Ferrari are currently evaluating building an F430 Challenge Stradale, a new concept which will follow in the footsteps of the 360CS and take the 'racer for the road' theme to the extreme performance edge.

The Maranello sportscar maker introduced the 360 Challenge Stradale at the Geneva Motor Show in 2003 in response to customer pressure to push the performance envelope of the 360 Modena model even further. The result was awesome, it was effectively a 360 Challenge racer homologated for the road, and its abilities were stunning. It was a distinct step over the 360 Modena in every department. A massive 110kg was shaved off the car's overall weight in every area, including the engine and braking, while interior luxuries were dispensed with. Power squeezed up to 425bhp from its V8 engine and six-speed sequential gearbox and it hit a top speed of 300km/h and dashed from 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds.

Now Ferrari's management is considering giving the green light to a new F430 Challenge Stradale project. The F430 Coupé is a distinct dynamic step forward from the 360 Modena model, despite its 'evolutionary' appearance, with major attention having been paid to improving weak points on the 360 range such as its chassis rigidity. As such the F430 has been an instant winner on the race track. Homologated into the FIA GT2 class the F430GT immediately showed its promise at the 12 Hours of Sebring in February when the Risi Competizione-run example was the class pacesetter, and only foiled in its bid for victory by new car teething issues.
 

Since that debut the F430GT, in the hands of the GPC Sport team, has taken GT2 victory in the opening round of the Le Mans Series at Istanbul earlier this month, while other teams have registered success in the opening rounds of the 2006 British and Italian GT Championships. Drivers have reported a package that is far superior to the 360 Modena, and in the opening races of 2006 Ferrari Challenge in Italy and the US a similar story is told of the F430 Challenge version, which is also eligible for the new European FIA GT3 Championship.

It is believed Ferrari want to capitalise on this progress, keeping a big step ahead of rivals such as Porsche and Lamborghini, and to this end early development prototypes have quite recently been caught testing around Maranello, most obviously betraying their 'Challenge' heritage by their high-level twin exhaust pipe exits. Noises emitting from the factory suggest that an F430CS could shed up to 150kg over the Coupé version, partially through an increased use of carbon-fibre and a more stripped-out cockpit. Power output would be raised from the Coupé's existing 490bhp to around 520bhp.