- Ferrari will compete in the FIA GT1 World Championship with its 458 Italia.
- The team and drivers that will field the car have not been announced.
- In its third season, the series will include GT1 and modified GT3 entries.
LONDON — Ferrari will compete in the FIA GT1 World Championship, series organizer SRO Motorsports has announced.
The Italian marque will run its 458 Italia in the series, joining a field that includes the Audi R8 LMS Ultra, BMW Z4 GT3, McLaren MP4-12C GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 and Nissan GT-R.
The team that will field the car for Ferrari was not revealed, nor were drivers identified.
The entry of Ferrari brings the family of iconic Italian brands back into the GT1 fold. Maserati won the inaugural GT1 championship title in 2010 with Vitaphone Racing and Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini campaigning one of two Maserati MC12 GT1 entries.
The Maserati did not compete last year. It is not eligible for the series this year, along with the Corvette C6.R and Aston Martin DBR9 which competed last year.
In its third season, the GT1 World Championship is introducing a new line of machines to replace the GT1 category entries from the previous two seasons. GT1 cars will compete against GT3 machines, which will be permitted modifications for equalized competition.
Each manufacturer will be permitted one works team. In previous seasons, two teams were allowed.
The purpose of both rules changes is to encourage a greater diversity of manufacturers competing in the series. The Ferrari entry will be the sixth team to commit to participation in the series, which begins a 10-race schedule April 8 in Nogaro, France.
Hexis Racing is the reigning team champion. Hexis, based in Lédenon, France, claimed its second title campaigning a pair of Aston Martin DBR9s, with Clivio Piccione and Stef Dusseldorp driving the No. 3 car and Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini in the No. 4.
Driving champions were Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr of Britain-based JR Motorsports in a Nissan GT-R GT1.
Inside Line says: The entry of Ferrari is a welcome boost for GT1, which loses a number of the temporarily homologated cars and several teams that competed in the first two years.
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