The Ferrari 296 GT3 represents the future of the Prancing Horse in GT racing. This sector has always seen the closest customer relationship and the most significant transfer of technology and innovative solutions to production cars. It’s a versatile car, developed with the needs of all drivers in mind. Based on the hybrid 296 GTB road car, the hybrid system has been removed from the racing version to comply with the technical regulations for the class.
The production and race cars share the 3.0-litre V6 architecture, with the twin turbos mounted within the 120-degree vee angle. Naturally, a racing engine operates differently than a production engine, and there was plenty of scope for changes to the internal mechanisms to allow it to run in more extreme conditions. The racing version has bespoke internals, a more robust design of pistons and conrods to improve reliability, and the whole engine is moved forward and down in the chassis to lower the overall centre of gravity for the car to optimise longitudinal weight distribution. The reduced number of cylinders, from eight in the 488 to six in the 296, helped with engine size and location, but the team worked hard to make significant improvements in all areas around the engine bay. Smaller radiators mean better aerodynamic efficiency and less weight higher than the predecessor, which helps overall car performance. Ferrari attacked the design of the 296 intending to reduce weight, lower the centre of gravity and...