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We Drove Ferrari’s 296 Challenge Race Car on the Track—Here’s What It Was Like
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- We Drove Ferrari’s 296 Challenge Race Car on the Track—Here’s What It Was Like
(Ferrari S.p.A.)
Enzo Ferrari was so famously smitten by competition that he viewed road-car sales as a mere means to finance racing. The brand was synonymous with the top echelon of motorsport since its founding, but it took decades for Ferrari to refine the experience for amateur racers. The one-make Ferrari Challenge series launched in 1993 alongside the modestly modified 348 Challenge model, whose $7,500 surcharge made it track-ready while maintaining road legality. It wasn't until the 360 Challenge debuted in 2000 that Ferrari's client-focused competition series offered a track-only car.
The latest, greatest way to make a small fortune from a large one is the $411,000-plus 296 Challenge, the track-only iteration of the 296 GTB . A handful of race teams offer packages that enable turnkey race support covering six rounds in the North American series and the Finali Mondiali world finals in Mugello, Italy. The approximately $1 million-per-season cost includes transportation for the race car and spares, full mechanical support, and "a reasonable allotment for crash-damage repairs," according to Ferrari's Jeffrey Grossbard. Your fender benders may vary.
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The Ferrari 296 Challenge race car.
The new 296 Challenge model features the most radical changes to a customer-focused Ferrari race car yet. Notably, the road-going 296 GTB's hybrid configuration has been ditched for competition, leaving only the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 power plant. The 690 hp engine revs to 8,500 rpm, 500 more rpm than before. Though the Challenge model's power-to-weight ratio lags behind the monstrously motivated 819 hp street version, its focus on precision, maneuverability, and manageability make it a better tool for the rigors of racing. Though the road car would win in a straight-line contest, the race car weighs 308 pounds less and produces over 1,900 pounds of downforce at 155 mph, making it quicker around a circuit.
Beyond the overt physical differences—such as the steroidal aerodynamic enhancements, the tattooed race livery graphics, and the massive rear wing—the race version of the 296 feels like an entirely different beast. Climbing into an example of the 296 Challenge car at Circuito Monteblanco, just outside of Seville, Spain, presents an ergonomic gauntlet for the would-be racer: maneuvering through the safety cage requires a bit of body contortion before plopping into the form-fitting carbon-fiber bucket seat. Once seated, you will find that the cockpit view swaps the refinements of the road car for the industrial starkness of a racer.
Preparing for a drive session at the Circuito Monteblanco track in Spain.
The steering yoke is button-clad and compact; ahead of it is a digital display with a dozen LED lights alerting to the upper edges of the 8,500 rpm rev range, and to the right is an aviation-like panel of buttons and switches. In fact, enough of the 296 GTB's plush interior panels have been replaced with matte carbon fiber to infuse the racer with an aerospace vibe. Furthering the mission-focused theme is the pit crew on hand. With quick efficiency, they reach in to secure and cinch the five-point harness, plug in the hard-to-reach helmet comms cable, and assist with seat and steering-column adjustments. Once linked via radio, my right-seat instructor walks me through the startup procedure: flip the Battery and Ignition buttons, allow the car's electronics to cycle through their startup procedure, then press the Engine Start button to bring the 3.0-liter V-6 to life.
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The mid-mounted engine fires up with a roar and a few pops, emitting louder and more viscerally arresting sounds than the polished thrum of the road car's "piccolo V-12" due to the straighter exhaust pipes and the lack of gasoline-particulate filters. Once given the go-ahead by the pit crew, I click the paddle shifter into first gear, ease into the pit lane, and accelerate onto the 2.75-mile track before revving to redline and unleashing full power.
The steering yoke is button-clad and compact, and to the right is an aviation-like panel of buttons and switches.
Though the 296 Challenge doesn't have the massive torque from the hybrid-assisted power train found in the 296 GTB, everything about the race variant is lighter, sharper, and more immediate. The power transfer to the rear wheels, clad with sticky Pirelli slicks, feels urgent and direct; the transmission forgoes some smoothness for swiftness; and the light, quick steering rack has a way of aiming the car in your desired direction with easy and eerie accuracy. Freed from the road car's extra weight, the race car is quicker with mid-corner corrections and does away with the 296 GTB's brake vectoring, which would help rotate the vehicle by individually applying brakes. Here, that tactic is not needed because the race car is considerably lighter. Here, the brakes only slow you down.
