AF Corse GTE-Am Ferraris Withdrawn from Shanghai

Photo: John Dagys

AF Corse’s GTE-Am entries have been withdrawn from next weekend’s Six Hours of Shanghai, according to the latest entry list published by the FIA WEC.

Both the Nos. 61 and 81 Ferrari F458 Italia GTs are no longer listed on the entry for the sixth round of the championship, although the AF Corse-run 8Star Motorsports Ferrari is still present, with Matteo Cressoni joining full-season pilots Paolo Ruberti and Giancluca Roda in the No. 90 car.

No reason has been given for the withdrawal, although there was speculation in the paddock at Fuji that one of the team’s customers was preparing an exit from the series due to recent Balance of Performance concerns.

Steve Wyatt was due to share the No. 81 car with Michele Rugolo and newly crowned European Le Mans Series champion Andrea Bertolini, while the No. 61 car had featured Luis Perez-Companc, Marco Cioci and Mirko Venturi up until the Fuji round.

Americans Bret Curtis, Mike Skeen and Dutch ace Jeroen Bleekemolen subbed for the normal No. 61 crew in Japan as a one-off.

It leaves the Shanghai grid with a total of 27 cars, including the two Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03bs, which are only contesting the Chinese round.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John