car, in the end, came out really well, a real racing tool. I had done it the way I wanted and meant it.“ The car is now lighter, has an upgraded aero kit, completely revised suspension and brakes, a proper racing clutch and an engine which was good for 430hp at 9.200rpm. After a lot of testing and improving, it was time to race the car.
The car was raced successfully by Franco Scapini, both in Europe as well as the USA. The original log book that comes with the car documents the European races in France, Italy and Spain. Scapini won the GT3 class in the Italian GT championship in Misano in 1999. He also had a crazy race in the rain in Dijon that year that he remembers well: „ Next appointment, Magny Cours. With Andrea Garbagnati unavailable due to work commitments, I crew with Stefano Bucci. We arrive at Magny Cours and it’s raining, among other things I have a fever. We do the tests, everything’s OK. We qualify the car each a practice session for the respective races on Sunday: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Stefano starts in race 1 wet, goes dry, SC several times, had started 12th in class and got there…. Race 2 I start with fever, but I climb well, it’s wet, it’s not hot and this helps me. I engage in a tough battle with a Porsche in front of me. At the wheel, while I was trying to do my best, I was asking myself “who drives so fast on water?”…. In GT races there are so many of you that you don’t know who is at the wheel at that moment, then between the spray and the clouds of water you could hardly see anything. Eh nothing, at the end of the race I find out that it was Jean Pierre Jarier!!! Anyway, I retired about halfway through the race because a water hose burst when I was 8th overall and 2nd GT3. It was wet, but the car was running even though it was quite difficult to drive. Very extreme!“

Next up was the greater challenge – to race at the famous 24 hours of Daytona!
In 1999 Scapini teamed up with Pierangelo Masselli, Marco de Iturbe, Gianluca de Lorenzi and Gianni Biava to run the car under the sponsorship of Ferrari of Central Florida. After a long race they finished in 32nd position overall and 12th in class.
In 2000 the car was again entered at the 24 hours of Daytona, this time driven by Franco Scapini, ex-F1 driver Ivan Capelli, Pierangelo Masselli and Erich Prinoth under the banner of Franco Scapini Motorsport. Unfortunately they did not finish the race due to electrical problems.

In 2001 Scapini sold the car and it was once more entered at the 24 hours of Daytona under the team name Mastercar SRL. The car was driven by Anton Smekalkin, Eric van de Vyver, Christian Morini and Sergey Krylov.
Today the car is presented as it raced in 2000. The old roll bar has been carefully replaced with a new one to make the car eligible for historic racing. The engine has been overhauled just recently and the car has been serviced. Today the car is highly eligible for historic racing as the Peter Auto Series, Masters Series, historic Daytona 24, the Challenge and GT days as well the the German Ferrari Club racing series only to mention a few.

With the car comes a very comprehensive history file that includes the old Italian registration documents, the original vehicle log book as well as some nice period articles and photos.