The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

championship that was created in 1993, initially catering to owners of the 348 Challenge who wanted to race their cars. The first European season took place in 1993, with a North American series added in 1994. It now encompasses five official series in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. Competitors from each series are brought together at the annual World Finals (Finali Mondiali) event. In the course of more than 30 years of history, the one-make championship has featured nine cars from the Maranello marque: the 348 Challenge, F355 Challenge, 360 Challenge, F430 Challenge, 458 Challenge, 458 Challenge Evo, 488 Challenge, 488 Challenge Evo and currently the 296 Challenge.

Series

Currently there are four distinct series, in Europe, in North America, in the UK, and in Japan. The Ferrari Challenge is managed by Ferrari's Corse Clienti department.

Ferrari Challenge Italy

The now defunct Ferrari Challenge Italy used a two-class format in which distinguished between professional competition drivers in the ''Trofeo Pirelli'' (lit. "

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

Trophy") and amateur "gentleman drivers" in the ''Coppa Shell'' (lit. "

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Cup").Straw, Edd. "Ferrari Challenge", ''Autosport magazine'', November 16, 2006, pp.63. This format has now been transferred to the Europe Challenge series. It was originally launched in 1993, with backing from Pirelli.

Ferrari Challenge Europe

The European series is a four-class championship, the classes are: * Trofeo Pirelli * Trofeo Pirelli Am * Coppa Shell * Coppa Shell Am

Ferrari Challenge North America

The North American also features the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell class system. This championship was inaugurated in 1994. It is organized by Ferrari North America and sanctioned by

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

Ferrari Challenge UK

Starting with the 2019 season, the regional Ferrari Challenge UK series has been launched, contested at some of the UK's most iconic tracks, from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, Oulton Park to Snetterton.

Ferrari Challenge Japan

Starting with the 2023 season, the calendar of the Prancing Horse single-make series has been enriched with the second regional series, the Ferrari Challenge Japan, which includes five rounds taking place at the tracks of Fuji (two rounds), Autopolis, Suzuka and Sugo.

Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific was organised from 2011 to 2022, inaugurated in combination with the growing interest and sales for Ferrari in Asia. The seasons included events in Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The Asia-Pacific also featured the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell class system.

Ferrari Challenge Australasia

2025 saw the launch of an Australian-based series with five rounds held at Australia's four largest motorsport venues. The series launched with a mix of 296 Challenge and 488 Challenge EVO equipped teams.

Finali Mondiali

From 2013, the major Ferrari Challenge series have combined to host a World Final common event for all championships. This event culminates in a race containing as many of the competitors across all series in both Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell as can fit, with Ferrari declaring the winners to be "world champions". The following table has the winners of each event:

Champions

One-make racing

The Ferrari Challenge uses a single model from the manufacturer's road car range, suitably modified to make them safe for competition use. The lineage began with the 348 Challenge in 1993, followed by its successor, the F355 Challenge, and the 360 Modena was introduced in 2000. The F355 remained eligible during 2000 and 2001.2004 Ferrari Challenge
From ''shell.com.'' Retrieved September 2, 2007. The 360 Challenge version was the first competition-orientated version to be marketed to the public. The F430 Challenge was phased in during a transitional year in 2006, with the same being the case for the 458 Challenge in 2011. The F430 introduced

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

brake discs for the first time and gained over the 360CS, which has reduced lap times to approximately three seconds shy of the F430 GT2. The 458 Challenge is the first to have driver controlled aids such as traction control, stability management and adjustable ABS brakes.

Ferrari Challenge racing cars

The 296 Challenge is the most recent in a line of Ferraris used in the Ferrari Challenge series. The lineage is as follows: * Ferrari 348 Challenge (1993–1995) * Ferrari F355 Challenge (1995–2000) * Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge (2000–2006) * Ferrari F430 Challenge (2006–2011) * Ferrari 458 Challenge (2011–2013) * Ferrari 458 Challenge Evo (2014–2016) * Ferrari 488 Challenge (2017–2020) * Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo (2020–2023) * Ferrari 296 Challenge (2024-Present) All the cars used in the series are track only, although some 360 Challenges have been made road legal in Australia, with extensive modifications. However, due to new legislation, this is not possible anymore. The 360 Modena Challenge used in the series should not be confused with the 360 Challenge Stradale, which was a road-legal, track day oriented version of the 360, similar to the 430 Scuderia.

Racing simulators based on the series

In 1999,

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

's producer

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensi ...

created '' Ferrari F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa'', a video game based on the Ferrari F355 Challenge series. In 2008,

System 3 System 3, System/3 or System III may refer to: Computing and electronics *Acorn System 3, a home computer produced by Acorn Computers from 1980 *Cromemco System Three, a home computer produced by Cromemco from 1978 *IBM System/3, a low-end business ...

's Mark Cale created '' Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli'', the official game of the Ferrari Challenge featuring the licensed Ferrari F430 Challenge Italian, European and North American 2007 series. In 2012, Ferrari Challenge appeared in '' Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends''.

References

External links

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Ferrari Challenge North America

2017 Ferrari 488 Challenge race car revealed
{{Ferrari Sports car racing series One-make series