AF Corse Announces Ferrari Entry for Am Pairing

Reigning European Endurance Cup champion AF Corse has announced plans to enter a car into this year’s GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season.

The Italian squad will operate the Am-class No. 61 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 for Ferrari Challenge competitor Jean-Claude Saada and drift racer Conrad Grunewald.

It is set to mark the first time that AF Corse has fielded an entry in GTWC America.

Additionally, Grunewald is set for his first World Challenge outing since the 2017 season when he made a one-off appearance in the two-driver Sprint X GT championship.

Saada, meanwhile, finished second in last year’s Ferrari Challenge North America Trofeo Pirelli Am standings and has been competing in the Italian marque’s single-make structure for several years.

“I have been wanting to run in an endurance series for a while now, and what an opportunity this represents to do so with such a well-recognized series like SRO,” said Saada.

“I am also deeply honored and humbled to team up with AF Corse, and my team-mate and friend Conrad Grunewald.

“Amato [Ferrari, AF Corse principal] and his team have been nothing but first class. We are looking forward to new adventures, fun races and a great learning experience on some of the most amazing tracks in the United States and beyond.”

Grunewald added: “I’ve had to privilege to work with Jean-Claude since 2018 and it’s been great to watch his improvement as a driver.

“After such a competitive run in Ferrari Challenge in 2020, this seemed like the logical choice.

“To be running with AF Corse is very exciting as well.  Their experience and proven results in Europe should help our transition into GT3.”

AF Corse is also running a GT3 car in the Rolex 24 at Daytona this month for Matteo Cressoni, Simon Mann and factory drivers Nicklas Nielsen and Daniel Serra.