Ferrari Challenge April 16-19

Mark Mckenzie hit the wall on the front striaght. We are all glad he is ok.

That was one hell of an impact.

He was back on the track for the race with the teams spare. Way to go Mark.

 

The driver in 10 seemed to be ok, he limped away.

Yeah the 333SP is an amazing car, ran IMSA, ALMS, Grand Am, you name it. I grew up with that being my favorite car to hear, especially when it shifts, not sure why but that quick pause then scream again of the engine gives me chills.

I was there last year and the racing just seemed far more exciting, this year it seemed as fun as watching a Skip Barber race or something (well not as exciting). The lead battle was fairly good, but like in 3 and such they were really not going at full potential, even the leaders.

 

Wow that's an amazing shot! I'd like to see the ones following, I was at 10, it was a HARD hit.

 

Photo of incident now has it's own thread-

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240206

 

So what did you all think? I thought last year was MUCH better. Not sure why, maybe a larger turnout and all? The FXX's were great to see, the actual Challenge races were really boring to me. The drivers just seemed really slow. Also the re scheduling of the F430 race today pissed a lot of people off. Kind of stupid they did that if you ask me.

 

This was my first year so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I had a great time yesterday. Today was pretty annoying because of the rain and how the schedule got rearranged. I got there at around 1pm expecting it to still be "quiet time" and not seeing any cars on the track, but when I got there, the 430 race was almost over. I saw a lot of pictures from last year's race and there were a lot more older cars there than this year, didn't they cancel the historic race this year to make room for the FXX and F1, if so then that probably had something to do with the turnout. The highlight for me was seeing the FXX's, they were amazing to see in person. I am surprised though that only one of the FXX's that came out was from the United States.

 

Yea, they cancelled the historic race this year to make room for the FXX. Highlights in order for me were client lappings, f1 clienti, 430 challenge, then the FXX at the top. Boy, when those FXX downshifts, its like God, gargling. It an incredible noise to hear and the first time I heard it, it toke the breathe right out of me. As for some of the good places to catch the action was at the backstretch, the dirt ledge near the "esses", and right at turn 6 coming from the uphill and then the straight.

As being my first time going, I found it pleasantly surprising and will attend every year from now on. All the owners and staff were open and friendly. As for the rescheduling, I didnt mind that much since I knew advance and those 3 hours of downtime were filled with sweet serenade of ferraris. What I found disappointing was the F1 cars. Yea, they were old and loud but I was expecting some newer F1 cars.

I have bout 6GB of photos and videos that I will upload soon enough and post right here in this thread.

 

what is the f1 cliente ?

 

Old Ferrari F1 cars driven by whoever has the money, not exactly sure if they OWN the car or Ferrari still owns the car.

The FXX's did sound great, the sound reminded me a lot of the Acura ALMS cars really lol. Especially under braking and downshifting.

What was the deal with the lapping of street cars? Wasn't it like $800? lol How did the 350Z get out there? It was actually a pretty dangerous show of driving, provided far more close calls and crazy maneuvers then the actual race. There were some RIDICULOUS moves on the back straight, especially with the pack driving at 30mph.

 

After last year where the historics part of the event was nothing short of stellar, it kind of left a hole in this years event without the historics.

It is always a very laid back event, low crowd numbers.

 

Yeah, I think they should have got rid of the fan drive thing for the historics, but ok.

It's laid back yeah, but more then a regular SCCA event.

 

I had a great time, seeing the FXXs was a real pleasure, hearing them was a gift. Oh man that sound. I was not happy to hear that the Historic Challenge was cancelled, they should have added the Historic along with the FXX Programme. Last years Historic was absolutely awesome. Overall a great time, really liked the seeing the F40, F50, Scuderia Red Challenge Stradale and the California. Lots and lots of owner cars present on Saturday, I saw some die hards at the track yesterday.

 

Thanks to those who made it out this weekend and although the field for the 430 race was small, there was plenty to see. I am glad I got to meet many new faces and hope we will see some of you next Saturday for our Monte Luce mountain drive. Weekend weather looks promising, so far. Get your Ferrari out and come join us.
The Historics didn't run because they didn't have enough participation to put a full field together. If you were at Cavallino this year, you know what I mean. In place of the historics, FNA offered client lapping sessions. Those that joined the client lapping sessions had a blast as they got in four hours of driving Road Atlanta with less than 12 other cars on the track. The 350Z was a bit curious to me as well until I found out it was the chief instructor. They like to have fun too!
There were two Canadian FXX drivers and two American drivers. The yellow and blue cars were American. Preston Henn and Rob Walton both had great weekends in their cars.
We had a terrific response to the California and were lucky to have had a Ferrari press car for our event. Our car should be here in the next two weeks so if you missed it, stop by.

 

will - what is the monte luce drive ?

 

Well whoever the chief instructor is needs some pointers...lol.

 

I'll start a new thread on Monte Luce. Thanks for asking.

Will

PS...one other clarification I missed is that the Corsa Clienti program for F1 cars is support only. The drivers own the cars and pay Ferrari a fee to take them to tracks all over the world. It's typical to see them with the FXX guys. The cars range from older 80's era F1 cars all the way up to 2005 cars. The cost to run is astronomical when one considers the technology it requires to even start a late model F1 car. Each car gets it's own support drew usually made up of past F1 team members.

 

Any cost figure you could entertain us with?

P.S. Do you run the event?

 

I don't know the cost for support but know some late model cars sold for over $2mil before support expense. I don't run it but was closer to it when I ran Shelton in Florida. We knew a number of drivers that participated in Corsa Clienti and actually sold two FXX cars direct, from the factory. One gentleman we had as a client purchased the ex Schumacher chassis from 2002 that won a number of Grand Prix races. The number on that one was impressive. Even more impressive is that he drove the car quite well.

 

Cool, would have been cool to see a more modern F1 car out there.

 

The last time I saw the Corsa Clienti program in action was at Laguna in 2004, and nearly all the cars were Schumacher-era cars, newer than the pair that were at Road Atlanta. The only exceptions were the cars that were actually there as part of the Historic Grand Prix organization, and those guys also got some support from Corsa Clienti.

 

I believe the 350Z was out there for the new drivers that have never tracked their car before let alone at Road Atlanta. And its purpose was to show the drivers what speed, line and how to turn into corners. As laps went by, they got faster and faster. Like Lanikai said, it was driven by the chief instructor and there was another person on board probably giving driving tips through walkie talkies. Also, I noticed that the sky blue 599 had a passenger on board, I would assume its another instructor.

 

How do you sign up to be an instructor?

 

since I saw Jeff Segal there, and others from the Ferrari Driving Experience crew, I assume they brought their own people down.

 

The lead instructor was Orlam Sonora. The light blue 599 was mine, first time tracking the car and first time driving at Road Atlanta. They did provide instructors to ride along and help with finding the correct line. My girl friend and I shared the 599 and had a ball. IMHO Orlam can get more out of a 350Z than most of us can get out of our F cars. They did a great job!!! Everyone I know of who tracked their cars loved it and had a great time!!! No wrecks, lots of smiles, 145 MHP and not sweating any blue lights...

George
(and its Azzurro Met.)

 

Thank you Will, Ed, Stephen, and all the crew from Ferrari of Atlanta (especially the roll back crew). Splendid job!