The organizers of the 12 Hours of Bathurst and the Intercontinental GT Challenge have chosen to postpone the Australian event until mid-May. In order to avoid the mobility restrictions associated with the pandemic and allow the presence of foreign pilots and teams, the inaugural meeting of the IGTC 2022 will take place between May 13 and 15, date that on the other hand is embedded in the middle of the European GT3 season and that makes it difficult for brands to be present at Mount Panorama. Without going further, Ferrari will miss the 12 Hours of Bathurst.
Ferrari will not have any GT3 in Bathurst except representation of a local team, something very unlikely. Although Antonello Coletta, head of Ferrari’s GT department, dropped that the brand intended to compete in Australia as part of its full-time program at the IGTC, the new date of the 12 Hours of Bathurst makes it almost impossible for the Italian firm to transfer any of its Ferrari 488 GTE Evo ‘based’ in Europe to Australia to compete at Mount Panorama.
In fact, the same weekend in which the 12 Hours of Bathurst has been relocated there is an appointment of the Sprint Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe and a test of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). A situation that not only makes the presence of a European Ferrari at Mount Panorama impossible, but also makes it very difficult to form a driver lineup for a Pro entry with the support of a local team, if there is one. A complex situation that could lead to the interruption of the Ferrari program at the IGTC.
Ferrari contested the full season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in 2021 after winning the 24 Hours of Spa with Iron Lynx, his team in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The Italian brand competed hand in hand with AF Corse in Indianapolis and Kyalami to achieve the title with Alessandro Pier Guidi and Côme Ledogar. However, the scenario looks very different for 2022since if Ferrari is not in Bathurst the chances of winning the title are minimal, which would possibly take the brand away from the GT3 championship this year.
Antonello Coletta This is how he explained it: «We almost certainly won’t have a car this year in Bathurst and that makes participating in the championship unattractive. We will see later if we can run with a car in the IGTC, but it is clear that, if we skip a race, we will have less chance of winning the title. We have a lot of races in a short time in different parts of the world and that doesn’t help. I would like to have many Ferraris in each race, but we have to understand the situation of our customers. We do not have local teams with the necessary budget».