Leclerc Joins Expanded AF Corse Pro Effort

Arthur Leclerc will join AF Corse as part of the team’s newly expanded GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS effort, which will encompass a two-car Pro effort in Sprint Cup for the first time.

Leclerc, the younger brother of Ferrari Formula 1 star Charles, will contest all ten European rounds at the wheel of one of AF Corse’s Pro-entered Ferrari 296 GT3s alongside a rotating cast of co-drivers.

The 24-year-old previously sampled the Ferrari 499P Hypercar in the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test, although Global Head of Ferrari Endurance Antonello Coletta previously indicated that Leclerc was set for more GT racing opportunities in the future.

In the five-round Endurance Cup, which is headlined by the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Leclerc will share the No. 50 car with Hypercar driver Antonio Fuoco and Eliseo Donno, who steps up to the Pro squad after representing AF Corse in Silver Cup last year.

Reigning Endurance Cup champions Alessandro Pier Guidi and Alessio Rovera will team up with Vincent Abril aboard the No. 51 car.

Abril joins Pier Guidi and Rovera as full-time co-driver after the Monegasque driver joined them on a one-off basis at Monza and helped secure pole position and a podium finish.

He was confirmed as an AF Corse-contracted driver for a second consecutive season last month.

In addition to its Endurance Cup program, AF Corse will also embark on a two-car Pro effort in Sprint Cup for the first time.

Outside of a three-race run for Raffaele Giammaria and Ezequiel Perez Companc in 2016, the Amato Ferrari-led stable has never held a presence in the sprint series’ Pro category before.

Leclerc will share the No. 50 car with Ferrari factory driver Thomas Neubauer, while Endurance Cup co-drivers Rovera and Abril will tackle driving duties in the sister No. 51 machine.

The GTWC Europe season kicks off with the Endurance Cup opener at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 11-13, while the Sprint campaign starts at Brands Hatch on May 3-4.