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Like it or not, there’s a new racing series coming to Australia next season.
Details of the all-new Ferrari Challenge Australasia have now been confirmed, with Ferrari unveiling a five-round schedule for next year which will take place entirely in Australia.
A bunch of the new 296 Challenge, a thoroughbred GT-style Ferrari race car, are on their way to our shores, with the series to unofficially kick off later this year with a two-day test at Sydney Motorsport Park, followed by the opening round as a support category at the Bathurst 12 Hour early next year.
From there it is appearances on the SRO bill at Phillip Island, SMP and The Bend Motorsport Park, with another SMP appearance at an all-Ferrari event in the middle.
Ferrari is predicting grids of 18-20 cars for the debut season, with the SRO alliance of particular interest, given the likes of TCR Australia and Trans Am are scrapping for spots on the Supercars and SRO bills in the absence of the SpeedSeries.
So many categories, from the now-defunct S5000, TCR and even the once-popular Touring Car Masters have struggled for grids in recent years. In fact, GT World Challenge Australia has had its leaner periods.
Which begs the hugely legitimate questions; where will Ferrari Challenge fit in? And is it really sustainable?
Only time will provide truly accurate answers to those questions, but there is at least a promising difference in the approach from Ferrari’s customer division.
Rather than positioning itself as a Carrera Cup competitor, or out to steal from the existing pool of drivers competing around this country try, Ferrari plans to bring its own, entirely new market to the table.
The majority of the Ferrari Challenge grid will actually be new to motorsport, emerging from the vibrant – but largely hidden from public view, Ferrari Club Challenge program, which is in its third year of operation in Australia.
“I would say it’s a very different approach to racing,” Filippo Zanier, Ferrari Challenge’s Business Development and Special Projects manager, told Speedcafe.
“If you look at what Ferrari has done in motorsport with Challenge, it is always an offering that is really catered to Ferrari customers.
“I don’t like to speak about the competition or to pinpoint one manufacturer, but when you see the approach from racing series, even one-make series around the world, it is to basically look at the existing driver market and bring something else to that existing market.
“With Ferrari, what we do when we launch a new championship in a new country, we really create a new driver market. We bring Ferrari customers from Corso Pilota, which is the first stop, to then Club Challenge, which is the introduction to driving a Challenge car on the track, to Challenge racing.
“Instead of going and picking drivers from the existing market to create our grid, what we do is bring new drivers to the market. I’m pretty sure that from all the drivers we’ll have on the grid next year, and we expect an 18 to 20 car grid, all of them will be new racing licences that have been created through Club Challenge.”
To clarify, Corso Pilota is the first step on the Ferrari/motorsport ladder, which involves driving road cars on the race track. Then there is Club Challenge, a series of driving events at race tracks using the Challenge one-make cars (initially 458 and then 488).
Then there is Ferrari Challenge, which has thrived in Europe and North America for years, where these drivers graduate to actually racing these Challenge cars.
As is the case in those other regions, it’s a hugely controlled environment. In Carrera Cup, there is relative freedom in terms of buying a car, and then how it is operated. Some teams buy cars and lease then to drivers, some drivers buy cars and have teams run them. Or even run them themselves.
With Ferrari Challenge, the cars are purchased through participating Ferrari dealerships, who then have tie-ups with eligible teams. Those teams are strictly managed by the likes of Italian-based technical partner AF Corse and driver coaching provider Scuderia De Adamich.
The local support comes from the long-time Ferrari-aligned Motokinetic.
It’s a full service program once a car has been purchased with engineering, mechanical, coaching, consumables and hospitality all included in the set price (which you’ll never know unless you’re a genuinely interested customer).
Australia has flirted with Ferrari Challenge before, with the Asia-Pacific version supporting the Australian Grand Prix back in 2018.
Obviously that was with drivers mostly from the APAC region, however this latest iteration of Australasian one-make Ferrari racing will feature a vast majority of local competitors.
“I think it will be mostly Australian drivers, but the championship is open,” explained Zanier.
“As long as you have an eligible racing license, you can participate in the championship. We already know that there are drivers from Europe, South East Asia, and America who are interested in racing on tracks that are on their bucket list, and I’m speaking about Bathurst and Phillip Island, the tracks that are internationally recognised.
“We already have people that want to know how they can participate them. As long as the grid allows, we will welcome drivers from overseas. But on a full-season basis, we expect the vast majority to be Australian drivers.”
The link with SRO is a clear sign that the global GT player wants its new national-level series to have a premium feel, which may come as a concern to the likes of TCR and Trans Am, which have relied on the SpeedSeries platform.
For Ferrari, however, it’s a perfect fit, given GT World Challenge Australia is one of the potential steps for drivers coming through the Ferrari system.
“For us, SRO is not competition,” said Zanier. “It is an amazing platform. And having the 296 GT3 cars from Arise Racing in GT World Challenge, it gives us the chance to show Challenge drivers what the next step can be if they want to keep going in their motorsport career.”
And if it’s not GTWCA, it may be the XX program. Or F1 Clienti (customers with proper Ferrari F1 cars). Or the Sport Prototipi Clienti (customer hypercars, basically).
“That’s the beautiful thing about Ferrari and the ladder we’ve created,” added Zanier.
“You start with Corso Pilota and you can graduate to Club Challenge, and from Club Challenge to Challenge, and from Challenge you can go to GT racing with GT3 or go to the XX programme, the F1 Clienti programme, and now the Sport Prototipi Clienti with the 499P.
“There is such a vast array of things you can do in the Ferrari world if you want to continue your path.”
