Barely Streetable : December 2016

Thursday, December 15, 2016

The Ferrari Finali Mondiali

For the first time in the US, the Ferrari Challenge series world championships were held at Daytona International Speedway the weekend of December 4^th. Featuring races, displays, exhibition laps, a show and more. Ferrari has history at the track and it's a world class venue appropriate for such an event. Although tailored for Ferrari fans, the event was only $10 for the public. Not well attended in superspeedway terms or any other except by owners, it was spectacular for the car and racing enthusiast for multiple reasons. And less crowds meant excellent access, as good as it gets.

Shell had a small booth, really the only the third party that was there, showing the advantages of the VPower Nitro+ premium gasoline. Shell has partnered with Ferrari from even before their first road car in 1947 and to this day they are an integral partner with Ferrari. Every Ferrari, Maserati and BMW M use the cleanest gasoline VPower Nitro+ for less deposits, corrosion and wear versus other brands. Ferrari also uses the patented PurePlus technology oil from Shell for reduced wear, better temperature protection and cleanest burning for reduced engine wear and varnish.

The main events were the 458 Challenge series championships. Two different classes, Pirelli Trofeo for the near pro level drivers and Coppa Shell (Shell Cup) for the amateur class. Vehicle count was healthy and it was for all intents and purposes ran exactly like a major event. The level of organization and participation was impressive.

There was so much more than the racing however. The hot lap sessions offered ultra-exotic sights and sounds all weekend. The 1,036 horsepower Corse Clienti FXX-K cars positively screamed around the road circuit and exceeded over 200mph on the back straight banking. 599XX cars were also numerous and offered similar sounds and heroic speeds. One Enzo based FXX was observed.

Historic F1 cars were also present and running. By historic I mean not only 1970s or so but also only a generation or two old. Which meant former champion Ferrari Formula 1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikonnen put on a clinic in the 2009 V8 cars. Howling down the front straight, they were spectacular, a real treat on Sunday. Complete with burnouts and a fan/worker/technician/media scrum in the grass to celebrate. Later two historic Daytona winners were rolled out for a memorable photo shoot.

Earlier at the press conference, Seb and Kim, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and team boss Maurizio Arrivabene were present. Both drivers are looking forward to more grip offered by the next season's tire size upgrade and stating they wouldn't mind more power either. Also they expect big changes in how the current test mules evolve for next season. Sergio remarked how a return to NASCAR was in order and felt aerodynamics needed further development for their F1 program.

Ferrari worked closely with the Ferrari Club of America to have members participate in volume. And they sure did, coming from all over the country with their cars. The show on infield was The Quail level in exclusivity. Multiple LaFerraris, F60 Americas, special body cars, historic racers and more. The participation was essential for the Saturday night logistical nightmare attempt at beating the largest parade of Ferraris. Early estimates of 1100 cars suggested breaking the record of 964 held at Silverstone but Guinness Book of World Records officially stated 809 cars unfortunately. If all had drivers versus being parked, my guess it would have been broken. Staging that many cars is always a big challenge. It really didn’t matter, it was spectacular.

One of the temporary buildings had a working Ferrari showroom with new models present with color samples for paint, brake calipers, leather and more. A home equity line approval would have been dangerous… Another building was for the advertising of Classiche program of factory restorations, customization program, re-bodies and more. On display was a flawless 250 GTO with an estimated worth of over $50 million. In glasses in office was a recreation of the binders of all their historical build sheets.

Saturday night was an invitation only cocktail reception but it was really just a huge champagne and wine party with a special auction tossed in. Not much different fashion-wise than McCall's Motorworks Revival, it was a lot of fun, although I draw the line at silver sequined Mens moccasins. The award ceremony for the regional and overall champion drivers was very dignified along with kind words from Sergio Marchionne. Besides world champion drivers suits selling in the 5-digit teens, LaFerrari number 500, built especially for charity sale to benefit the victims of the August 24^th Central Italy earthquake. A record price for a LaFerrari and the highest price paid for a vehicle produced this twenty-first century, sold for $7 million. Later, the evening closed by being treated to tunes spun by former Formula 1 and champion sports car driver DJ Giancarlo Fischella. The free poster and prints were very nice giveaways.

One miss was the Ferrari clothing and gear store that was well picked over. Ferrari could have had one three times larger with even more variety and still have done very well. What also should have been available was the promotion video shown during the cocktail reception. It was spectacularly done and worthy buying on DVD or on a memory drive.

VIP rides was one of the last events on Sunday. Stock 488 GTBs were driven by none other than Kimi Raikonnen, Sebestian Vettel, and mine was AF Corse Ferrari team driver and Le Man winner Toni Vilander. Holy cow its eye widening what a 10 second car felt like with insane brakes to match. I kept thinking we would overshoot the turns. But it was on the back half of the Speedway, not even on a full lap, the acceleration was relentless. All I could see in the passenger seat was the track surface in the left hand turn starting at the windshield header and disappearing under the car. Well into the triple digits is when the lateral g-force push could be felt. When I finally looked over at the end of the straight, the speedometer had just showed 182mph! It wasn’t even a full lap it and it was incredible! The car sounds great but just doesn’t have that naturally aspirated howl. A catback exhaust system would make it perfect.

The Finali Mondiali easily could be a more commercial event, but it certainly met the needs and expectations of fans and owners. The sights and actions was spectacular, the catering top-notch, Daytona is a world-class facility, and this was an experience of a lifetime.

Multiple race results:
http://races.ferrari.com/en/finalimondiali2016/

Check out this awesome soundtrack of my F1 car walk-by tour: