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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. |
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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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