Weekend preview: Ferrari competing on four continents

Maranello, 30 April 2026 - The IMSA championship returns this weekend, with three Ferraris on the grid for the Laguna Seca round in California. The Maranello manufacturer’s cars will also compete in the opening Sprint event of GT World Challenge Europe at Brands Hatch, as well as in the second rounds of the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans Cup at Paul Ricard. In Indonesia, round two of GT World Challenge Asia will feature four Ferraris, while three more will compete at Fuji in Japan’s Super GT.

IMSA. With a pair of strong late-race podium pushes, Ferrari takes plenty of momentum from the two most recent IMSA SportsCar Championship events into this weekend’s Round 4 at Laguna Seca. 

Conquest Racing and Inception Racing used strong finishes to take third and fourth in the GTD class on the streets of Long Beach, California, while AF Corse USA – concentrating on IMSA’s Endurance Cup – won the same class for GT3 machinery featuring Pro-Am lineups on a last-lap pass in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. Albert Costa will team with second-generation driver Lorenzo Patrese in Conquest Racing’s No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. Regular driver Manny Franco will miss the event due to a conflict. 

In the Long Beach sprint outing, Costa passed two cars on the tight street circuit following a restart with 32 minutes remaining to move into podium position – and remained third despite pressure from the Inception Racing Ferrari during the closing laps.

A year ago, Conquest Racing finished third in GTD at Laguna Seca, with factory driver Daniel Serra gaining the podium on a final-lap move.

Meanwhile, Costa finished second in GTD Pro last year for a different Ferrari team on his way to finishing runner-up in the final standings.

“At Laguna Seca, we had the pole position and it was the start of six podiums in a row last year,” said Costa. “It will be my birthday that weekend, so I hope to get a good birthday present for me and my team.”

Part of Conquest Racing’s lineup for Endurance Cup events, Patrese rejoins Eric Bachelart’s team for Laguna Seca due to the unavailability of Franco.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Patrese said. “I’m very happy to be back with the team sooner than expected.”

Inception Racing returns with 2025 Indianapolis Battle on the Bricks winners Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff, sharing the No. 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Running 10th in the class with 20 minutes remaining at Long Beach, Schandorff passed his way up to fourth in the dash to the checkered flag.

“Last year, we were really fast before we had an issue with the car, so I am looking forward to going back to Laguna,” said Schandorff. “We actually did some testing there for two days following Long Beach, so hopefully we will have an even bigger advantage this year. 

“Hopefully, we will keep the momentum. At Sebring, we didn’t finish the race but we were really quick, and coupled with Long Beach, this gives the team a lot of motivation to keep working hard.”

Practice for the two-hour, 40-minute event begins on Friday at 3:20 p.m. (all times PT). GTD qualifying is at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. The Monterey SportsCar Championship is set to start at 1:10 p.m. on Sunday. The race will be televised live on NBCSN, beginning at 1 p.m., in addition to being streamed on Peacock and broadcast on Sirius channel 206. International viewers can stream the race live on the IMSA YouTube channel.

GT World Challenge Europe. The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint season kicks off with two 60-minute races at Brands Hatch – the British circuit celebrating its centenary this year – featuring six Ferraris and three official drivers among the entries. In the Pro class, Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer will share the number 50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. The same team fields the number 51 in the Gold class, with Ferrari official driver Tommaso Mosca alongside Matias Zagazeta. In the Silver class, the number 52 will feature Jeff Machiels and Gilles Stadsbader, while the number 71 will be crewed by Carl Bennet and Felix Hirsiger, winner of the 2025 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe.
Returning to the Pro class, Swiss team Emil Frey Racing will deploy the number 14 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo for Matteo Cairoli and Konsta Lappalainen, and the number 69 for Thierry Vermeulen and Ben Green.
The programme for Saturday 2 May includes free practice sessions and qualifying from 4.40 p.m. On Sunday 3 May, Race-1 begins at 11.15 a.m., with Race-2 at 3.45 p.m., both over 60 minutes.

ELMS. The second round of the season is the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, with 47 cars competing across the various classes, including six Ferraris in LMGT3. French driver Lilou Wadoux – Ferrari official driver and last year’s race winner – will line up for her home race in the number 50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, replacing Francesco Castellacci and rejoining teammates Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo.
A French driver will also compete in the number 51 AF Corse entry: Charles-Henry Samani will line up alongside Ferrari official driver Davide Rigon and Conrad Laursen.

Kessel Racing will field two cars: The number 57 will feature Ferrari official driver Daniel Serra alongside Takeshi Kimura and Mathys Jaubert, last year’s LMP2 class winner, while the number 74 will see Romain Leroux join Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda. 

Spirit of Race and GR Racing will field the other two Ferrari entries. Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin will share the Swiss team’s number 55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, while Michael Wainwright, Lorcan Hanafin and Mex Jansen will line up in the British squad’s number 86.

Following free practice on Friday and Saturday, LMGT3 qualifying is scheduled for Saturday 2 May at 3.10 p.m., with the four-hour race getting under way on Sunday 3 May at 12 noon.

Le Mans Cup.  After the opening round at Barcelona, the Le Mans Cup heads to Paul Ricard for the second event of the season, with five Ferraris competing in the GT3 class. AF Corse will field two Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo cars, with reigning 2025 champions Eliseo Donno and Alessandro Cozzi in the number 51. The number 88, meanwhile, will feature Ray Acosta III and Marco Erminio Bonanomi.
Kessel Racing will also have two cars on the grid: Lorenzo Ferdinando Innocenti and Daniel Cleto Fumanelli will be at the wheel of the number 17, while the number 21 sees Lorenzo Ferrari step in for Giacomo Altoè alongside Briton Oscar Lee Ryndziewicz. The fifth Ferrari entry is the 296 GT3 of Spanish team Biogas Motorsport, with Josep Mayola Comadira and Marc Carol Ibarra.

Following Friday’s free practice sessions, GT3 qualifying is scheduled for Saturday 2 May at 11.50 a.m., with the two-hour race getting under way at 6.20 p.m.

GT World Challenge Asia. After making its debut there last year, the championship returns to the Mandalika International Circuit on the tropical Indonesian island of Lombok for the second event of the season, where two races will be staged. Four Ferraris will compete across the various classes. In the Silver class, the number 96 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 will line up with rookies Deng Yi of China and Liu Kaiahun of Hong Kong, who will also compete in the China Cup standings. In the same class, local driver Sean Galael will make his championship debut in the number 50 Garage75 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
Winhere Harmony Racing also fields the number 72 Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Pro-Am class for Song Jiajun and New Zealander Brendon Leitch. Finally, in the Silver-Am class, the 33R Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo will be driven by Sun JZ and Adderly Fong, who will also compete for the China Cup.

Following free practice on Friday 1 May, qualifying is on Saturday 2 May from 9.15 a.m., while the race takes the green flag on Sunday 3 May at 11.30 a.m.

Super GT. The championship’s second round takes place at Fuji Speedway, with three Ferraris in the GT300 class aiming for top honours in a three-hour race. The number 6 UNI-ROBO BLUEGRASS Ferrari 296 GT3 will feature Yoshiaki Katayama and Niklas Krütten; the number 7 CARGUY Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo will be shared by Zak O’Sullivan, Kiyoshi Umegaki and Reimei Ito; while the number 45 PONOS Ferrari will be crewed by Kei Cozzolino and Takuro Shinohara.
The programme includes qualifying on Saturday 2 May and the three-hour race on Sunday 3 May.

All times are local.

30 aprile 2026