Posted on November 12, 2015.
The new 488 built to the 2016 GTE rules ran for the first time earlier this month, Ferrari has revealed, and it was demonstrated at the Finali Mondiali in Mugello where these pictures were taken.
The car, which replaces the 458, was given what Ferrari GT racing director Antonello Coletta described as “just a shakedown” at Vallelunga with factory drivers Gianmaria Bruni and Davide Rigon sharing the driving. “It was really just a shakedown and we plan to start proper development of the car next month.”
“Then we will go with the other manufacturers to the Balance of Performance test at Ladoux [a Michelin proving ground] at the end of the month.”
Ferrari went public on its plans for the 488 GTE after photographs of the car emerged from the Vallelunga test and subsequently showed it at an unveiling at Mugello.
The 488 is powered by the same 3.9-litre twin-turbo engine as the roadgoing car that was premiered at the Geneva motor show in March. The 2016 rules grant new freedoms, particularly in terms of aerodynamics, which should result in an increase in performance over the existing breed of GTE cars.
“The simulations say between one and a half and two seconds, but I prefer to wait to see it on the stopwatch,” Coletta said. He explained that the focus of the 488 programme was a continued factory assault on the World Endurance Championship with the AF Corse team. He would not be drawn on whether the car would be ready in time for January’s Daytona 24 Hours, the opening round of next year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship, should a customer team such as Risi Competizione want to run one in the GT Le Mans class.
Testing of the GT3 version of the 488, which is built around the same base as the GTE car, has also commenced.
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488 in war paint looks good -
It helps to be able to dance -
Fabulous rear view -
They all want to drive it, clearly -
Race drivers hate microphones, they just want to drive -
The crowds loved it
