All set for Finali Mondiali Ferrari at Mugello
Mugello (Scarperia), 3 November – The Finali Mondiali Ferrari, the event which has traditionally brought the race season to a close, got underway today at Mugello, which plays host for the first time since 2008, after it was held for the last two years at the Valencia circuit. The Mugello track was completely resurfaced, while at the same time significant work was carried out on the infrastructure, with a new central grandstand and a tribute to 150 years of Italian Unity, with the kerbs painted white, red and green, the colours of the Italian flag. There is a busy four day programme, featuring competitors from all four of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli series; Italy, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific fighting for the title of world champion. Also on track, demonstration runs from Ferrari private owner teams competing in international GT series. Even more spectacle is on the cards with Formula 1 cars from the past that have played their part in the history of Scuderia Ferrari, laboratory cars from the exclusive FXX Programme as well as the 599XX extreme sports car designed for track use and therefore free of any need to meet homologation rules.
Today, the European and Asia Pacific competitors tackled the first round of qualifying to decide the grid for Race 1 which takes place tomorrow at 14.55. The first European Trofeo Pirelli pole went to Bjorn Grossmann (Ferrari Moscow), who finished ahead of Philipp Baron (Baron Service) and Max Blancardi (Motor/Malucelli). Of those running in the Coppa Shell, Andrii Kruglyk (Ferrari Moscow) set the fastest time, followed by Yannick Mallegol (Motor/Piacenza) and Philippe Prette (Motor/Malucelli). In Asia Pacific series the fastest was the Japanese driver Hisao Shigeta, while in Coppa Shell, the Australian Steve Wyatt set the fastest session lap. The starting grid for the first race of the Italian and North American series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli finds Matteo Malucelli (Motor/Malucelli) on the number one slot on the grid, followed by Lorenzo Bontempelli (Kessel Racing) and Stefano Gai (Rossocorsa). Best of the gentleman drivers in the Coppa Shell in this first session was Benedetto Marti (Motor/Piacenza), who outpaced Alessandro Vezzoni (Rossocorsa/Pellin) and Raffaele Giannoni (Motor/Piacenza), while in North American series Enzo Potolicchio (Ferrari of FT. Lauderdale) set the fastest time. This will be the final appearance of a long racing career for the F430 Challenge, prior to definitively passing the baton to the 458: quickest of those using the F430 were Alexei Basov (Ferrari Moscow) of the European runners and Riccardo Ragazzi (Ineco Ram) in the Italian series.
Tomorrow sees the second qualifying session and the first races that group together the Italian and North American competitors and the European with the Asia Pacific. The Ferrari one-make series will be broadcast in over sixty countries around the world.
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment