Ferrari chose a familiar stage for the grand reveal of its latest track weapon—the 296 GT3 Evo. Three years after debuting the original 296 GT3 at the legendary 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the Prancing Horse is back at the same iconic race with an upgraded machine that builds on serious racing pedigree.
Since it first roared to life, the 296 GT3 has carved out an impressive record: five major titles (including Drivers’ and Team honors in the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup), wins at Daytona and the Nürburgring 24, and a staggering 140 victories, 405 podiums, and 56 poles in just 343 races. Now, Ferrari’s tightening the screws with the Evo version.
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This next-gen GT3 racer is shaped by data, battle scars from competition, and plenty of customer feedback. The goal? Sharpen performance across every racing condition—without straying from the 296’s core philosophy of “modularity,” which made the original such a hit with teams thanks to its maintenance-friendly and easily tunable design.
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Under the hood, things are familiar—and intentionally so. Ferrari has kept the same 120° V6 engine that’s proven itself race after race. The turbos still sit snuggly inside the V, a compact and lightweight setup that’s been praised for how it delivers power and torque.
Nothing’s changed about where the engine sits either: it’s still placed lower and more forward than its road-legal sibling to improve the car’s balance and torsional stiffness. And that 2° tilt? Still there, still making room for a more aggressive rear diffuser.
The gearbox, however, has seen a tweak. Engineers refined the gear ratio cascade to squeeze better torque delivery across the speed spectrum—info pulled directly from two years of racing intel.
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While the base performance figures remain maxed out per regulations, Ferrari’s engineers worked on enhancing how the car handles dynamic track scenarios—especially while drafting.
“We worked on improving front vertical load stability when the 296 GT3 Evo is in the slipstream of another car,” said Ferrari engineers, “and on aerodynamic sensitivity, i.e. minimising aerodynamic load variations.”
To make that happen, Ferrari gave the bodywork a comprehensive massage. Up front, the splitter and floor got refined, vortex generators were retuned, and even the bumper’s aero pieces got a rethink. Out back, the diffuser saw major changes—new channels and altered volumes aimed at max performance. And don’t sleep on the redesigned front wheel arch louvers, which now help guide cleaner air to the rear intakes, whether in open air or stuck behind traffic.
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