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Today at the Mugello International Circuit,
every element of the world of Ferrari was
represented on track to celebrate the end of
the racing season, joined by a crowd of fans
who had come to acclaim the Prancing Horse
champions. |
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Today at the
Mugello International Circuit, every element of the world of
Ferrari was represented on track to celebrate the end of the
racing season, joined by a crowd of fans who had come to
acclaim the Prancing Horse champions.
The racing side of the event saw the F430s entered in the
Italian, European and North American series of the Ferrari
Challenge Pirelli Trophy take to the track, along with the
historic cars in the Shell Historic series, all competing in
the final round of the championships.
The world title for the Pirelli Trophy saw Austria's Philipp
Baron crowned champion: following the Baron Service team
driver home were Giuseppe Ciro (Motor/Piacenza) and Andrea
De Lorenzi (Rossocorsa/Pelllin.) In the Final for gentlemen
drivers in the Shell Cup, the title went to Riccardo Ragazzi,
who had already taken top honours in the Italian
championship. The youngster from the Ineco/MP Racing team
managed to get the upper hand over Massimo Mantovani (Motor/Malucelli)
and Angel Santos (Cars Barcelona).
The second race in the Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge for
cars in Grids A + B, yet again saw victory go to Daniel
Maier: the young German, champion in an extraordinary 2008
season, won at the wheel of his Maserati 300S, beating Lukas
Huni in a Maserati A6GCS. Third spot went to Willi Balz
driving a Maserati 6CM, good enough to win the Grid A class.
In the Grid C event, the winner was Paul Knapfield driving a
Ferrari 512 BB LM, followed in second and third places by
the 512 S of Olivier Cazalieres and the 312 P of David
Franklin.
The busy event also featured track sessions for the historic
single-seaters run by the F1 Clienti Department of Maranello
and the laboratory-cars taking part in the exclusive FXX
Programme, with its owner drivers completing new sessions on
the card.
After the spectacle put on by Gimmi Bruni and Toni Vilander
at the wheel of the F430 GT2 cars, which were victorious in
the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, the fans
who had flocked to Mugello gave an enthusiastic welcome to
the demonstration by Scuderia Ferrari: Kimi
Raikkonen and Felipe Massa completed several laps of the
track as well as doing some pit stops. Michael Schumacher
went out in his FXX car, accompanied by Luca Badoer and
then, in the latest Ferrari car, the California, with Jean
Todt at the wheel. The event ended with the usual track
parade and a greeting from President Luca Cordero di
Montezemolo, who thanked the team and drivers for their
great work throughout the year, resulting in the team taking
the Constructors' title for the sixteenth time, the eighth
in the last ten years. Underlying the importance of the
result, this weekend, the 430 Scuderia Spider 16M, the
latter part of its badge relating to this achievement, was
unveiled, first to customers and then to the media.
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