Weekend preview: Ferrari in action at Laguna Seca, Nürburgring and Indonesia

Five Ferraris will take to the track at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the Monterey SportsCar Championship, the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The third round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie features the 56th Adenauer Rundstrecken-Trophy, with the Ferrari 296 GT3 of official driver Thomas Neubauer on the grid, alongside David Perel and Axcil Jeffries in the number 45 fielded by Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi. The GT World Challenge Asia makes its debut in Indonesia at the Mandalika International Circuit for the second round of the season, with five Ferraris and ambassador driver Giancarlo Fisichella in action.

IMSA. The American championship kicks off its sprint format with a 2-hour 40-minute race at the iconic Laguna Seca circuit, a 3.6 km track with 11 corners and the famous downhill Corkscrew. After competing in the Daytona 24-hour and Sebring 12-hour classic enduros, the GTD Pro division runs its first sprint-format race of the campaign. The Pro entry includes the number 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa and Giacomo Altoe. Costa won the pole for the most recent Pro round at Sebring, with the team finishing fourth. DragonSpeed currently ranks sixth in the Pro championship. In GTD, Conquest Racing returns with the number 34 Corsa Horizon Ferrari 296 GT3 for Ferrari Factory driver Daniel Serra and Manny Franco. Their best finish this season is seventh at Sebring, with the team ninth in the championship. In 2024, Conquest entered its Ferrari 296 GT3, Ferrari’s first pro race at Laguna Seca since 2021. Franco qualified third and was running ninth when he was bumped off course in Turn 6 only 42 minutes into the race, resulting in a 15th-place finish with Costa. Inception Racing is also set for a full season with the number 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff. The team is currently seventh in the standings, with its best finish of fourth in the Sebring 12-hour. Triarsi Competizione has entered a two-car team, led by its full-season number 021 JG Wentworth Ferrari of Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer. They will be joined by the number 023 Ferrari of Central Florida / David SW Ferrari of team owner/driver Onofrio Triarsi and Riccardo Agostini.

The event opens with a 90-minute practice session on Friday at 2:20 p.m.. Saturday also includes a second 90-minute practice at 9:55 a.m., followed by GTD qualifying at 3:15 p.m. and GTD Pro qualifying at 3:40 p.m. The two hour, 40-minute race begins at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday. 

NLS. One hundred and forty-one entries are registered for the 56th Adenauer Rundstrecken-Trophy, the third round of the championship on the legendary Green Hell. Among the starters is the 296 GT3 of Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi, which includes Prancing Horse official driver Thomas Neubauer in its line-up. The Frenchman, along with teammates Perel and Jeffries, comes off an 11th-place finish in the previous round, where they took ninth in the SP9 class.

The schedule is packed into a single day — Saturday, 10 May — with qualifying running from 8.30 to 10 a.m., and the four-hour race scheduled to get underway at 12 noon.

GT World Challenge Asia. The Mandalika International Circuit on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, will host its first ever international car race, as the second round of Asia’s premier GT3 championship gets underway. Among the record 34 entries are five Ferrari cars.

Making his debut in the series is Giancarlo Fisichella, who will share the wheel of the number 60 296 GT3 of LM Corse with Japan’s Shigekazu Wakisaka in the Pro Am class. Also competing in that category is the number 98 of Absolute Corse, entrusted to local driver Anderson Tanoto and Thierry Vermeulen, who recently took a pole position and a podium finish in the GT World Challenge Europe at Brands Hatch.

Another Indonesian, David Tjiptobiantoro — reigning Am class champion — will be in the number 75 of Garage 75, alongside Christian Colombo.

In the Silver class, China’s Deng Yi and Chen Weian will be at the wheel of the number 96 entered by Winhere Harmony Racing. The same team will also field the number 55 296 GT3, driven by Liu Hangcheng and young Italian Lorenzo Patrese.

After testing and pre-qualifying on Thursday and Friday, the GT World Challenge Asia will see two qualifying sessions on Saturday, 10 May starting at 10.15 a.m. Race-1, run over 60 minutes, will start later that day at 2.30 p.m., while Race-2 will begin at 11.30 a.m. on Sunday, 11 May.

All times listed are local.