The FIA’s Cup Grand Touring Cars regulations — better known simply as “Group GT3” — constitutes one of the most competitive production-based racing series in the world, with manufacterers pouring enormous amounts of resources into their respective GT3 cars. And while Ferrari has recently been campaigning its 488 GT3 EVO, the Maranello marque has now given us our first glimpse of its next GT3 class racer with a GT3-spec touring car based on its 296 GTB.
Christened the 296 GT3, the forthcoming Cup GT Car takes inspiration from iconic Ferrari racers of the past such as the 1963 250 LM. As such the slammed supercar sports a dramatic aero kit with a massive swooping front splitter equipped with a pair of canards on either side, a full-length side skirt, a multi-plane rear wing set above an equally robust rear diffuser, and hugely flared fenders with four pronounced front slits that help to mitigate turbulence in the tires’ surrounding wheel wells. The GT3-spec 296 also rides on a new set of seven-arm split-spoke center-locking wheels that are shod in Pirelli P ZERO rubber.
And, while the production version of the 296 GTB boasts a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 that’s helped along by a set of 123-kW (165-hp) YASA MGU-K Axial flux electric motors, GT3 regulations will require Ferrari to jettison the hybrid components from the 296’s powertrain and run a solely petrol-powered mill. It’s unclear exactly what type of engine Ferrari’s GT3 racer will use, though we anticipate it exhibiting better dyno figures than the Prancing Horse’s outgoing 488-based GT3 machine.
Currently, the first examples of the upcoming 296 GT3 are being constructed by racing specialist Oreca in Signes, France. The Ferrari 296 GT3 racer will then begin track testing in the coming months prior to making its competition debut in 2023.
