Prodrive has unveiled the Ferrari 550 GTO Maranello racing car that
will compete for the first time at the Silverstone on May 13.
Work started on the
project on 2 January this year and, in just 16 weeks, Prodrive
has designed, built and run the new car.
"The team here
at Prodrive has literally been working non-stop since the New
Year to get this car ready," said George Howard-Chappell, team
principal, "The initial tests have been very promising, but I
do not expect us to be on the pace at very first race. By the
middle of the season, we should be far more competitive and
beginning to secure some good results."
The team's
drivers - Alain Menu, Rickard Rydell and Peter Kox - are
currently undertaking an intensive period of testing prior to
Silverstone but, due to time constraints, Prodrive will be
using the first two races as an extension to the development
programme.
The racing car is based on the original 550
Maranello road car's monocoque chassis, but with almost every
component modified. Despite this, Prodrive designer Peter
Stevens, has kept the styling of the racing car faithful to
the original Pininfarina design, while ensuring that it will
still perform on the track.
The road car's original
1690kg has been trimmed down to 1100kg thanks to extensive use
of carbon fibre bodywork and lightweight components, while
Prodrive has redesigned the V12 engine to increase power
output from 485bhp to more than 600bhp. This gives the racing
car double the power to weight ratio of the road car, at
around 550bhp/tonne.
With the necessary gearing, the
Ferrari 550 GTO could easily exceed 200mph (320kph) but,
instead, this power ensures the car's aerodynamics, including
a substantial rear wing, front splitter and rear diffuser,
dramatically increase the downforce and improve
grip.
The standard six speed H-gate gearbox is replaced
by a six-speed sequential box from Xtrac, while extra wide,
18inch Prodrive P-WRC wheels and AP racing brakes are housed
within the increased front and rear track.
"We plan to
continue development throughout the year and introduce a
second car at round seven in Hungary," said Chappell.
"Following this, customer specification cars will be
available, that can be run in the FIA GT Championship, as well
as potentially the American and European Le Mans series and
the Le Mans 24 Hour itself."
The FIA GT Championship is
for road-derived sports cars and features a front-running
mixture of Porsches, Chrysler Vipers and Lister Storms. There
are also two examples of the 550 Maranello already running, in
the hands of Rafanelli Motorsport. Rydell will drive the
Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTO Maranello in this year's
championship, while Menu will partner him at Silverstone and
then in three further rounds. Kox will be standing in for the
other three rounds as Menu's DTM commitments with Opel take
precedence.
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