Wednesday was a special
day for all Ferrari fans attending the thirty fifth
Bologna International Motor Show. The programme for what
has become a traditional appearance from the Prancing
Horse marque was divided in two parts: one with a racing
theme, featuring no less than sixteen F430s from the
Italian and European Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
and the other, a demonstration run when Luca Badoer took
to the track in an F60 Formula 1 car.
At the end of yesterday's race which was run over three legs, Philipp
Baron emerged victorious in the main category of the
Trofeo Pirelli: the Austrian from the eponymous Baron
Service team managed to take the win at the end of the
day over
Andrea Belluzzi, the Motor Modena driver from San Marino
and Veregra Competition’s Matteo Malucelli. Among the
gentleman drivers in the Shell Cup, the win went to
Giuseppe Fascicolo, at the wheel of the car entered by
the Rossocorsa/Pellin dealership, from Flavio Pierleoni
(Scuderia Veregra) and Massimo Mantovani (Team Malucelli).
At midday, the competition arena in "Area 48", as the
motorsports arena is known, was the
scene of the traditional appearance from Scuderia
Ferrari: for Luca Badoer, who drove the car,
this was his farewell as test driver. Bringing an
amazing thirteen year career to a close, Badoer did some
hot laps and carried out a pit stop simulation at the
wheel of an F60, the car used by the Scuderia during the 2009 Formula 1 season and with which Badoer
himself drove in his only two races for Ferrari. He
received a very warm reception from all the fans packed
into the stands.
Badoer also took part
in a special forum organised at the show by the
Gazzetta dello Sport daily paper. He met over one
hundred readers taking part in this unique event,
clearly showing all the emotion he felt at the end of
what was a very special day for him. “Even after so many
years of doing it, driving a Formula 1 car here, so
close to the spectators, so as to let them get a close
up feel for the power of these cars is a feeling one
never gets used to. Plus, today’s experience was more
emotional than usual, because it is my last appearance
in my role as official Ferrari test driver. The thing I
will miss most is driving the Formula 1 car. I have
never been one for the bright lights, as the one and
only thing I wanted centred on my job of taking a car to
its limits, working out where there was room for
improvement. Although this is something I have missed
for quite a while now, as testing has been cut back and
there is not much for a test driver to do.”
Asked if he had regrets,
Luca replied: “the only regret is that I was only able
to do two races. The team had confidence in me at that
time and that is something I will always be grateful
for. Unfortunately, at the time, I had not been driving
for ten months and found myself at the wheel of a car
that was difficult to adapt to and so I could not show
what I could do.” On the subject of the current two race
drivers: “Alonso is a great champion, a driver who will
be able to win a lot, especially because of his great
ability to work closely with the team. Massa had a
difficult season, but with fewer problems, he will
return to being a great driver and I know him well
enough to know that’s true.” To those who wanted to know
who he would miss the most, Badoer would not single out
one name. “There are so many, too many people, who have
been with me on this long journey. It is the strength of
Ferrari that I will always feel close to these people.”
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