This past weekend it was a pleasure for the team to participate in the HSR 2026 The Mitty presented by Hagerty with Chassis F01-003 and F01-012 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
On Thursday, we gave Chassis F01-003 (Lebanon) its final shakedown/verification laps during a practice session in Group 4C. The car ran flawlessly and is now properly verified and ready for placement with its next caretaker.
Most excitingly, we brought out Chassis F01-012 (Korea/Germany) to participate in the Group 4C: Modern Formula Cars (1979+) category Sprint Races at Road Atlanta to properly stretch out the legs on the car and see what she could do. Giano Taurino (2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo NA Pro Champion) was our hot shoe, and he put his footwear to the test taking the A1GP Ferrari to a blistering 1:09.960 second lap time during the second Qualifying session on Pirelli Boss GP Yellow (medium) compound tires.
“I am having fever dreams of what we could do on the Pirelli GP Red (soft) tires! This chassis is just a rocket ship and wants to keep pushing harder and faster. Getting back in the cockpit of GT cars feels like driving a slow brick in comparison!”
That sub 1:10 lap time puts the car in some rare atmospheric company. The unofficial track record is a 1:01 set by Marc Gene (ironically, one of the original Ferrari F1 test drivers for the A1GP-F01 Ferrari in 2008) in a Ferrari F2003-GA during a Ferrari Corsa Clienti event in 2018. The fastest official track lap was a 1:07.056 set by Christian Klien in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP followed by an LMP2 and DPi in the 1:08s.
The 1:09.960 lap time puts us ahead of the fourth fastest official lap set in 2023 by Sebastian Bourdais in the Cadillac V-Series R LMDh. Thus, colloquially, the A1GP Ferrari has turned the four fastest official sanctioned lap time (categorically) at Road Atlanta and the second fastest recorded by an open-wheel formula car at any event (sanctioned or unofficial)
