AF Corse is an Italian

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team founded by former racing driver

Amato Ferrari Amato Ferrari (born 18 April 1966) is an Italian former auto racing driver. After competing in national events in Italy and Great Britain, he retired from racing in 1994 at the relatively young age of 28. Staying in motorsport, he switched to the m ...

in 1995 in

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship,

GT World Challenge Europe GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT ...

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second season. ...

, DTM, and

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

, and are four-time champions of the GT2 class of the former

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. The team has also entered cars under Advanced Engineering, AT Racing, Pecom Racing, Spirit of Race, Formula Racing, 8Star Motorsports and MR Racing, and in association with Michael Waltrip Racing (AF Waltrip).

History

In 1995, Amato Ferrari (no relation to the family of

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

and his Ferrari car company) retired from driving and chose to concentrate on team management, initially entering the

Italian Superturismo Championship The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is Italy's national motorsport series for touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as Le Mans winner Emanuele Pi ...

. Following the series' demise in 1999, Ferrari launched a new team known as AF Corse, named for his initials. The team turned to

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, and within a year was contracted by Maserati. AF Corse was tasked with the development, maintenance, and transport of the Trofeo Cup, a one-make series based on the

Maserati Coupé The Maserati Coupé and Spyder (''Tipo M138'') are a series of grand tourers produced by Italian automaker Maserati from 2001 to 2007. The two nameplates refer to the four-seater coupé and two-seater convertible models, respectively. The design ...

. The company would continue in this position until 2005. During 2004, Maserati approached AF Corse about running their latest development in sports car racing: the new

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

for the international

. The team aided Maserati in testing and developing the car before running the two new racers in their home event at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

. Drivers Fabrizio de Simone,

Andrea Bertolini Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing a ...

Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher ...

, and

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

were all be assigned to the team, eventually earning AF Corse two victories before the season ended. Once the development of the MC12 was satisfied, the company returned to running the Trofeo Cup, as well as running a Maserati Light in the 2005

Italian GT Championship The Italian GT Championship (''Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo'') is an Italian sports car series founded in 2003 and organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) and the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (CSAI). It replaced a ...

AF Corse returned to the FIA GT Championship in 2006. This time however they would be running the latest Ferrari offering, the

Ferrari F430 The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at ...

, as well as competing in the series' lower category, the GT2 class. Salo was retained in the driving line-up, while newcomers Rui Águas,

Jaime Melo Jaime Melo, also known as Jaime Melo Jr. (born 24 April 1980), is a Brazilian professional racing driver best known for his success in grand tourers as Ferrari driver. In 2006, he won the FIA GT Championship in the GT2 class driving for AF Co ...

, and

Matteo Bobbi Matteo Bobbi (born 2 July 1978 in Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

completed the standard line-up. Victory was earned in the team's debut at Silverstone, and another two were earned over the season, including at the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...

. AF Corse won the class championship, beating fellow Ferrari competitor Scuderia Ecosse. The company retained their connection to Maserati however, entering a trio of cars in the new

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

. As defending champions, AF Corse remained in the FIA GT Championship in 2007, although much on the team changed. While the Ferrari F430s remained, all new drivers were introduced to the team. Dirk Müller,

Toni Vilander Toni Markus Vilander (born 25 July 1980) is a Finnish professional racing driver who currently drives for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team in various categories of sports car racing. After a single-seater career which reached the level of the ...

Gianmaria Bruni Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni (born 30 May 1981) is an Italian Porsche factory auto racing driver who drove in the 2004 Formula One World Championship for Minardi. He is a GP2 Series race winner and is now racing in the FIA World Endurance Championsh ...

