German sportscar team Wieth Racing will be entering their self-built Ferrari 550 Maranello in the Bahrain GT Festival next weekend.

The car, now featuring an all-new new livery to reflect sponsorship from Rhino's Energy Drink, will be driven by team regular Wolfgang Kaufmann, and Hubert Haupt.

Last time Kaufmann shared a car with Haupt, who has also driven in the German DTM series, at the Lausitzring round of the FIA GT Championship back in 2000, the pair raced to victory in a Porsche 993 GT2.

The team has recently tested extensively at the German Oschersleben circuit, and the team is very positive about the results, and are now looking forward to a strong showing in the Bahrain race.

A new engine has just arrived at the Wessling base, and will be fitted prior to the the Middle Eastern trip, which is being susidised by sponsor Excel logistics.
 

The Wieth Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello has been a familiar sight in the FIA GT series over the last few year, first in a 'dayglo' orange colour scheme, and more recently painted yellow.

German engineer Franz Wieth, a regular FIA GT competitor in a Porsche GT2, developed the car specifically for the burgeoning series in 1999, seeing it as the ideal proposition. However, without the bigger budgets of other outfits, such as the similar Prodrive-developed, BMS-run Ferrari 550 Maranellos, it has struggled to make an impact.

The team dropped out of this year's FIA GT Championship during the summer.