Just five months after the Ferrari 488 GTB supercar premiered at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2015, its competition counterpart rolled out of the pitlane at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy for the first time. Powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.9-litre V-8 engine, the Michelotto-built 488 GTE embarked on a few early shakedown laps ahead of an exhaustive development programme in time for the 2016 motorsport season, from which Ferrari emerged with the FIA World Endurance Championship GT class Constructors’ Championship crown.

The following year, the 488 GTE swept the board. It earned the marque back-to-back Constructors’ titles, factory squad AF Corse topped the Teams’ standings, and Works drivers Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado were crowned LMGTE Pro champions. As BMW joined manufacturers Porsche, Ford, and Aston Martin in the bid to dethrone Ferrari, the aerodynamically revised 488 GTE Evo was introduced for 2018.

Offered here is chassis number 3844, which was issued with its accompanying Certificate of Origin on 21 February 2020. It was then sold new from the Ferrari Competizioni GT racing department to official marque dealership Garage Zenith SA of Sion, Switzerland in June. Soon put into action, the 488 GTE Evo made its debut the following month in the European Le Mans Series round at Paul Ricard. After two test session at the French venue, the car was entered by championship-winning factory team AF Corse and piloted by Swiss endurance driver Christoph Ulrich alongside team-mates Alexander West (the Swede would win that year’s GT World Challenge Europe Pro-Am Drivers’ title) and German businessman Steffen Görig. They combined to finish in 25th place overall, ranking 5th in the LMGTE class.

The trio reunited the next month for the ELMS contest at Spa-Francorchamps. Crossing the line after four hours, the Ferrari scored 29th overall and 7th in its category. For their third outing, a return visit to Paul Ricard, Ulrich and Görig were partnered by triple Brazilian Stock Car champion and two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Daniel Serra. The Ferrari factory driver helped the 488 GTE Evo to 6th in class (27th overall).

That hat-trick of ELMS events provided a solid footing ahead of an entry into the most famous of all endurance races. Due to delays brought about by the global pandemic, the 2020 edition of Le Mans was pushed back from a usual June calendar slot to mid-September. For the visit to the Circuit de la Sarthe, West reunited with team-mates Ulrich and Görig.

The AF Corse line-up had their qualifying times deleted when the stewards determined that the car had been lifted while under restricted Parc Fermé conditions. Accordingly, the Ferrari started 57th on the grid. Retirement then beckoned on lap 80, when West span through the Porsche Curves. A tap into the barrier resulted in damage to the front-left suspension.

Chassis 3844 was repaired for the ELMS season finale at the Algarve International Circuit (Portimão). Ulrich, West, and Görig climbed five places in the race but ultimately withdrew just past half distance—a legacy of Ulrich colliding with a rival Porsche. RM Sotheby’s is advised by the vendor that the repair was not deemed significant enough to return the car to Michelotto, thus AF Corse repaired the car in-house.

Since its retirement from front-line competition, the Ferrari was purchased by the consigning owner in October 2022 via Parabolica Sports of Luzern, Switzerland. Please note, a data sheet (available to view on file) issued that same year recorded the chassis to have covered fewer than 21,500 kilometres while the engine was shown to be out of life. More recently, a vehicle check and bleed of the brake system was performed by AP Racing Support in Wetzikon, south-east of Zurich, in March 2025. Chassis 3844 presents extremely attractively today in the livery configuration it wore at Le Mans.

For commentary on advisable safety-related items that may require renewal prior to the car racing again, please contact a member of the RM Sotheby’s Car Specialist team.

Should the next owner wish to add to chassis 3844’s competition history, the 488 GTE Evo remains eligible for a variety of national-level GT racing series in addition to the prestigious Club Competizioni GT official Ferrari programme.