DRIVE TO THRIVE

No matter whether you are a gentleman driver or a young talent, Ferrari's 296 Challenge racer offers a career path like no other car

- Piers Ward

THE FERRARI 296 CHALLENGE RACER explodes into life: loud and violent but entirely justified. This is the coldest of cold starts and the car is merely beginning as it means to go on: focused, raw, with zero fripperies or cute “welcome displays” from its headlights.

I leave the pits and head into the first corner. And do you know what? It is a pussycat.

The brake pedal is outrageously light; delicate to the point of feeling like an electric vehicle (EV) on a run to the shops. The steering is the same: nimble, with minimal weight. Even the shift paddles drop the eight-speed gearbox to the next ratio with a gentleness that defies every expectation about racing cars.

Throttle response is also gentle. With relatively large and, therefore, laggy twin turbos, the pace climbs gently rather than snapping you to warp speed. It is easy to modulate. There is nothing intimidating about the weight of its controls.

Of course, it is fast. But the initial laps reveal it to be approachable, a car that you can build up to; impressive from the off before revealing more and more as your confidence grows. The equivalent of speed dating and getting to meet the folk on the same evening.

This is important because this is not any old Ferrari racer—it is a track car with a dual purpose: to be friendly enough that gentlemen drivers (code for not so quick) can get on well with it; but with the speed to let hotshot young talent impress Ferrari bosses in what is the (admittedly rarefied) entry point to the Ferrari racing ladder: the Challenge series.

It has been running since 1993 and has been consistently and successfully honed via various mid-engined Ferraris, including the 360 Stradale and 488.