The 296 Challenge weighs 308 pounds less than the 296 GTB and produces over 1,900 pounds of downforce at 155 mph, making it quicker around a circuit.
Even more remarkable is the 296 Challenge's ability to claw into tarmac as it turns into a corner, its front tires grasping relentlessly as it rotates towards the apex. The act of stabbing the left pedal must be done judiciously, as the Brembo CCM-R Plus braking leverages Formula 1 technology that helps produce neck-snappingly strong stops. More than once, I felt like I was braking late, yet decelerated so powerfully that I could have entered the corner with far more speed. Mid-corner grip is also tremendous, and between the enhanced downforce, the two-stage traction control (which is operated by twin manettino dials on the yoke), and the effectiveness of the electronic rear differential, the 296 Challenge features cornering capabilities that aren't just above the road car's, they're next level.
Though the 296 Challenge doesn't have the same level of torque as the 296 GTB, everything about the race variant is lighter, sharper, and more immediate.
Recalibrating for this race car's superior capabilities requires some mental reshuffling, especially because the road car it's based on is already so capable. After each of my three track sessions, my instructor and I review telemetry, taking note of where I could have gained speed—later braking, selecting a different gear, approaching the apex differently, or coming on the throttle a tad later coming out of a corner. Track driving is a delicate dance of timing, nuance, and smoothness, and the 296 Challenge's lack of reliance on sophisticated driver aids makes it easier to focus on the fundamentals of technique. Trimming lap times is addictive, and each session is an opportunity for improvement. As with any day at the track, the driving sessions end all too quickly. Before long, it's time for a hot lap with an instructor who ekes an awe-inspiring few laps from the race-prepped machine.
After each track session, the telemetry data is reviewed to see where lap times can be trimmed.
Days after the buzz of driving subsides, I connect with Dylan Medler, a college student at the University of Miami who got into racing in the Challenge Series after taking a Ferrari Corso Pilota class at age 17. Corsa Pilota is a multiday experience that offers similar lapping and telemetry review sessions as I experienced in Spain, offering everything from classic drives to race-specific instruction. Medler says that despite feeling like a fast driver on the streets, he finished dead last in his inaugural race. "It was a very, very steep learning curve," he recalls. "I realized I actually had to put in a lot more work than I thought." Recognizing go-karting as a cost-effective way to build driving skills, he worked on his fundamentals in a kart while continuing in the Challenge Series, where he accomplished a third-place finish in 2023. The hard work paid off in 2024 when Medler won the Ferrari Challenge North America championship.
The approximately $1 million-per-season cost to compete in the Ferrari Challenge race series includes transportation for the vehicle and full mechanical support.
Another Ferrari Challenge racer is Roberto Perrina, whose family connections to the brand began when his father immigrated from Italy as a technician and eventually acquired Ferrari's dealer franchise in Seattle from a longtime owner. Perrina says the aha moment that sparked his desire to race happened while watching the Challenge Series world finals at Monza with his father. "I just fell in love with it," he recalls. "I turned to my dad and said, "someday I'm going to do this." Years later he "snuck one past the goalie" by secretly getting an IMSA racing license, entering at Miami Homestead, and winning both races. Perrina finished in second place in the North American series in 2023, and again in 2024.
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Beyond appealing to the need for speed, the Challenge Series welcomes family and friends, according to Perrina. It's a differentiator that transcends sheetmetal or creature comforts. "Many of my best friends are guys I met through Challenge racing," he says. "That's not typical in most race series . . . you can include your family in Challenge and that's not the case with GT3 , GT4 racing, or other spec series. It's so easy to keep coming back."
Click here for more photos of the Ferrari 296 Challenge.
Driving the Ferrari 296 Challenge race car at the Circuito Monteblanco track in Spain.
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