Ferrari 488 Challenge 2019 Review

By way of background, the Ferrari Challenge is a factory-backed one-make race series, along the lines of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Supercup and Trofeo Maserati championships.

The cars for the Challenge series are all prepared at Ferrari’s Maranello HQ and are identical, which means drivers compete on a level playing field – something that’s hardly the case in most forms of motorsport, especially Formula 1, where the teams with the biggest budgets usually dominate.

The Ferrari Challenge dates back to 1993 and was created for owners of the 348 Berlinetta who wanted to have a crack at racing. The series has steadily evolved over the years, and Ferrari has subsequently rolled out Challenge racers based on the 355, 360, 430, 458 and currently the 488.

The Challenge series has mushroomed to the extent there are now three separate championships – Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific – with each of these attracting healthy fields across two categories.

Pro drivers vie for the Trofeo Pirelli (Pirelli Trophy), while ‘gentlemen drivers’ compete for the Coppa Shell (Shell Cup). There are Pro and Am sub-divisions within each of these two categories, with drivers classified according to their skill levels and racing experience.

Speaking of experience, I’ve got plenty of that testing road cars, but very little in terms of punting race cars with slick tyres and stripped-out cabins stuffed with a roll cage.

And even though I had a dozen angry laps in the Lamborghini Huracan Evo at this same circuit four weeks ago, I realise I’m going to have to completely recalibrate my brain, fingertips and right foot to make the adjustment to the hardcore 488 Challenge.

As its numeric designation suggests, the latest Challenge racer is based on the 488 GTB, but it actually has more in common with Ferrari’s competition-prepped 488 GT3 and GTE than it does with the road car.

The 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8’s outputs of 670hp (493kW) at 8000rpm and 760Nm at 3000rpm might be slightly down on the mental 488 Pista, but the racer has a comprehensive aero package, of which the massive rear wing is obviously the most noticeable element.

The 488 Challenge also rides lower than its road-going siblings, courtesy of bespoke springs and dampers, but arguably the biggest game-changers are the slick tyres (275mm wide at the front, 315mm at the rear), which means you brake much later and carry far more corner speed than would be possible in even the bonkers 488 Pista.

Somewhat incongruously for a racecar, the 488 Challenge isn’t deafeningly noisy – despite the lack of sound-deadening trim inside the cabin – and this is largely down to the heavily muffled note of the turbo engine.

This means I can converse with Ferrari instructor Andrea Fausti, who’s perched in the passenger seat, without having to shout. Even the showroom-standard Lamborghini Huracan Evo I drove at this same circuit a month ago was far noisier inside the cabin when going at it hammer and tongs.

Given my unfamiliarity with the 488 Challenge – and, more importantly, the slick tyres it’s shod with – I opt to take a relatively conservative approach on my out lap, and even on the following tours my focus is on trying to gain a feel for the car, rather than trying to set a lap record… which I’ve no hope of doing in any case.

Immediately noticeable is that the 488 Challenge has bags of low- and mid-range torque (its quota of 760 Newtons are on tap from just 3000rpm), so there’s no need to rev the living daylights out of it.

In fact, the quickest way around – especially through the succession of sweepers in the mid-section of the Bahrain track – is to upshift early and make use of that massive mid-range wallop.

As expected, the Pirelli slicks serve up bags of grip, which means you can stand on the brakes much later than you could in a car (no matter what it is) shod with road tyres. It also means you turn into corners later as there’s so much front-end bite from the slicks that even the smallest of steering inputs elicits an immediate response.

There are two traction-control ‘manettino’ switches on the steering wheel, and each has been twirled to the most conservative of its four settings for my brief stint in the car. One of these switches controls the degree to which the traction control reins in the action, while the other controls the timing and duration of electronic intervention.

Ideally, I would have preferred more liberal settings for the electronic nannies, as the cut in forward thrust is noticeable while attempting to launch out of a couple of the tighter corners (especially Turns 8 and 10 at BIC).

The torque interruption seemingly ruins the flow of the lap, but these are the settings all first-time 488 Challenge drivers are sent out with, and it’s probably prudent a decision.

The fact the 488 Challenge has huge torque, all of which is transmitted to tarmac via solely the rear wheels (unlike the AWD Huracan Evo), means you need to squeeze the throttle out of tight corners, rather than standing on the gas.

Even so, the car feels terrifically agile, adjustable and non-intimidating. The steering, too, relays plenty of feedback to your fingertips.

With a dry weight of just over 1340kg, the 488 Challenge has a healthy power-to-weight ratio (better than 3kg/kW, even with fluids), and it hits 280km/h-plus down the front straight at BIC, although my focus is more on nailing the braking point for the tight Turn 1 than watching the speedo.

In the chase for maximum acceleration out of turns, the F1 DCT transmission in the Challenge has shorter gear ratios than the road car and shift times are also quicker.

After four laps that seem to be over far too quickly (not due to any lap-record-setting heroics on my part), we trundle back into pitlane and I try and assimilate what I’ve just experienced.

The overriding impression is that although the 488 Challenge undoubtedly requires a skilled pro driver to extract the very best from it, the car is user-friendly enough for even non-racers to step into and get around a track fairly briskly.

Unlike other race categories, there are no private teams in the Ferrari Challenge, rather dealer-related organisations that register cars for the races. Ferrari says this is to maintain the purity of the series and make for a level playing field.

Although each dealer-backed team obviously strives to optimise the setup of the car for their driver, none are seeking to bend the rulebook or come up with ‘creative interpretations’ of the rules in an attempt to gain an edge over the competition.

The result is close racing and a good show for spectators, not only in the pro-focused Trofeo Pirelli category, but also in the Coppa Shell championship for gentlemen drivers (most of whom are wealthy business owners or bankers/investors).

In case you’re thinking the amateurs are plodders, think again, as the pole position lap at Bahrain for Coppa Shell was only 2sec adrift of the 2:02.8sec benchmark for the elite Trofeo Pirelli race.

As you can imagine, the Ferrari Challenge is not aimed at budget racers, as you first need to buy the car, which costs just about 235,000 euros (around $376K in our money, plus taxes), and then shell out anywhere between $250K to $400K per season, depending on how much testing you want to do and how seriously you want to take the championship.

There are also other possibilities, as you (if you have exceptionally deep pockets) can buy a 488 Challenge, not with the intention of competing, but using it for your own private track days or for taking part in non-competitive ‘Passione Ferrari’ events run by the brand.

Ferrari flies in the car and a team of technicians (at a substantial cost, obviously), so it’s a fully professional set-up.

The European series of the Ferrari Challenge is broadcast in over 90 countries around the globe, which means the championship gains a lot of marketing exposure for the Prancing Horse, as well as contributing handsomely to its coffers.

Ferrari’s Sporting Activities Director, Antonello Coletta, won’t talk numbers, but he concedes the customer racing program is a great revenue source for the company.

The opening round of the 2019 Asia-Pacific Ferrari Challenge series will be one of the support races for the Australian GP from March 15-17.

Now then, Antonella, how about entering a car in the championship for the media? I can think of at least one willing volunteer from the motoring press.

Ferrari 488 Challenge fast facts:
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 493kW at 8000rpm
Torque: 760Nm at 3000rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch auto, RWD
Top speed: 320km/h-plus
0-100km/h: Less than 3.0sec
Length: 4587mm
Width: 1946mm
Height: 1204mm
Wheelbase: 2650mm
Weight: 1343kg (dry)