04.06.2004 The coming weekend has a distinctly Chinese flavour for the Ferrari Maserati Group with the opening of a new showroom in Shanghai & the inauguration of the new F1 track

The coming weekend has a distinctly Chinese flavour for the Ferrari Maserati group. Tomorrow will see the opening of a new showroom in the centre of Shanghai, while on Sunday, the same city will see the Ferrari F2003-GA and the Maserati MC12 and Trofeo in action at the opening ceremony of the circuit that will host the first ever Chinese Grand Prix on 26th September.

Attending the showroom opening ceremony will be Ferrari Managing Director Jean Todt and the CEO of Maserati, Martin Leach. The Shanghai showroom will be the second to open in China after the one already up and running in Peking.

They will be part of an expansion programme that will see a national sales network with outlets for sales and service to follow in Nanchin, Dalian, Hangzhou, Chengu, Congquing, Wuhan, Guanzhou and Shenzen.

Ferrari has been present on the Chinese market since 1993 and now Ferrari Maserati Cars International Trading will begin operations as a joint venture with Ferrari Maserati as its main partner, along with two Chinese partners: the Wo Kee Hong group, through its Italian Motors operation and Poly Technologies, part of the Poly group.

Sunday 6th June sees the inaugural event at the Shanghai International Circuit. Jean Todt and Martin Leach will attend the ribbon cutting ceremony along with local authorities and representatives of FIA and FOM.

The Ferrari Maserati Group cars will be the first to take to the track at the Shanghai International Circuit. The F2003-GA that won the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships last year will be driven by special guest Gerhard Berger, who raced for Scuderia Ferrari for six years. Berger took part in 210 grands prix during his career, winning ten of them and for him this is a return to China as a Ferrari ambassador, as he went to Peking in 1995 as part of an official Scuderia visit.

Luca Badoer, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s test driver for the past seven years will also attend. Alongside the Formula 1 cars there will also be some Maserati machinery: the MC12 will be driven by the Group’s sports test driver, Andrea Bertolini, while sitting in the Trofeo cockpit will be Chinese driver, Jiang Tengy. Apart from these three cars there will also be several Ferrari and Maserati Grantourismo cars.