, and Stephane Ortelli took over driving duties for the season, while

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

announced their full sponsorship of the squad. The two cars dominated the 2007 season, winning nine of the ten events on the schedule and wrapping up another championship. For 2008, AF Corse expanded to a three car team in the GT2 class. Vilander and Bruni are retained in the lead car, while Biagi returns to the squad to be joined by Christian Montanari in the second entry. The third car will be run under the Advanced Engineering name, with

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

Matías Russo and

Luís Pérez Companc Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

In 2010, the

was dissolved and two new championships were born from it. The GT1 class of the former series became the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand ...

while the GT2 class formed the

FIA GT2 European Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. The GT2 series was suspended due to lack of entries. As a result, the AF Corse team joined the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. For the 2010 season, the team fielded three Ferrari F430 GT2s for the series' GT2 class. Drivers Matías Russo and

campaigned the #94 Ferrari with

and former Grand Prix drivers

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

and Giancarlo Fisichella in the #95. ALMS regulars, with the

Risi Competizione Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of t ...

team,

and

drove the Ferrari #96. In 2011 AF Corse entered the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

with brand new Ferrari 458 Italia GT2s as well as the

with Ferrari 458 Italia GT3s. AF Corse won the ILMC in the GTE-Pro category, including the final round at

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

. It also won the FIA GT3 driver's championship with Francisco Catellaci and

Federico Leo Federico Leo (born August 27, 1988, in Varese) is an Italian racing driver. Career Formula Junior Leo began his single–seater career in late 2005 in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 Winter series, scoring nine points to finish 13th in the st ...

. The team also joined the

for the 2010 season in the Super GT class, which is largely reminiscent of the GT2 rules in the

. The team fields two Ferrari GT2 cars for drivers Jack Gerber & Rui Águas in the #6 car and

Pierre Kaffer Pierre Kaffer (born 7 November 1976 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a race car driver from Germany, currently living in Switzerland. Career In 1990, Kaffer started in Karting, moving in 1994 to Formula Ford, later Formula Ope ...

and

Álvaro Barba Álvaro Barba López (born 17 February 1984 in Seville) is a Spanish racing driver and brother to fellow racer Marco Barba. Career Formula Junior and Spanish Formula Three Barba began his single seater career in 2002 driving in the Spanish F ...

in the #8 Ferrari. AF Corse will also field a third Ferrari (#7) for the AT Racing team with drivers Alexander Talkanitsa and his son Alexander Talkanitsa Jr. For 2012, AF Corse competed in a variety of sports car championships throughout Europe and globally, including the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT1 World Championship with Ferrari F458 Italia GT2s and Ferrari F458 Italia GT3s, including a co-branded for GTE-Am class car with Michael Waltrip Racing, AF Waltrip. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, amateur driver Piergiuseppe Perazzini collided with the No. 8 Toyota driven by overall-contender

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vide ...

, sending the Toyota airborne at the Mulsanne Corner. Perazzini's Ferrari also flipped and landed on its roof after hitting the tyre barrier. Davidson suffered two broken vertebrae in the crash but was able to pull himself from the car in the immediate aftermath of the accident - though of course he was forced to abandon the race. The AF Corse #51 car driven by

, Giancarlo Fisichella and

won the GTE Pro race beating Corvette, Porsche and Aston Martin.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

AF Corse-Waltrip

AF Corse-Waltrip, also known as AF Waltrip, is a former professional sportscar team. The company was a 50–50 partnership between Michael Waltrip Racing

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

co-owners Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffman. In 2011 Michael Waltrip Racing entered into a technical alliance with AF Corse to provide them sportscars to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship and

Tudor United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

(formerly Rolex Sports Car Series). AF Course-Waltrip shut down their sportscar team in 2013 to concentrate on

Racing Results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

There was no drivers championship that year, the result indicates team rank in the LMGTE Am Trophy.

Rolex Sports Car Series Points

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:AF Corse Italian auto racing teams 1995 establishments in Italy Auto racing teams established in 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans teams FIA GT Championship teams FIA GT1 World Championship teams European Le Mans Series teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams International GT Open teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams British GT Championship teams World Series Formula V8 3.5 teams WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams Ferrari in motorsport