07.09.2010 FELIPE MASSA IS THE STAR TURN DURING "FERRARI RACING DAYS" AT THE HUNGARORING

FELIPE MASSA - FERRARI RACING DAYS - HUNGARORING 2010
FELIPE MASSA - FERRARI RACING DAYS - HUNGARORING 2010
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Scuderia Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the star turn during the Ferrari Racing Days event at the Hungaroring over the weekend, the Brazilian wowing the crowd by demonstrating a California road car and an F1 single-seater on the same track that he suffered serious injuries on just last summer.

Scuderia Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the star turn during the Ferrari Racing Days event at the Hungaroring over the weekend, the Brazilian wowing the crowd by demonstrating a California road car and an F1 single-seater on the same track that he suffered serious injuries on just last summer. The main on-track programme of the weekend featured the F430 Challenge racers which were contesting the European and Italian series' reserved for these "one make" machines. Also in action over the weekend were fifteen historic single-seaters run by the F1 Clienti department, four of the Ferrari FXX and fourteen 599XX sports cars, all tackling several untimed sessions, while the final day also saw Ferrari owners' able to take to the circuit which is the home of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari Racing Days programme got underway in earnest on Saturday morning when the F430s contesting the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli took to the track for qualifying before the afternoon saw the first of two rounds of races scheduled for the weekend. In qualifying for competitors in the European series, Bjorn Grossmann (Autohaus Gohm) set the quickest time ahead of Philipp Baron (Baron Service) and Alexey Vasiliev (Ferrari Moscow) while Aleksandr Skryabin (Ferrari Moscow) was quickest among the "gentleman" in the Coppa Shell, outpacing Tibor Valint (Warm Up) and Wido Roessler (Baron Service). In the Italian series, Stefano Gai (Rossocorsa) would start Race 2 from pole position after outperforming Giorgio Sernagiotto (Motor/Piacenza) and Lorenzo Casè (Motor/Piacenza). Fastest lap among the Coppa Shell drivers was set by Andrea Rizzoli (Motor/Piacenza) who outpaced Flavio Pierleoni (Motor/Malucelli) and Vincenzo Sauto (Ineco/MP).

Racing got underway in the afternoon with the first event for the European Trofeo Pirelli and proceedings were dominated by Baron  who took victory in Race 1, ahead of Robert Pergl (Scuderia Praha) and Max Blancardi (Motor/Malucelli). Aleksandr Skryabin (Ferrari Moscow) was first past the flag in the Coppa Shell to stand on the top step of the podium, with Roessler and Valint alongside him in second and third spots. In Race 1 of the Italian series, the win went to Gai in a spectacular race, held in the rain, in which he got the better of Quinto Stefana (Rossocorsa) and Sernagiotto. For the Coppa Shell competitors, Enrich Prinoth (Ineco/MP) came out on top, crossing the line ahead of Pierleoni and Rizzoli.

The final day, Sunday, featured two more rounds of racing in the European and Italian series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli. In addition there were more free practice sessions for the FXX, 599XX and the historic single-seaters. The highlight of the day was the appearance of Massa, who drove a few laps of the track at the wheel of a Ferrari California and then thrilled the crowds in the grandstands with a demonstration run in an F60, the single-seater with which Scuderia Ferrari contested the 2009 F1 season. There was also some non-racing track activity, as many Ferrari owners' were able to get behind the wheel of their own cars as part of the special “Emozioni in pista” programme.

Back to the race action Victory in Race 2 of the European Trofeo Pirelli went to Baron, his second win of the weekend in the series, this time coming out ahead of Vasiliev and Pergl, who had taken the runners-up spot the previous day. As for the gentleman drivers in the Coppa Shell, Skryabin also took his second win, crossing the line ahead of Valint and Roessler, these latter two drivers having also occupied the lower two steps of the podium the day before, that time though with the finishing positions switched. In the afternoon race counting towards the Italian series, Gai once again had the measure of the field, beating Sernagiotto and Riccardo Ragazzi (Ineco/MP) into second and third respectively. Coming out on top in the Coppa Shell was the previous day's runner-up, Pierleoni, with Rizzoli second and Massimo Mantovani (Motor/Malucelli).

The next round of the European series of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli takes place in France at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit (Le Castellet), over the weekend of 19 September, while the Italian series of the one-make championship is back in action at the Pietro Taruffi Circuit, Vallelunga on 10 October.
 

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