04.12.2011 FERRARI TRACK ACTION TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT BOLOGNA MOTOR SHOW

FERRARI - 2011 BOLOGNA MOTOR SHOW
FERRARI - 2011 BOLOGNA MOTOR SHOW
FERRARI - 2011 BOLOGNA MOTOR SHOW

The usual Ferrari activities in Bologna were split into three, two of them featuring races between no less than 16 cars from the Italian and European series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo and the third, a F1 demonstration with Giancarlo Fisichella.

The opening day of the 36th Bologna Motor Show offered Ferrari fans a truly unique opportunity to see examples of the Maranello marque’s main racing activities.

The usual Ferrari activities at this event was split into three, two of them featuring races between no less than 16 cars from the Italian and European series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli and the third, a Formula 1 demonstration run with Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel.

The two races were run in three legs and best of those driving the 458 was Philipp Baron: the Austrian driving for the team that bears his name managed to take the win in the final, beating Stefano Gai (Rossocorsa) with Lorenzo Bontempelli coming home third for the Kessel Racing team, while Dario Caso (CDP) crossed the line fourth. Andrea Belluzzi came off best of the F430 drivers, in the Motor/Modena car. The driver from San Marino won this years F430 category in the Italian Trofeo Pirelli, as well as the overall title at Mugello during the World Finals. Behind him at the motor show came Riccardo and Roberto Ragazzi both running in Ineco/Ram colours. Just off the podium was Diego Romanini in a Rossocorsa/Pellin 458.

At midday, the race track in area 48 was the scene of the traditional demonstration from Scuderia Ferrari: Giancarlo Fisichella did some laps and a simulated pit stop at the wheel of an F10, the car that the Maranello team used in the 2010 World Championship, getting a very enthusiastic reception from the fans who packed the grandstands.

Fisichella was also the guest at “Incontri della Gazzetta,” the usual chance for fans in Bologna to meet motor sport personalities, organised by the Italian daily paper La Gazzetta dello Sport. Fisichella faced a barrage of questions about his winning run in the GT championships, as well as about the F1 season just ended, which he answered both as a keen observer and based on his long experience as a grand prix driver. “This year, Formula 1 did not produce the expected results for Ferrari,” said Fisichella. “However, the team never gives up and is already concentrating on winning again. We have everything we need to succeed.”

Asked about his own future, the driver confirmed that once again next season, he would be racing for Amato Ferrari’s AF Corse team, with which he won pretty much everything this year. “In GT racing, alongside Gimmi Bruni and AF Corse, this year we took the drivers and team titles in LMS and the team one in ILMC, which contributed a great deal to Ferrari taking the constructors’ trophy in both series. Next year, we face a new challenge in the shape of the World Endurance Championship, organised in collaboration by the FIA, which gets underway in Sebring next March. I cannot deny that, at first, I found it quite difficult switching to cars with enclosed wheels after a long time in F1, but with every passing race I managed to extract more of the potential of the cars that Ferrari gave us, so I was able to make my contribution to these important wins.”

On the subject of his brief time as a Ferrari driver in F1, following Felipe Massa’s accident in 2009, Fisichella explained how difficult he had found it to adapt to a very different car to the one he had raced up to that point. “I was unable to show what I could do, but I am still proud to have been able to do a few GPs in Ferrari colours. The Maranello Scuderia is still the dream of all drivers and for me, as an Italian, it represented one of the most exciting moments of my career.”

Before leaving the fans, Fisichella took the time to give some good advice to a very young kart racer who asked him how he could become a Formula 1 driver. “Always believe in yourself and if you really want it with every part of yourself, you can do it.” At the end of the meeting organised by the Gazzetta newspaper, Fisichella met members of the Scuderia Ferrari Club who got him involved in a pit stop simulation. After that he headed back to the Ferrari stand where he handed out the prizes to the Challenge drivers who had been racing that day.

ItaliaspeedTV: Ferrari @ 36th Bologna Motor Show
 

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