What is the Ferrari Challenge Racing Series?
Ferrari Challenge North America is a high-end professional race series. Race cars built by Ferrari. Teams outfitted with matching gear. Veteran driving coaches crunching the numbers. It will be run by the same IMSA officials who run the Rolex 24. Plenty of Ferrari signage and fancy hospitality. You'll even get some slick TV coverage. Still, the only thing about Ferrari Challenge that isn't professional is the drivers. Which is why it's still going strong.
Founded in Europe in 1993, the one-make series allows gentleman drivers to race their Ferraris in wheel-to-wheel competition. Ferrari Challenge forges a closer relationship between Ferrari owners and one of the world's most enduring brands. It's important to the company's research and development for the company's future models.
Starting in 1993, the Ferrari 348 and Ferrari F355 Challenge cars were basically street cars turned into weekend racers. The 348 was the first factory built car. Ferrari built fewer than 50 348 Challenge cars before ending production in 1995. After the F355 was a huge hit with billionaires and millionaires, Ferrari continued the series with the F360 in 1999, F430 in 2005, F458 in 2010 and now the F488s starting in 2016.
Unlike the more rarefied forms of pro racing, like IMSA, SRO, or Trans Am, the Ferrari Challenge series isn't as cutthroat. Even so, it's a big step up from club racing with SCCA or NASA, let alone Lemons or ChampCar. A no-crowd-and-no-crowds vibe discourages chippy post-race confrontations. A driver should put fairness and safety ahead of finishing position, as the sporting regulations state: "Drivers should be competitors, not combatants, which also applies to "On-track" and "off-track" etiquette.
Depending on their speed and experience, drivers are grouped into four classes. North American races usually draw 40-50 drivers. There are parallel series in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United Kingdom, and a year-end global championship is held at a far-flung, exotic track.
The Challenge 488 is relatively easy and rewarding to drive. It has a full set of aerodynamics: a front splitter, a rear diffuser, canards, and a massive wing, which sell for about $330,000. Ferrari dealerships must campaign it, though professional race teams usually take care of the prep and track support. Each season consists of seven races and setup like arrive-and-drive so you don't have to put tires in a truck and haul them to the track. When you factor in travel, test days, crash damage, and other ancillary costs, entrants spend anything from $600,000 to $1 million a year.
If you know the expenses of Pro-Racing, you'll realize that participating in the Ferrari Challenge sits firmly on the "experience" versus "investment" side of high-end car ownership. Also, since "we invest heavily in this aspect of the weekend, and we work to make sure the experience is always better than the last," says Matteo Torre, president of Ferrari North America. We've been compared to the Formula 1 Paddock Club in terms of scope and quality."
Race tracks are always top-notch, so entrants won't find themselves at crappy club circuits in remote places where it's impossible to find decent food or staying in luxurious hotels. Their needs are catered to by the organizers, who hire Italian chefs to cook and throw parties and introduce new Ferrari models.
A few drivers use Ferrari Challenge as a steppingstone to professional racing. Despite that, Ferrari Challenge satisfies an itch that needs scratching, maybe for a few years, maybe for a few decades.
Some entrants drift away from racing after a few years. But Torre says 10 to 15 newcomers sign up every year. The pipeline doesn't appear to be drying up anytime soon. If you're a car guy, you'll end up in a Ferrari one day. If you want to see if that car really performs on the limit-and if your investment portfolio can handle it-then Ferrari Challenge is the way to go.
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