Team Modena has announced that it will enter a Ferrari F430 GT in the LM GT2 category of the Le Mans Series and, entry permitting, the Le Mans 24-Hour race itself, next year.

Having won three out of five LMS races in the GT1 category this season, hopes are high the team can continue that form into 2009.

"Running the GT2 car will be a new challenge for us," said team principal Graham Schultz. "GT2 is highly competitive in the LMS, but we have shown before that we can be winners in that series, and we are sure we will be able to show the professionalism and performance that people have come to expect from us in international sportscar racing."

Team Modena is already said to be in discussion with a number of 'exciting candidates' for the race seats and it hopes to be able to announce the driver line-up in the near future.

"We have enjoyed success in GT1 with our Aston Martin DBR9," added sporting director Rik Bryan, "and have made a big contribution to the racing success of that model.

"Looking forward into 2009 and beyond, there is no big secret that my first love is Ferrari and I have always had a great relationship with Maranello, so this is a very exciting move for me personally and the team as a whole."

For Team Modena, the GT2 category has strategic long term importance, with a general trend in sportscar racing towards the category and a major world series in the offing.

The 2009 campaign will also see the team form a racing relationship with Ferrari for the first time, one of the greatest names in world motorsport and a by-word for success and performance.

Second in the LM GT1 class of the LMS in 2008 and acknowledged as the leading team in the category, Team Modena will be aiming for that same level of success in the new challenge they now face.