The Ferrari 296 Challenge Is A 690bhp Track-Only Monster

With any new Ferrari Berlinetta, you can practically guarantee a track-only Challenge version will be on the cards. Finally, the 296 Challenge gets its turn, with a debut in the single-make series set for 2024.

If you’re not familiar with Ferrari Challenge, it’s an officially sanctioned, factory-ran series which uses a single car - allowing some of Ferrari’s favourite customers to compete wheel-to-wheel. It began in 1993 and has since expanded from a European series to having separate North American, Japanese and UK championships too.

Currently, each championship uses the 488 Challenge Evo, but that will be replaced with the 296 GTB-based Challenge in Europe and North America from next season.

So what makes a Challenge? Well, in the case of the 296 a seriously-aggressive new aero package has been fitted to the car - said to produce over 870kg of downforce 155mph with the rear wing at an angle of maximum attack. For context, that's 10kg more than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS produces at 177mph.

The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 is shed of its hybrid components, reducing power to 690bhp from 819bhp, though peak torque remains at 546lb ft despite the removal of an electric motor. It seems counterproductive to reduce power in a no-regulations race car, but the benefit of this is reduced weight. Ferrari doesn’t state a figure but you should expect some heft to be shaved off the 296 GTB’s 1,470kg dry weight.

That also gives it more power than the 296 GT3 race car, with regulations capping that car at approx. 592bhp.

Other changes to the 296 Challenge include the debut of ABS Evo Track -  a reworked version of the GTB’s brake-by-wire system - along with new CCM-R brake discs supplied by Brembo. Pirelli has also developed a new set of 19-inch tyres for the 296 GTB Challenge.

Presumably, the interior has seen a complete stripping out as well, but Ferrari has yet to reveal it.

No word publicly from Ferrari on how much the 296 Challenge will cost, but no doubt your nearest dealer will be willing to let you know if you’ve already got a collection of the Italian firm’s sports cars. The arrival of a Challenge often precedes a more hardcore road car too, so we’ll be keeping our ears to the ground for a hotter road-legal 296.