Our spies nabbed this unpainted LaFerrari prototype showing its naked carbon fiber body at the Nürburgring, where the Italian firm’s engineers performed several fast laps around the circuit, testing a number of different sets of tires in the process. The recent talk about Ferrari preparing a successor to the Enzo FXX has us wondering if this is a prototype for that model.
You see, earlier this week, Antonella Coletta, head of Ferrari’s Sporting Activity Department that runs its non F1-related motorsport activities, told the Australian press that the Italian brand is developing a hard-core track edition of their new LaFerrari hypercar, which will carry the XX moniker.
“Now we are working on the new hypercar for the circuit, the LaFerrari XX,” Coletta told Australia’s Drive during the Ferrari Racing Days event in Sydney. “I hope that the new car will arrive on the circuit in January or February of next year.”
In the same interview, Coletta admitted that it would be hard to make the XX more powerful than the regular LaFerrari that has hybrid powertrain linking a 6.3-liter V12 petrol engine to a pair of electric motors for a combined 950hp (963PS) and 900Nm of peak torque, and instead the Italians will focus on improving other parts of the car.
“It will be more or less the same [power] but it will be completely different the handling, because it’s normal that the handling is different for the circuit and the road,” said Coletta. “The power is a lot; enough! It is very hard to improve the power. The difference will be the slick tyres, the aerodynamics, the electronics, the suspension, and the shock absorbers.”
If this is a prototype for the LaFerrari XX, then it’s probably a test bed for the changes under the body as it doesn’t appear to feature any visible new aerodynamic components.
By John Halas
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS
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