RACECAR FOCUS FERRARI 296 GT3
Thoroughbred Ferrari has taken a novel approach to its new GT3 contender, taking advantage of new technical regulations to create a lighter, stiffer, more accessible car than its predecessor By ANDREW COTTON
F
errari has taken a radical new approach to the development of its 296 GT3 by taking full advantage of new regulations that allowed it to optimise the design from concept phase through to final build. Rather than having to present new ideas to an FIA committee for approval, which slows up the process and introduces uncertainty, the new technical regulations that govern the class are written in stone, and that allowed Ferrari’s designers to focus on what they knew to be allowed from the start. That simplified the design process and meant the team was able to aggressively pursue avenues that have helped to produce a better, less expensive car for its customers. The car is based on the hybrid 296 GTB, though the hybrid system has been removed from the racing version in order to comply with the technical regulations for the class.
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Both the production and race cars share the 3.0-litre V6 architecture, with the twin turbos mounted within the 120-degree vee angle, although the internals are completely different between the two engines.
Three degrees 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 c of g for the car to optimise longitudinal weight distribution. Exploiting the degree of freedom allowed by the technical regulations, the engine is also rotated three degrees tail up to allow for a more efficient rear diffuser. The design team says it has carried over the strengths of the 488 GT3 and identified its weak points in order to improve on them where possible in the
296. This was a process that was carried out by both the factory Competizioni GT and customer teams and drivers. That led to a simplified rationalisation of the bodywork, more torsional rigidity, greater safety and improvements in areas outside the remit of Balance of Performance, such as braking efficiency, driveability of the engine and adaptability to different makes of tyre. However, the biggest change is the application of prototype thinking to a GT car in terms of accessibility to key elements, with removable front and rear bodywork that allows engineers and mechanics better access to the engine and the gearbox. ‘On the bodywork, we took into consideration the racing inputs, and now the car is fully oriented to a racing application and operation,’ says Ferdinando Cannizzo, head of GT track car development at Ferrari. ‘The way that we did that was to
