Cassidy to Make WEC Debut in AF Corse Ferrari

Nick Cassidy will make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut this year driving for AF Corse in the GTE-Am class.

The ABB FIA Formula E Championship driver has been named alongside Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci in the No. 54 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo for the 2022 season.

Cassidy replaces Giancarlo Fisichella who had been a member of the entry funded by Flohr, the founder and chairman of business airline VistaJet, for the last three campaigns.

Cassidy drove for AF Corse in the DTM season finale where he stood in for Alex Albon and will now continue his relationship with the Italian team on a full-time basis.

“Very pleased and honored to be joining the FIA World Endurance Championship with Ferrari, AF Corse, Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci,” the New Zealander wrote on Instagram.

“Looking forward to some amazing races with great partners.”

Cassidy was due to make his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut last year with Porsche GTE-Pro squad HubAuto Racing. However, his plans were scuppered by a Formula E round being moved onto the same weekend as the Le Mans test day, which he needed to take part in as a Gold-rated driver.

This year’s calendar sees the planned Jakarta E-Prix take place on the same weekend as the test day, while Cassidy is still Gold-ranked according to the FIA’s rating list.

AF Corse is again running three cars in GTE-Am this year, but the No. 54 Ferrari is the only retained entry following Cetilar Racing’s switch to the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup combined with reigning class champion Francois Perrodo’s return to LMP2.

Pierre Ragues and WEC debutant Franck Dezotoux are teaming up in the Spirit of Race-labeled Ferrari, which is using the No. 71 designation previously assigned to one of Ferrari’s factory GTE-Pro cars. Dezotoux recently tested the car at Cervesina in Italy. 

The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari will be driven by Toni Vilander, Simon Mann and Christoph Ulrich.

Ferrari last week announced that Antonio Fuoco will join Miguel Molina, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado in the AF Corse-run GTE-Pro lineup for 2022.