Ferrari numbers are set to increase by the end of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season after a new Ferrari broke cover recently.
Zagame Autosport has taken charge of a brand-new 296 GT3, with the team planning to compete in the 2026 Australian championship, starting as early as the final round at Hampton Downs in New Zealand this November.
Dual TCR Australia Series winner Josh Buchan and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia driver Cameron Campbell are poised to race the car, with an extensive testing program planned prior to its proposed debut at Hampton Downs.
It will be a step up the GT ladder for Zagame Autosport following a successful stint in Monochrome GT4 Australia where Buchan drove one of the team's McLarens alongside Jason Yu.
Ferrari has enjoyed immense success since re-entering the Australian scene at the start of 2024 through Arise Racing GT’s professional operation. Arise Racing GT won the GT World Challenge Australia title last year and continue to lead the standings at this season’s halfway point.
If the Zagame Autosport entry takes the start at Hampton Downs, it will mark the GT3 debut for both Buchan and Campbell.
The next round of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season is at Sandown Raceway on July 25-27 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries program.
QUOTES
Rod Wilson
General Manager, Zagame Autosport
“It was always the plan to roll out a car in the middle of the year as we wanted to understand the Ferrari properly,” said Wilson.
“It’s no secret that the Ferrari is one of the most complicated cars on the grid in terms of operation systems and preparation, so we wanted to make sure we had enough of the right knowledge, the right people and the correct tooling before we got it on track.
“Cameron (Campbell) has come a long way quickly in his racing career. He did not have a racing licence a year ago, so it's awesome to see him now having done a lot of genuine events both here and overseas to earn himself an International C Licence. His performances in Ferrari Challenge has been quite outstanding considering he hadn’t competed on Australian tracks, not driven the 296 before and he turned up at Bathurst right on the pace.
“It was a pretty easy decision to get Josh Buchan in with Cameron. He’s the right driver to have because he’s super fast and I have no doubt this pairing will be a strong Pro-Am combination, albeit with less experience. In terms of speed, they will be a formidable Pro-Am driver line-up.
“We tested the car for the first time at Winton recently, it all worked seamlessly well and everything went to plan. We’ll squeeze in some extra testing post-June, so we’d like to do a back-to-back test at The Bend and at Phillip Island if weather permits.
“I hope by the time we get to Hampton Downs, we will well and truly be over understanding the car in addition to operating the program at a high level. We’re certainly not turning up to waffle around at the back of the grid.
“The pathway for Ferrari is Club Challenge, Challenge and the top of the pyramid is GT3 or GTLM or global GT racing. I think it’s a great pathway and we’ve got a strong demographic in terms of people’s financial capability to be racing Ferrari Challenge, so when they want to take the next step into GT3, there’s amateur drivers pairing up with professionals doing this all over the world.”