Tag Archives: Ferrari

News

Ferrari’s 2025 Title Tidal Wave: Inside the Prancing Horse’s Victory Night in Fiorano

Ferrari didn’t just win in 2025—it dominated. And at Fiorano, beneath the soft glow of its test-track floodlights, the marque gathered its champions for an evening that felt less like an awards ceremony and more like a coronation. Drivers, engineers, and team principals filed into the Endurance and Corse Clienti headquarters to celebrate a season that delivered 49 titles across global and national motorsport, capped by the biggest prize of all: a return to the summit of world endurance racing.

A Historic WEC Sweep, Half a Century in the Making

For Ferrari, the headline was unmistakable. After 53 long years, Maranello reclaimed both the FIA World Endurance Championship Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ titles. The No. 50 and No. 51 499P Hypercars were relentless, but it was the trio in the No. 51—Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi—who etched their names into the sport’s history books by sealing the World Drivers’ Championship.

The night also spotlighted Ferrari’s marquee moment of the season: its 12th overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The AF Corse–run No. 83 499P, driven by Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, and Phil Hanson, delivered a triumph that sent tifosi into orbit and earned the crew a place of honor on the Fiorano stage.

Not to be overshadowed, Antonio Fuoco added the FIA GT World Cup in Macau to Ferrari’s trophy haul, becoming the first factory driver in Ferrari history to conquer the treacherous Guia street circuit in the 296 GT3. That win locked down yet another Manufacturers’ title for the Prancing Horse.

A Room Filled With Red: Leadership and Legacy

The ceremony was presided over by Ferrari’s senior racing leadership—Enrico Galliera, Antonello Coletta, Ferdinando Cannizzo, Alessandra Todeschini, and AF Corse founder Amato Ferrari—each taking a moment to recognize the teams and privateers who carried Ferrari colors to podiums around the world.

Italian Championships: A Clean Sweep at Home

On home turf, Ferrari teams were untouchable.
AF Corse swept all titles in the Italian GT Championship, with standout performances from:

  • Colavita, Badawi, Vidales – GT3 Pro-Am champions
  • Castellacci, Ambrose, McDonald – GT3 Am winners
  • Fontana, Gai – GT Cup Division 1 Pro-Am victors in the 296 Challenge

AF Corse also sealed the Teams’ title, ensuring the tricolore was firmly painted Ferrari red.

Hillclimb racing delivered even more hardware. Gabry Driver and Lucio Peruggini took top honors in the Campionato Italiano Supersalita, sweeping their divisions and winning both national and Southern Division titles. D’Angelo and Lunelli locked down the Northern Division titles, while Lyle Schofield added a GT Cup Light crown in the National GT Challenge.

International Firepower: Wins from Daytona to Suzuka

Around the globe, Ferrari’s customer teams thrived.

Endurance Racing and IMSA

Ferrari and AF Corse added the IMSA GTD Endurance Cup Manufacturers’ and Teams’ titles, courtesy of Lilou Wadoux, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Simon Mann. Their consistency across North America’s toughest long-distance races kept Ferrari on top of the endurance ladder on both sides of the Atlantic.

GT World Challenge Europe

Kessel Racing owners will need a bigger display cabinet. In the Bronze ranks, Dustin Blattner and Dennis Marschall clinched the Overall and Sprint titles, joined by Conrad Laursen for the Endurance crown.
In the Gold class, Chris Lulham and Thierry Vermeulen delivered the Sprint Cup title—and the Teams’ trophy—for Emil Frey Racing.

GT World Challenge Asia

David Tjiptobiantoro repeated his 2024 Am-class triumph, this time partnered with Christian Colombo.
On Japanese circuits, Tsuzuki and Kawabata dominated the Japan Cup in both the Overall and GT3 Pro-Am categories, with Hitotsuyama and Cornes Racing taking the Teams’ crown. Meanwhile, Team Macchina’s Uematsu and Suzuki bagged the GT3 Am title.

GT World Challenge America

The Am-class script didn’t change: Jay Schreibman and Oswaldo Negri brought home their second consecutive championship, helping AF Corse USA secure the Teams’ title.

Le Mans Cup, GT Open, and Ultimate Cup

The Ferrari winning streak extended deep into Europe:

  • Cozzi and Donno clinched the Le Mans Cup Drivers’ championship
  • Forgione and Rugolo earned the International GT Open Am title
  • In the Ultimate Cup Series, Bouvet and Pagny scored their third straight GT Endurance title
  • Lyle Schofield doubled up with both the GT Sprint Overall and UCTC titles, with SR&R also grabbing team honors

GT Winter Series

The winter off-season wasn’t much of an off-season for Ferrari squads.
Maciel and Aguas topped both the overall and Cup 1 classifications, while Howell and Doyle claimed victory in Cup 5—enough for AF Corse to earn yet another Teams’ championship.

A Season That Redefined Dominance

If Ferrari’s 2023 Le Mans comeback marked the rebirth of its endurance program, then 2025 was the year the reborn giant began to run—and trample everything in its path. The results speak for themselves: victories in every corner of GT and endurance racing, a complete takeover of Italian domestic series, and the long-awaited return to the top of the world in WEC.

As the champions filed out of the Fiorano headquarters into the cool evening air, one thing was clear: Ferrari’s racing renaissance isn’t just happening. It’s accelerating.

Source: Ferrari

SOCIAL MEDIA

WhistlinDiesel’s Flaming Ferrari F8 Just Landed Him in Hotter Water—With the State of Tennessee

For most YouTubers, setting a Ferrari on fire generates views. For Cody Detwiler—better known to his millions of fans as WhistlinDiesel—it may have generated something else: a felony charge.

