Scuderia Corsa Could Make GTLM Switch for 2021

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Scuderia Corsa could make the move to the GT Le Mans ranks of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, in what would bring a full-season Ferrari entry back to the class for the first time in six years.

Multiple sources have indicated to Sportscar365 that the WeatherTech-backed operation is evaluating a step up to the factory class with at least one Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

It comes amid Porsche’s withdrawal from the category at the end of the season, leaving only BMW Team RLL and newly crowned 2020 class champion Corvette Racing as confirmed entries for next year.

IMSA President John Doonan revealed to Sportscar365 in September that an effort had been underway from the sanctioning body to maintain the six-car grid in class, confirming discussions with multiple teams looking to run Ferrari and Aston Martin Vantage GTE machinery next year.

While having ruled out a full-factory effort for 2021, Ferrari’s head of GT competition Antonello Coletta told Sportscar365 that it would support its “loyal customer teams” in GTLM next year, specifically naming WeatherTech “if they consider to change categories.”

A spokesperson from Scuderia Corsa declined comment to Sportscar365 during last month’s Motul Petit Le Mans while a representative from WeatherTech Racing said they are “considering all options” for 2021.

Cooper MacNeil contested this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE-Pro class with its GTE-spec Ferrari that it could utilize, or upgrade its existing GT3-spec car that claimed GT Daytona class honors in the recent ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

MacNeil is slated to complete the GTD season in next weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Alessandro Balzan — who recently replaced Toni Vilander in the full-season lineup — and Endurance Cup driver Jeff Westphal.

Should the green light be given on a GTLM program it would mark the first time since the 2015 WeatherTech Championship season that a Ferrari would be represented in the class full-time.

Scuderia Corsa contested the four-round Endurance Cup the following year with a GTLM class Prancing Horse spearheaded by factory drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra but has not undertaken a program with a GTE-spec car in the U.S. since.

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