Weekend preview: Ferrari on track in Europe and United States

Maranello, 24 April 2026 - This weekend marks the start of several championships: The DTM championship and ADAC GT Masters open at Spielberg in Austria, the Italian Gran Turismo Championship begins at Imola, British GT starts at Silverstone in the UK, and the Ultimate Cup Series gets under way at Paul Ricard in France. COTA, meanwhile, hosts the second round of GT World Challenge America and GT America.

DTM. The championship kicks off at Spielberg in Austria, one of the fastest circuits on the calendar, where Emil Frey Racing fields two Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo cars. New arrival Matteo Cairoli will race the number 14 car, while Thierry Vermeulen returns in the number 69 after finishing tenth last season with three podium finishes.

Friday is dedicated to free practice. Saturday's action begins with Qualifying 1 from 9.40 to 10 a.m., followed by Race-1 from 1.30 to 2.30 p.m. Sunday follows the same format, with Qualifying 2 from 9.30 to 9.50 a.m. determining the grid for Race 2, which starts at 1.30 p.m.

Italian Gran Turismo Championship. The 2026 season kicks off at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. The championship boasts a record number of entries and will once again feature four Endurance events alongside the Sprint races. Eight Ferrari 296 GT3 cars will compete in two 50-minute-plus-one-lap races in the Pro Am and Am classes at the opening event. Spirit of Race will field two cars: the number 50 of Rafael Duran and David Perel, and the number 51 of Francesco Braschi and Jef Machiels. Double TT Racing enters a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Lorenzo Ferrari, paired with Gilles Renmans. In Am, Spirit of Race fields three cars: the number 21 of 2025 International GT Open champions Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo, the number 52 of Zlad Ghandour, and the number 69 of Stefano Gai and Fabrizio Fontana. Completing the Am entry are the number 26 Easy Race Ferrari of Leonardo Gorini and Mattia Marchiante and the number 36 Target Racing car of Huilin Han. The Prancing Horse will also be well represented in the GT Cup. Nineteen Ferrari 296 Challenge cars will take to the track in the First Division Pro Am across the Pro Am and Am classes. Best Race and MRNC12 will field two cars each: the number 101 of Vito Postiglione and Stefano Comandini, the number 111 of Lorenzo Pegoraro and Alex Frassineti, the number 112 of Riccardo Paniccia and Filippo Croccolino, and the number 121 of Federica Levy and Laura Villars. Ferrari Ambassador Driver Giancarlo Fisichella will take part in the Imola round alongside Davide Roda in the number 123 Ferrari 296 Challenge of Double TT Racing. Spirit of Race will contest GT Cup as well as the GT3 class, fielding three cars: the number 150 of Edoardo Borelli and Andres Guillermo Mendez, the number 151 of Lorenzo Megna and Diego Di Fabio, and the number 188 of Feder Samorukov and Federico Al Ripai. Zanasi Racing will also compete in this weekend's opening round. It will field four cars: two in Pro Am and two in Am. The Maranello-based outfit fields the number 109 Ferrari of Andrea Fontana and Tommaso Lovati, the number 119 of Matteo Sartori and Mattia Simonini, the number 203 of Giacomo Ghermandi and Vittoria Piria, and the number 211 of Luca Demarchi and Victor Briselli. The latter two cars will compete in Am, where they will be joined by the number 212 Ferrari 296 Challenge of MRNC12 with Lorenzo Nicoli and Emiliano Pierantoni. Five more GT Cup contenders will represent Target Racing, KRYPTON by DL RACING and MP Racing. The first two teams will field Pierluigi Alessandri (number 216) and Francesco Galli (number 231), while the latter outfit will include David Gostner (number 250), Thomas Gostner (number 261) and Carolina Gostner (number 273).
The long weekend begins on Friday with three free practice sessions, scheduled for 10.50 a.m. (11.50 a.m. for GT Cup), 3.50 p.m. (4.50 p.m. for GT Cup) and 7.05 p.m. (7.35 p.m. for GT Cup). Qualifying on Saturday morning will determine the starting grid for the weekend’s two races. Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2 for GT3 will take place at 9.10 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., while the GT Cup sessions are scheduled for 9.55 a.m. and 10.15 a.m. Race-1 is also scheduled for Saturday 25 April: at 3 p.m. for GT3 and 5.30 p.m. for GT Cup. Sunday follows a similar programme for Race-2, with GT3 at 2 p.m. and GT Cup at 3.30 p.m.