The Tennessee-based content creator, famous for bending, breaking, and outright obliterating expensive machinery in the name of internet entertainment, was arrested this week in Williamson County. The charge? Tax evasion related to his 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo—yes, the same one he bought, drove, wrecked, and eventually filmed fully engulfed in flames.

And in true WhistlinDiesel fashion, the video hasn’t stopped working overtime.

A Burning Ferrari and a Very Interesting License Plate

In the now-infamous clip, the F8 burns to the ground wearing Montana plates—a detail that likely caught the eye of more than just fans.

Montana LLC registration has long been the worst-kept secret among wealthy car enthusiasts who prefer to skip paying their home state’s sales tax. Registering your supercar under an out-of-state LLC is perfectly legal in Montana. In places like Tennessee, however, authorities are far less amused when residents lean on that loophole.

And according to the indictment, that may be exactly what investigators think happened.

The Charges

Detwiler and WhistlinDiesel LLC are each facing one count of tax evasion, a Class E felony under Tennessee Code § 67-1-1440(g). The statute covers any attempt to “evade or defeat any tax due the state” when the amount exceeds $500.

The indictment mirrors that threshold precisely, alleging that Detwiler tried to avoid “sales tax due on the purchase of a 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo.” What isn’t clear is whether Tennessee believes:

  • he never registered the car in the state at all,
    or
  • he attempted to dodge taxes by registering it under a Montana LLC.

For context: WhistlinDiesel LLC is indeed registered in Montana, a state that has practically turned tax-friendly vehicle registration into an industry.

With more states cracking down on the practice, it’s no shock Tennessee has taken an interest.

The Arrest and the YouTube Response

Detwiler was arrested and booked before being released, then took to social media—naturally—posting clips of the arrest along with the caption:

“Won so big they thought I was cheating. (100% real not AI)”

He later added:

“I didn’t do ANYTHING.”

His trademark bravado remains intact, but the legal situation is very real. Detwiler is scheduled for arraignment on November 19.

We have reached out to Detwiler for further comment and will update the story if he responds.

What This Means for the YouTube Wild West

The case taps into a larger trend: popular automotive YouTubers pushing boundaries—mechanical, financial, and now legal—for the sake of content. When a Ferrari burns down for millions of viewers, it’s entertainment. When it burns wearing plates that may hint at tax strategy, it becomes evidence.

As for WhistlinDiesel, the man who once turned a $400,000 supercar into scrap for views is now dealing with something far harder to total: a felony charge that won’t simply melt away.

Source: WhistlinDiesel via YouTube

Auctions

The Ferrari Time Capsule: Phil Bachman’s Legendary 48-Car Collection Heads to Auction

In January 2026, the automotive world will witness something that doesn’t happen twice in a lifetime: one of the rarest private Ferrari collections ever assembled will cross the block at Mecum Auctions. Forty-eight Ferraris—each one a jewel of Maranello’s history—are set to find new homes, marking the end of an era and the beginning of another.

For anyone who has ever dreamed of owning a low-mileage Italian thoroughbred, this is the stuff of dreams. The collection spans nearly seven decades of Ferrari’s evolution, from the 1950s to the 2010s, and reads like a love letter to the Prancing Horse itself.

This remarkable assembly was the life’s work of Phil Bachman, an American businessman who built his fortune through a network of dealerships representing brands as diverse as Pontiac, Cadillac, Nissan, and even DeLorean. Bachman passed away in August, leaving behind not just a business legacy, but one of the most meticulously curated Ferrari stables on Earth.

His obsession began in 1984, when he purchased his first Ferrari. From there, his passion evolved into a collection so deliberate, so perfectly preserved, that it borders on the surreal. These aren’t just Ferraris—they’re time capsules.

The oldest car in the collection, a 1953 Ferrari 166 MM/53 Vignale Spyder, shows just 37,306 kilometers. It’s joined by two masterpieces from the 1960s: a 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso and a 275 GTB/4 Alloy, both icons of balance and proportion that defined Ferrari’s golden age.

The 1970s chapter of Bachman’s story swells with 11 cars, including a 1975 365 GT4 BB that’s barely been driven—only 443 kilometers separate it from its factory debut.

By the 1980s, Bachman’s tastes had grown bolder, and his garage followed suit. A 1989 Testarossa, its odometer frozen at just 413 km, will no doubt ignite a bidding war. And then comes the transition from analog to digital—Ferrari’s entry into the modern supercar era.

Two Ferrari F40s headline the 1990s portion of the sale, both 1992 models painted in that quintessential Rosso Corsa red. One has 734 km, the other 1,392 km, and both are expected to fetch eye-watering sums. But the rarities keep coming: an F50 with just 404 km, an Enzo showing 1,038 km, and a pair of 360 Challenge Stradales with only a few hundred clicks on their clocks.

Perhaps the most striking example of Bachman’s singular vision is the only factory-painted yellow Ferrari FXX ever built—a track monster so unique it stands apart even in this company. It’s flanked by a matching 430 Scuderia and 16M Spider, both barely exercised.

The finale of this automotive symphony arrives with the 599 GTO (166 km), the 599 SA Aperta (277 km), and the ultimate duo: a LaFerrari Coupe (253 km) and an even rarer LaFerrari Aperta (154 km).

Together, they form an unbroken narrative of Ferrari’s relentless pursuit of speed, beauty, and engineering perfection. Every car is preserved in near-museum condition, a snapshot of the brand’s evolution—frozen in time but ready to roar once again.

In an age when most Ferraris are driven, traded, or tracked, Bachman’s collection stands as something different: an act of devotion. When the auctioneer’s gavel falls in January, the world won’t just be bidding on cars—it’ll be bidding on history.

Source: Mecum