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Serra Not Expecting Ferrari Hypercar Drive; Focus on GT3

Daniel Serra set to focus on GT racing with Ferrari; Brazilian not expecting to race 499P…

Photo: Ferrari

Ferrari factory driver Daniel Serra says he’s not expecting to be part of the manufacturer’s Hypercar lineup for next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship season, with the Brazilian instead set to focus on GT racing.

Serra, 38 was part of Ferrari’s factory AF Corse crew in the WEC GTE-Pro category last year and is the current IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTD Pro champion.

The two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Pro winner has also been involved in the testing of the Ferrari 296 GT3, which will start racing with customer teams next year.

Serra has not yet tested the twin-turbo V6 hybrid-powered Ferrari 499P and he doesn’t expect to be one of the six full-time drivers, due to his focus on the GT3 project.

“To be honest, I’m more involved on the 296 development,” he told Sportscar365.

“I’m not really involved on the LMH. I’m not expecting to be part of the lineup for LMH, especially because I’m much more focused on the 296 development.”

Serra added that he is content with not being involved in the LMH program, which will bring Ferrari back to the top level of sports car racing in a factory capacity for the first time in 50 years.

His focus on the GT3 side, in addition to his Stock Car Pro Series commitments in Brazil, helps to narrow down which members of the Ferrari factory pool will form the WEC crew.

Ferrari’s management maintains a stance that it will select its Hypercar lineup from the existing factory GT roster.

The roster contains eight core members: Serra, James Calado, Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon and Alessio Rovera.

“I’m happy to be 100 percent involved on the 296,” Serra said.

“LMH is an amazing class and championship, so it would be nice to drive it and see how it is.

“But I’m OK. I still have my commitments in Brazil, which in the end is a lot of traveling, testing and racing there and here. I’m pretty happy where I am.”

The Ferrari 296 GT3 was publicly unveiled at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa in July and has been undertaking track tests around Europe to prepare for its rollout to customer teams. It appeared on track alongside the 499P at last weekend’s Finali Mondiali.

The manufacturer is aiming to attain FIA GT3 homologation by the end of this year.

“I think we are doing really good steps,” Serra summarized.

“We are trying to do the fastest car possible, but we need to think about the customer drivers. I think we are doing a good job because the car is not just faster, but easier to drive.

“We are putting in a lot of mileage to check everything and see what we need to improve. I think we are doing good steps every test.”

Drivers Focusing on Collective Testing Push

With three seats available in each car for Ferrari’s WEC effort, and with Serra expecting to focus on GT racing, one more driver from the core group of eight will miss out on a full-time Hypercar program.

However, Ferrari’s drivers say that they are concentrating more on the collective push to get the car ready for its homologation and race debut at Sebring in March.

“I never had the impression of having a competition with all my colleagues,” Molina told Sportscar365.

“The positive thing is that we are all focused on the development of the car. This is helping a lot for the guys to improve and step up the development. We are all doing our job.

“We did an LMP2 test before Le Mans and I never felt any competition between us.

“We are more focused on the development of the car. I think it’s something positive for the project.”

Calado, who like Molina drives a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the WEC’s GTE-Pro class, added that it has been important for all the drivers to develop the 499P as a unit.

“It’s good to have against other people’s opinions, and then the guys back at the workshop can work out what’s best,” the Englishman told Sportscar365.

“One or two of us will obviously not drive in the Hypercar, but you’ve got to think positive and you’re a Ferrari driver. It’s an amazing team and they’ve got amazing GT cars as well.

“We’ve got to think like that. Whatever happens, all of us are proud to be Ferrari drivers.”

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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