Weekend notebook: wins and podium finishes across America and Europe
Maranello 04 August 2025
In the IMSA championship at Road America, the Ferrari 296 GT3s secured third place in the GTD Pro class, while in GTD, they claimed victory and the final podium step, the latter achieved by official driver Daniel Serra. At Magny Cours in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, there were a pair of class podiums. In the Italian Gran Turismo Endurance Championship at Imola, Ferrari took third place overall alongside several strong category results. Third place was also secured in the GT Cup Championship at Silverstone.
IMSA. The Road America round featured a single two-hour and 40-minute race, where the number 81 Ferrari 296 GT3 of DragonSpeed, with Giacomo Altoé and Albert Costa, clinched third in GTD Pro. In the GTD class, victory went to the number 021 of Triarsi Competizione, with Onofrio Triarsi and Kenton Koch. Completing the podium in third was the number 34 of Conquest Racing, with Manny Franco and official driver Daniel Serra.
The number 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Inception Racing, driven by Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff, was forced to retire after an incident in the early laps.
The championship resumes from 22 to 24 August at Virginia International Raceway.
GT World Challenge Europe. The Magny-Cours circuit hosted the penultimate round of the championship’s Sprint series. In Race-1, the number 51 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, with official driver Alessio Rovera and Vincent Abril, retired early following contact from a McLaren (later penalised with a drive-through). The number 51 crew made amends in Sunday’s second race, finishing fourth.
Also in Race-1, the number 69 Ferrari of Emil Frey Racing, which had started from pole in the Bronze Cup, lost ground after an incident and dropped to the back of the field. In Race-2, while in contention for the win and running third overall, Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen collided with the number 50 Ferrari of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors on its out lap from the pits. Official driver Thomas Neubauer, paired with Arthur Leclerc, was later penalised for the incident, while Lulham suffered a puncture and dropped to sixth. Neubauer and Leclerc ended up tenth, having finished ninth in Race-1, behind the number 14 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Emil Frey Racing, driven by Konsta Lappalainen and Ben Green, who rounded off their French weekend with 13th place in Race-2.
In the Silver Cup, Race-1 saw the season’s first podium for the number 52 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors, thanks to second place for Marcos Siebert and Jef Machiels. They finished eighth in class in Race-2.
In the Bronze Cup, after dropping from the lead in the standings with a fifth place in Race-1, Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall in the number 74 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Kessel Racing regained the top spot thanks to a second place in Race-2. Their lead is now down to just one point, with everything to be decided in the final round of the season. In the same class, the number 93 of Ziggo Sport Tempesta, with Eddie Cheever and Marco Pulcini, came back from France with two sixth-place finishes.
With the Magny-Cours round concluded, the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup will deliver its final verdicts at the closing round at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo Circuit from 19 to 21 September.
Italian Gran Turismo Championship. The third round of the season, contested at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, leaves all standings still wide open. On the Emilia-Romagna circuit, Andreas Bogh Sorensen and Mikkel Mac claimed third place overall at the wheel of the number 107 Ferrari 296 Challenge of AF Corse, putting in an excellent performance that saw them lead for several laps and also pick up 12 points for crossing the virtual finish line of the 100-minute mark in first place.
That third overall also meant victory in the GT Cup First Division Pro Am class, completing an all-Ferrari podium, with all crews from AF Corse. Behind them were Fontana-Gai in the number 169, despite some technical issues, while Megna-Barbolini-Scarpetta took third in the number 151.
Di Mare-Croccolino-Agoglia, in the number 111 Ferrari 296 Challenge of Best Lap, were forced to retire due to a broken radiator caused by debris while running second. The number 219 Ferrari 296 Challenge of Best Lap, with Levy-Mari-Bucci, also retired due to an accident.
In the Second Division Am class, the number 577 Ferrari 488 Challenge of Double TT Racing with Marulla-Zydlewski-Risitano finished third. In GT3 Pro Am, second place went to Coluccio-Gorini-Tamburini in the number 98 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Easy Race.
With just one race to go — at Mugello from 12 to 14 September — the overall GT3 standings see the Colavita-Badawi-Vidales trio lying second with 38 points, 19 points behind the leader. For AF Corse’s crew, 13th overall, it was an unfortunate race marred by a two-minute penalty for an irregular driver change, which deprived them of a chance to fight for podium positions. Indeed, when coming in for the driver change, Badawi found the pit box occupied and was forced to do another lap, missing the time window imposed by the regulations.
GT Cup Championship. At the fourth round of the season, held at the Silverstone circuit, Ferrari picked up a podium with third place for Marcos Vivian and Francesco Castellacci in the weekend’s endurance race. The duo, at the wheel of the number 128 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse, had started from the fourth row but claimed third place thanks to a determined drive. They also recorded a 13th and a ninth place finish, earning them two fourth-place results in the GT3 class.
The second Prancing Horse car fielded on the iconic British circuit, the number 888 Ferrari 488 Challenge of Lone Wolfe Racing, driven by John Turner and Ray Grimes, finished eighth and tenth in the two Sprint events, but was forced to retire from the longer race around halfway through.
The next round of the series is scheduled for 20 to 21 September at Donington Park.
Super GT Japan. The season’s first Sprint race, held Saturday over 35 laps at Fuji Speedway in the fourth round of the Japanese championship, brought Ferrari a fourth-place finish in the GT300 class thanks to the number 7 Ferrari 296 GT3 of CarGuy Mks Racing, driven by Rikuto Kobayashi.
It was a more difficult Race-2 for teammate Zak O’Sullivan, contested over 50 minutes, with a 17th place finish. In this second race, the best-placed Prancing Horse car was the number 45 of Ponos Racing, ninth at the line with Italo-Japanese driver Kei Cozzolino at the wheel. Teammate Takuro Shinohara finished 13th.
The third 296 GT3, number 6 of Valorex, saw Race-1 compromised by a drive-through penalty for Roberto Merhi Muntan while battling for the top positions. He ultimately finished 15th, while Yoshiaki Katayama had to retire from the second race on the opening lap.
The Japanese championship returns to the track in three weeks’ time, from 22 to 24 August, at Suzuka Circuit for the fifth round of the season.