The legendary Ferrari Challenge one-make racing series is coming to New Zealand for the first time, with a round of the Asia Pacific championship at the Hampton Downs race circuit in a month’s time.
The four-day race schedule will run from 12 to 15 April and incorporate the open-to-the-public ‘Ferrari Festival’ in Auckland over the weekend of 14 and 15 April 2018.
At an event at the Continental Cars Ferrari showroom today Louis Colmache, Head of Corse Clienti, Asia Pacific said “Ferrari has a longstanding history with motor racing in New Zealand, and some of our most committed corse clienti race drivers hail from here.
“We are thrilled to announce that the inaugural New Zealand Ferrari Challenge Series races will take place here in Auckland in 2018. It is with great pleasure that we will be able to offer our growing numbers of Ferrari clients the opportunity to drive the iconic Hampton Downs circuit for the themselves. We encourage all Ferrari owners to take up the opportunity to get involved in racing with Ferrari and all of New Zealand’s Ferrari fans to come and support our exciting racing series during the Ferrari Festival in 2018.”
Ferrari launched the Challenge series in Europe in 1992 with the 348 Challenge car specifically built to race in the series that focussed on “gentlemen drivers”. A North American series followed and in 2011 the Asia Pacific series was launched and has quickly grown, with the 2017 season seeing, on average, 31 cars entered at each round, with more than 50 drivers from 15 different countries competing, including two from New Zealand.
The series operates an “arrive and drive” concept that sees the Ferrari Corse Clienti operating all the cars, providing race engineers, mechanics and instructors, as well as on-track services and entertainment for drivers and their guests.
The Asia Pacific series features seven rounds, including two Formula 1 support rounds, two Ferrari Racing Days and a World Final round in Italy. The series will open at Melbourne’s iconic Albert Park Circuit in support of the Australia Grand Prix on 22-25 March, followed by Hampton Downs in New Zealand from 12-15 April. The official race schedule also includes other Formula 1 race tracks like Shanghai International Circuit, Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit. In September, Ferrari Challenge heads to Singapore in support of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, before rounding out the season at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy for Finali Mondiali (World Finals) from 1st – 4th November, where the Asia Pacific race drivers will join drivers from the Europe and North America Series for the traditional end-of-season celebrations.
Also unveiled at today’s event was the latest Ferrari Challenge car – the 488 Challenge, the first ever turbo-charged model to race in the series, and the most powerful Challenge car yet.
The 488 Challenge is powered by a 500kW 3.9-litre V8 derived from the series production engine that took the overall 2016 & 2017 International Engine of the Year Award.
This is up by 17 percent on the 458 Challenge car’s 425kW, while torque is up a remarkable 41 percent, with the 488 packing 760Nm compared to the 458’s 540Nm.
While power is up, so is aerodynamic efficiency, thanks to the use of Ferrari’s Formula 1 expertise. A larger rear wing improves stability, while a larger front splitter improves front downforce and reward-raked front radiators reduce drag, helping make the 488 20 percent more aerodynamically efficient that the 458 Challenge.
The 488 Challenge shaves a full second off the 458’s lap time of Ferrari’s Maranello test circuit, while a recent test at Malaysia’s Sepang F1 circuit saw it beat the 458’s best by an impressive 2.5 seconds.
The New Zealand round of the Asia Pacific series will take place at Hampton Downs on the 14th and 15th of April, with qualifying and racing on both days, with races starting at 2pm.
Pit and grid walk tours will be available for everyone, while there will also be on-track parades between race sessions.
As well as the on-track action, there will also be plenty of off-track activities for fans, with a Ferrari super car exhibition, including the first showing of the new Ferrari Portofino, a display of cars from the Ferrari Owner’s Club, a pop up Ferrari merchandise store and much more.
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Asia Pacific Series 2018 Schedule
Round 1 March 22 – 25 Melbourne, Australia (Formula 1 GP)
Round 2 April 12 – 15, Hampton Downs, New Zealand
Round 3 May 24 – 27, Shanghai, China (Ferrari Racing Days)
Round 4 June 28 – July 1 Fuji, Japan (Ferrari Racing Days)
Round 5 August 23-25 Suzuka, Japan
Round 6 September 14-16 Singapore Marina (Formula 1 GP)
Round 7 November 1 – 4 Monza, Italy (Finali Mondiali)
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