Weekend preview: challenges in Europe for the Ferraris

It’s set to be a busy weekend for Ferrari cars, competing across a range of European championships. Germany will feature a double-header: at the Lausitzring circuit with the second round of the DTM, and at the Nürburgring with the qualifying race for the 24 Hours, where official driver Thomas Neubauer will also be on the grid. In Italy, the 12 Hours of Misano in the 24H Series takes place, while Oulton Park hosts the next round of the British GT.

NLS. For the second consecutive year, qualifying for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring (scheduled for 21–22 June) will also count towards the Nürburgring Endurance Series standings. This weekend’s schedule includes Saturday qualifying from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by the first race from 5.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. On Sunday, from 8.15 a.m. to 9.45 a.m., the session to access the Top Qualifying will determine the starting positions for the second leg, which will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Prancing Horse will be represented by the number 45 296 GT3 in the SP9 class fielded by Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi, featuring David Perel, Felipe Fernandez Laser, Axcil Jefferies and official driver Thomas Neubauer.

DTM. From 23 to 25 May, the Lausitzring circuit in southern Brandenburg hosts the second DTM race of the season. Representing Ferrari will be three 296 GT3 cars from Emil Frey Racing: number 10 with Ben Green, number 14 with Jack Aitken and number 69 with Thierry Vermeulen. The three drivers are ready for a new challenge as they aim to improve on the results from the season-opener contested at Oschersleben. After Friday’s free practice sessions, Qualifying 1 takes place from 9.05 a.m. to 9.25 a.m. on Saturday, with Race-1 from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. On Sunday, Qualifying 2 runs from 9 a.m. to 9.20 a.m., followed by Race-2 from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.

24H Series. The third European round of the 24H Series heads to Italy for the 12 Hours of Misano, featuring two Ferrari 296 GT3s. Scuderia Praha lines up with number 56, currently joint-top of the standings, following a win in the last leg at Spa-Francorchamps by Miroslav Výboh, Matúš Výboh, Josef Král and Dennis Waszek. The crew will do everything they can to stay at the head of the standings.

The second Ferrari, number 81, is fielded by Era Motorsport in the GT3 Pro Am class, driven by Dwight Merriman, Kyle Tilley, Nico Verdonck and Ryan Dalziel.

On Friday, qualifying sessions for the various classes are scheduled, while the 12-hour race begins at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday and ends at 9.30 p.m.

Italian GT Championship. Vallelunga Circuit hosts the season debut of the Sprint series in the Italian Gran Turismo Championship, following the Endurance season-opener at Misano. Fifty crews are registered for the opening round of the format, which features two 50-minute-plus-one-lap races. Ferrari’s participation is, as always, substantial. In the GT3 Pro Am, AF Corse is fielding two 296 GT3s: number 51 with Lorenzo Ferrari and Raghunathan Mahaveer, and number 62 with Leonardo Colavita and Badawi Ibrahim. The Piacenza-based team also fields a third car in the Am class – number 52 with Ghandour Ziad – while the same category also features the number 39 296 GT3 from Target Racing with Chinese driver Han Huilin.

There are more entries from the Prancing Horse manufacturer in the GT Cup: In the First Division Pro Am class, AF Corse’s number 169 296 Challenge with Stefano Gai and Fabrizio Fontana – winners of the Endurance race at Misano – lines up alongside Best Lap’s number 11 driven by Lorenzo Pegoraro and Filippo Croccolino.

Also in the GT Cup, but in the First Division Am class, Best Lap’s number 218 296 Challenge will be driven by Gianluigi Simonelli and Ivan David Mari, while DL Racing’s number 244 will see Pierluigi Alessandri at the wheel.

Finally, five Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo models will race in the GT Cup Second Division Am: Alessandro Marchetti and Rodolfo Massaro in the number 505 of Scuderia Emme, Luigi Gallo and Gabriele Foglia in the number 523 of Best Lap, Lyle Schofield in the number 533 of SR&R, Emiliano Pierantoni and Riccardo Paniccià in the number 546 of MRNC12, and Victor Briselli in the number 580 of Pinetti Motorsport.

The opening weekend of the Sprint series gets underway on Friday with free practice sessions. On Saturday morning it’s time for qualifying: the GT Cup will open with two sessions from 9 a.m. to 9.40 a.m., followed by the GT3 class from 10.25 a.m. to 11.05 a.m. In the afternoon, Race-1 for the GT Cup starts at 2.10 p.m., while Race-1 for the GT3 kicks off at 4.35 p.m. On Sunday, the schedule concludes with Race-2 for both classes: the GT Cup at 10.10 a.m., followed by the GT3 at 1 p.m.

British GT. The third round of the British GT takes place this weekend at the Oulton Park circuit. Ferrari is represented by the number 55 296 GT3 of Spirit of Race Sa, with Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin aiming for redemption after an unlucky race at Silverstone where the crew was unable to finish.

All times are local.