GT World Challenge America.  Circuit of the Americas hosts the second round of the season after the opening event at Sonoma. The starters include the reigning champions and current Am class leaders, Jay Schreibman and Oswaldo Negri, at the wheel of the number 163 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of AF Corse USA. The same team also fields a second car, the number 12 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Matias Perez Companc and Frederik Schandorff in the Pro class – runners-up in the California round. Finally, Pro Am will feature the number 18 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Triarsi Competizione with Riccardo Agostini and Sebastiano Mascaro. The programme includes free practice sessions on Friday, with qualifying and the race on Saturday, starting at 12.30 p.m.

Ultimate Cup Series. The opening round takes place this weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, with five Ferraris on the entry list: three Ferrari 488 Challenge cars and one Ferrari 296 Challenge in the UCTC/UCS class, plus one Ferrari 430 GT3 in USC3. The 488 Challenge cars, run by SR&R, will feature Aramis and Rehan Hakm in the number 3, Maurizio Fondi in the number 33, and Lyle Schofield in the number 333. The 296 Challenge, run by CMR, will be driven by Frenchman Patrick Michellier. A final mention goes to the number 296 Ferrari 430 GT3 of F.i Competizione, with Grégoire Benedet at the wheel.

Two races are scheduled at Le Castellet: Race-1 will get going on Friday 24 April at 7.30 p.m., while Race-2 is scheduled for 11 a.m. the following day. Both races will be run over 35 minutes.

ADAC GT Masters. The Spielberg circuit in Austria hosts the opening round of this series, with the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Baron Motorsport lining up as a guest entry in Pro Am with drivers Ernst Kirchmayr and Axcil Jefferies. Kirchmayr is a familiar face in ADAC GT Masters and won the second race at this circuit last year. His teammate Jefferies, from Zimbabwe, finished fourth in the ADAC Prototype Cup Germany in 2022.

Free practice is scheduled for Friday, while on Saturday, qualifying runs from 8.15 a.m. to 8.35 a.m., followed by Race-1 from 3.10 p.m. to 4.10 p.m. On Sunday, a qualifying session from 8.10 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. will determine the starting grid for Race-2, scheduled from 3.10 p.m. to 4.10 p.m.

GT America.  Circuit of the Americas hosts the second round of the season with a strong Prancing Horse presence in the SRO3 class. Marc Muzzo lies third in the standings in the number 013 Ferrari 296 GT3 of R. Ferri Motorsport. The number 04 of 04 HP-TECH Motorsport for Tony Davis, the number 16 of AF Corse USA for Rodin Younessi, and the number 23 of Scuderia Corsa for Thor Haugen are also in Evo specification. The entry list also includes two Ferrari 296 GT3 cars in the colours of Ferraro Motorsports for Tony Ferraro and by One11 Competition for Jason McCarthy.
The programme is spread over two days: On Saturday, qualifying gets under way at 8.35 a.m. with Race-1 at 3.05 p.m., while on Sunday, Race-2 starts at 9.40 a.m.

British GT. The historic Silverstone circuit will host the opening round of the season. The prestigious British GT car series will feature a Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo entered for the first time by Rodin Motorsport, a well-known name in the single-seater world. The British team will compete in the Silver Am class with an all-Australian pairing of Cameron Campbell and Joshua Buchan. The event moves into top gear on Saturday with qualifying from 3.45 p.m. Sunday’s three-hour race gets under way at 1 p.m. 

All times are local.

24 aprile 2026