There’s an undeniable element of nostalgia surrounding Ferrari at the moment. Almost 60 years after Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins raced the Prancing Horse’s cars in Formula One, with Hawthorn becoming Britain’s first World Champion in 1958, Ferrari have chosen two British drivers, James Calado and Sam Bird, to represent Maranello alongside Italians Gianmaria Bruni and Davide Rigon in the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Now entering his third season at Ferrari, Calado will join Bruni in the no.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, while new signing Bird will partner Rigon in the no.71.
For 29-year-old Bird, who was entered in a GTE Am class Ferrari by AF Corse at Silverstone and the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2014, this represents a rich reward for helping G-Drive to the LMP2 team and driver championships last season.
“To be associated with this brand is simply amazing,” Bird said. “It’s a brand you grow up wanting to drive for, so it’s of course an honour and a privilege to be recognised as one of their factory drivers.
“Last season was a very important year because it put me in a great position in the shop window for this year and, when Ferrari comes knocking on your door, it’s something that I would never turn down.”
With a successful full season in LMP2 now under his belt, Bird feels well prepared for the challenge and has his sights firmly set on helping Ferrari to recapture the World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers, after missing out to Porsche by just four points in 2015.
“The relationship had always remained, regardless of how it ended at Le Mans in 2014,” he said. “Last year I would go down to AF Corse regularly to have a coffee with the boys. They were happy with the speed that I had shown, but I think there were some other areas that I needed to go away and work on, which I felt like I did, and more, with G-Drive. Because of that, I was able to secure one of the factory drives with Ferrari for this season.
“The aim is obviously to claim the top spot in the GT manufacturers’ championship, that’s got to be the name of the game. It will be extremely tough; there are some other top teams and cars out there, we’ll have to see what happens with the BoP at the beginning of the year, do the best job we can and then, come Bahrain, we’ll see where we stand.”
James Newbold
Photos: 1) Sam Bird, 2) James Calado
