Maranello berlinetta won the title in the Intercontinental Le Mans Grand Touring Cup 2011

No other car manufacturer has achieved fame as quickly as the Ferrari . Suffice it to say that only a few years after its founding in 1946, the brand of the Prancing Horse was already "cult". Merit, even before the two-seat sports and Formula 1, is primarily attributed to custom-built sports who won in the large competitions in track and road . They were the legendary coaches equipped with the V12 and V8 engines.

For the last ten years, the Ferrari is reviving the tradition of road sedans with which you can also compete on the track . Like the 458 Italy . That the first season of racing won the constructors' title in the Gran Turismo category , with the sample aligned by semi-official team AF Corse entrusted to Giancarlo Fisichella , former F1 driver and test driver for Ferrari and Gianmaria Bruni , the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup , an international series of 'endurance' races for two-seater sports touring sedans and prepared , which includes the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA), the 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps (B), the 6 Hours of Imola , the 6 Hours Silverstone (GB), the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (U.S.) and 6 hours of Zhuhai , China. He had to contend, the Ferrari 458 GT2 , with the BMW M3 GT2 supported directly by the Department of Racing Motorsports Bavarian house . He then added the success, always in the GT class in the Le Mans Series.

The Ferrari 458 Competition has four trim levels : the 458 Challenge , which gives life to the series from 2012 Ferrari brand in Italy, Europe, North America and in 'Asia-Pacific region , the 458 GTC prepared according to the specifications of the FIA technical regulations for the GT2 and GT3 classes , so the GrandAm 458 , addressed to American competition . They are all developed and manufactured by Michelotto , historical company of Padua, who for almost forty years has specialized in the preparation, and also in the construction of Ferrari racing , becoming in time the operational arm of the Department of Racing Customer the Maserati. Already in the process of definition and design, 458 Italy has also been designed for use agonistic . Has features technical and mechanical qualities of the basic own racing cars: light alloy aluminum frame and suspension, "racing", aerodynamics, engine-rear V8 4.5-liter, 570 hp .

In Configuration Challenge , interventions have focused on the Berlinetta 'structure , developed to track with changes in suspension with steel joints of type "racing", stiffer springs, shock absorbers monotaratura aluminum wheels 19-inch central locking and the use of the device "F1-Trac", which is considered the most sophisticated traction control system : provides an estimate of the constant level of grip on the ground, both on entry and exit of the curve. The power of engine has remained rather unchanged compared to the road model. In the GT2 and GT3 versions of the engine power is less paradoxically , the effect of "flange", ie power restrictors, imposed by this regulation: in the first production drops to 550 horsepower , in the second even 470 . But the GT2 is, for the changes to the aerodynamics, suspensions, brake system, transmission, a true racing machine capable of addressing the long-term events , such as those on the distance of 12 and 24 hours . Derived from GT3 and finally, the GrandAm 458 , for the races of the American series Grand Am : In this version, the power is 500 horsepower , aerodynamics is reduced and is not used for the system or the traction control ' abs.

The debut of the 458 "American" entrusted to the team AF Corse will be at the 24 Hours of Daytona , 28 to 29 January 2012 , with the crew of Michael Waltrip, Travis Pastrana and the two veterans 'endurance' races Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman.