Track Day Review: Alesi F1 car, 575SA, 599, 430 Scud

Periodically our local Ferrari importers hire the track and invite customers to come and enjoy their cars on the track this is the review of a day I had last Tuesday, have attempted to iron out as many spelling and grammar errors as possible…

Every so often there are these invitation track days, just a small number of owners gather to enjoy the cars and an empty track. For me the morning started with an early drive to town. From there I would be going to the track in a the 599, well still being fairly early the street were filled with suits headed to the office, thump my head hits the backrest as we blast down the road, the growl of the V12 quickly making me feel a lot more awake.

As many of you on the forum can attest to the TLGPS(traffic light grand prix) are much more common in the morning and with this in mind we were sitting at a robot, next to us being a 1996 of so Opel. Already next to me I can hear the strained scream of a 4 cylinder engine being wound up, needless to say just to be fair we gave him an 150 meter head start….them passed him like he was standing still, the growl of the Fiorano being magnified by the masses of concrete around us.

After a blast up the highway, we arrived at the track; all was still, the temperature being a chilly 12 degrees. Next to arrive was the 430 challenge car (on the back of a trailer). This was going to be the real deal, the standard tires had been replaced by Pirelli slick tires and it was with some apprehension that I contemplated being the first passenger in the car as the slicks were scrubbed in on ice cold tarmac that only two days earlier had been washed by heavy rains…

Nevertheless there I found myself gripped by that might racing seat, the 6 point racing harness tight and heading towards the first corner at high speed…on cold brand new slicks.. The rear does a squirm as the brakes are applied, the V8 breaths deeply as we fly up the straight, the table mountain looking lovely with the sun rising sun glinting on it, not that I had much time to look as the harness bites into my chest as the brakes are applied, heading towards the famous kink, the place of many an accident the car remains stuck to the road though there is some movement on the tires, through Shell corner and feel that V8 blast us up towards the sometimes frightening Malmsbury corner, I remember being a passenger in a 430 going through here broad sideways, thankfully this lap everything is calm, the tires already warming to the task. Flat out down the back straight the V8 screaming, one being bounced around in the car due to race biased suspension. Ahead of me the 150 meter board flashes by and next thing the harness bites into me again as we de accelerate massively for the last turn and my favorite turn of the track. One can really feel the G’s build up going through here.

After 4 laps its time for a flyer or 2, the experience is intense, the thump of the gear change, the seemingly endless grip afforded by the slicks conspire to make it a vivid experience. One is bounced around in the car, the seats grip one like giant hands, and one can feel the air squashed from ones lungs under breaking but it’s simply phenomenal. Climbing out the adrenaline is flowing, the senses on high alert. An amazing experience but this wasn’t the end.

A few pit garages away there is a sharp industry like growl, a lumpy idle, that would be the V12 engine in the back of Jean Alesi’s 1991 Ferrari F1 car. The sound of this thing is indescribable, at idle which for it is 1500 rpm is sounds like a box of nails but hearing the throttle being blipped leaves ones ears ringing and I am sure every resident near Killarney cursing, I have seen this car a few times before and every time the sound is just a mesmerizing as the last time.

I attempted to record some of it for the benefit of fellow F chat member’s members….

It was around mid morning just before the F1 car left the pits when the latest most recently talked about Ferrari appeared...yes out assembled group would be the first to see a 430 Scuderia on a South African race track....strangely enough this took me back 5 years when I was one of the first to see the 360 Challenge Stradale on the track in SA.

I must admit there was a wow factor with the Scuderia but there was also a feeling of it being just another 430....but that soon faded when one spent some time with the car, like the 599 its not naturally gorgeous but believe me spend some time looking at it and its appeals become very clear, there is an air of craftsmanship about the car, every detail has been honed to make this car the ultimate road racer.

The motor sounds louder than the std 430 but nothing near as loud as the old 360 CS though it has to be said there was a running in limit of 6000 rpm....What was awesome was hearing the whap whap of the down changes...60 milliseconds is rather quick.

Put simply the interior of the Scud is a work of art, it’s stripped out but every detail is beautifully executed.

I was offered a spin in a std 430 coupe and I know the owner fairly well but hadn’t been out on the track with him before well, suffice to say this was adrenaline pumping stuff, braking between the 100 and 50 meter boards on the back straight, going into turn one much too quickly...it became apparent to me this guys driving technique revolves around very late braking and scrubbing off speed into the corners....well this on the limit stuff really sold me on the E diff and thank goodness for carbon ceramics otherwise I fear I might not be posting this...

Nevertheless these 5 laps were hugely exciting in a very scary way if that makes sense....

In Ferrari circles there is a saying that once you have experienced a V12 you don’t go back to V8's well it have to say its true, yes the V8s are awesome but the V12's well they are just epic, breezing up to around 250 in the 599 was a surreal experience, everything ahead moving in reverse and around the track the Fiorano simply defies it size and weight to create something that feels at home on the track.

Going under bridges the roar of the v12 is simply amazing, the speed of the gear change phenomenal.

 

Some pictures...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudrightsideshade.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudrightsideglint.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudfromabove2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudbadge.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/challengerightfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/challengewheel.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/challengefrontwheelsturned.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/challengedeadahead.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/599rightfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/599lowside-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/599lowside.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/575SAfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/575SAengine.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/430grey.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/430distantfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/360lowerside.jpg

 

Some vids
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/?action=view&current=scud1.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/?action=view&current=F1scream.flv

Some more pics.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/F1rear.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudsideshade.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudgoodpicinshade.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudleftrearsidewheelsturned.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudmirror.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/Scudrear.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/575SAfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/575SAengine.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/430grey.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/430distantfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/355chleftfrontside.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/355chtrack.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/355sideshot.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/355spshade2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/360deadahead.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/360lowerside.jpg

 

Vid of the 599 on the road....of course doing the speed limit.....
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v59/Ferrari360/Cars/?action=view&current=MVI_0165.flv

 

Was a great day out.....the tyres are just used to move the car around(loading and unloading off the trailer) the other tyres were under tyre blankets....

 

Thanks for the kind words, I have had a few articles published in the Southern Equitorial Ferrari Club Magazine.

Strangely enough I have become a bit hesitant to post things like this on Fchat due to some serious criticism I received in the past.