FERRARI RACING DAYS CHAPTER 1 - 2011

PIRELLI FERRARI CHALLENGE RACING TYRE

So why am I calling this one "Ferrari Racing Days Chapter 1"? Well I am because I can! But, seriously though, I am because I will be attending the next event in a few weeks at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. That chapter will be told when I attend that one. So for now, on with this chapter.

I have been looking forward to this event for months, and today the day has come and gone. It was an awesome day to say the least. I got up around 6:30 am and got myself ready to go. On my way though as usual I had stop to make. First stop was to take my wife, Cristy, to her friends house. They were spending the day in San Francisco. Then I headed out and got fueled up the car, stopped to grab a mocha and a cream cheese bagel, and a little cash for the toll bridge and into the event. Finally! The event was here!

599 GTO

I got to Infineon Raceway about 9:30 or so, and since I was alone, I started to get some pictures of the Horses in the Stable. Some mighty fine examples were there too. Several 458's, 430's, a few 360's, 355's, 348's, 308's and more. Only thing though, there was not the crowd that is normally at the event. Only about 50 or so cars. I didn't mind it though. Less crowd means easier opportunities to take some pics. I then met up with an acquaintance (Brian) and headed over to check out the garages. I then met up with an past workmate (Fernando) that I hadn't expected to see there. Only because he was to go on Sunday. Plans changed I guess! It was good to see him. Then I saw the stables. It was such a beautiful site to see. A much better example of horses filled the temporary stables. About half a dozen or more 599XX's, 3 FXX's, including the Black #30 that used to be owned by Michael Schumacher. Apparently he was forced by MBZ to sell it when he signed on. HIS LOSS! Besides those beauties, there were four fine examples of Ferrari Formula 1 history sitting there quietly waiting. A Gerhard Berger F189 Chassis, an F310B chassis, an F2001, and to top the lineup, an  F2007. I had the opportunity to first meet up with the owner of the F310B (Bud). This nice gentleman was there with his wife at his side and loving every bit of it. Then another past workmate popped up (Danny). The cars were then put through some test runs to get ready for the track. OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CHORUS IT IS! Then they were off for a run to stretch the legs of these beautiful horses.

F310B Steering Wheel

Once back in the stable, I met up with the F310B owner once again. I also got to meet the gentleman that owns the F189. While hanging around admiring the F1 beauties, Fernando came back around, so Danny, Fernando and his 2 friends, and I pretty much hung out for the remainder of the day. Fernando then realizes that he recognizes one of the drivers. It just so happened to be Marc Gene, the Ferrari Formula 1 Test Driver. So we go together with Marc and got a group shot. Now just to get that pic from Fernando. Marc was there to drive the F2007 chassis. After drooling for a long time in the stables, we then decided to get lunch. After lunch we stayed to one area of the track closest to the garages to get a great view of the cars hitting the breaks and running through the hairpin. After a while we went back into the stables to see the 599XX's and FXX's get ready for their run. ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL CHORUS! Then off they went. By this time Danny had left us, so Fernando, his 2 friends, and I went back to the hairpin. Fernando and I decided to stop in the empty garages and get some pics and video of the cars as they hit the breaks and go through the hairpin. Oh the site of glowing breaks! Oh so nice! After a bit we did actually get back to the end of the hairpin. That was where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon. We had too! The F1 cars came back out at 4:00. Well at least two of them did. Some not so good things happened to the other two in the earlier session that were not fixable today.

599XX's

FXX

By the end of it all, I was rather tired. Being in the sun a good part of the day was a drain. But man was it all worth it! I ended up getting nearly a thousand shots in one day. So to end this chapter, the day ended up being an awesome day. Now to wait a few weeks for the next chapter. If you want to see all my pics form the day, here is my album page - http://razzi.me/speedtrap73/albums

CIAO! For Now!

OH WAIT! I forgot! there were other cars at the event as well. The F430 and 458 Challenge cars. I'll talk about them in the next chapter. I will be there for 3 or 4 days, so I will have a lot more to talk about at that time. But, for now here's a pic.