Ferrari’s 296 GTB has won over journalists who recently got behind the wheel, and now it has given us a first look at the GT3 version it hopes can win on the track. The Italian supercar firm released a couple of sketches of a 296 GT3 showing how the genteel GTB could be modified to take on rivals from Aston Martin, McLaren and Porsche in the hotly contested GT3 arena. Though the 296 GTB origins are there if you look hard enough, they’re fairly well obscured by some radical aerodynamic modifications design to improve downforce at racing speeds. At the front an aggressive front splitter terminates at each wheel arch below a pair of canards on either side, while the fender tops feature saw-tooth vents designed to reduce pressure built up below.

Giant side skirts bend seamlessly into the rear quarter panels that feature the same kind of air intake as the road car, but from their your eye is quickly distracted by the huge swan-neck spoiler. Ferrari didn’t release an image showing the rear of the car, so we can only guess at the placing of the exhaust tailpipes and size of the diffuser. Though face it, it’s going to be mahoosive.

 

Ferrari hasn’t divulged many mechanical details about the 296 GT3, though we do know that it will use a version of the 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine that powers the road car. But to comply with racing regulations it will compete as a pure combustion-engined car minus the production model’s electric motor. The road car produces 654 hp from its V6, plus 165 hp from its hybrid power pack for a system total of 818 hp. But the racing version will be considerably less powerful.

Although we’ve only seen sketches of the car, Ferrari admits it’s already being assembled in France by race outfit, Oreca. Ferrari says the design of the 296 GT3 is inspired by past masters like the 1963 250 LM, which scored Ferrari’s final outright Le Mans victory in 1965. But while the company might not have secured the big win since then, it has scored plenty of successes in GT3 racing. The outgoing 488 GT3 and later Evo version, which this new car replaces, picked up 107 titles, including 429 wins from 770 starts, making it Maranello’s most successful racing car ever. Hey, no pressure then.