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