AF Corse has been one of the assets of the season 2016 in the Blancpain GT Series, although with the ‘thorn’ having a gray paper in the main category. The Ferrari 488 GT3 #55 has been the king of the Am-Cup in the Sprint Cup and the rest of units of the 488 or 458 Italia GT3 have had moments of brilliance, something that cannot be moved to the Ferrari #50 driven by Passion Lathouras Alessandro Pier Guido and Michele Rugolo in the Endurance Cup, the only vehicle of the brand of Maranello that has competed full-time in the professional category.
Perhaps for this reason, Ferrari has decided to increase its presence in the Blancpain GT Series and will strengthen its effort in the professional category. In this way, and unless last-minute surprises, Ferrari will field two 488 GT3 under the colors of Kaspersky Motorsport and SMP Racing, with the aim of fighting for the highest crowns of the championship. The big news out of this presence of two cars lies in the fact that it is expected that a pilot of Ferrari factory to lead each of the alignments of pilots, in principle, both tests of Endurance as in the Sprint Cup.
In this movement, Giancarlo Fisichella has great chance of being one of these factory riders, since the Italian took part in the Endurance Cup throughout 2016 within the Pro-Am Cup. For its part, is expected to Passion Lathouras and Alessandro Pier Guidi also have a space in the two cars of the category queen, although this point is still to be confirmed. All in all, this expansion of the programme in the Blancpain GT Series, which was already decided in the weeks since arrives at a point of great controversy for AF Corse and Ferrari in the WEC.
The grievance of the double exchange ‘Balance of Performance’ in the 6 Hours of Shanghai in the Ferrari 488 GTE hurt is not liked in Ferrari, to such an extent that while it has increased its support of the factory in the Blancpain GT, this could be reduced in the WEC. A circumstance which might cause Gianmaria Bruni finished in Porsche to compete with the new Porsche 911 GTE, to be able to share equipment with Laurens Vanthoor, Audi driver in the Blancpain and that after the output of the WEC of the brand do not see great opportunities for progress in the manufacturer of Ingolstadt.
–