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Turbocharged Ferrari Enzo to take on the Bonneville Flats

August 19, 2010 at 5:41 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News

The Bonneville Speed Week in Utah attracts the daredevils of the world who bring their own super machines to hit incredible speeds thanks to 142 kilometres of flat dessert sand under them. The salt flats have played host to various successful land speed record attempts.

One Ferrari owner decided to give it a go with his V12-engined Ferrari Enzo. Now before you think that he’s bastardized this classic, you should know that his car was previously a wreck as he crashed it in a rally back in 2006.

Along with a new body from the one-off Pininfarina P4/5, Richard Losee has went the forced induction route. The car now makes 850hp, at boost levels of 11 to 12 lbs. He says boost levels could be taken up to 18 to 20 lbs which could produce a power output of a 1,000 horses.

Helping with the vehicle dynamics, the car has been lowered and fitted with slimmer tires. A new carbon fibre nose is also fitted as they found the old one wasn’t stable at speeds of above 362km/h. No official details have been released of its performance figures, but it’ll definitely be faster than the Enzo’s top speed of 364km/h.

We eagerly await to see what the results are!

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GALLERY: Ferrari 458 Challenge action shots on track

August 5, 2010 at 10:41 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News, Motorsports

We’ve previously only seen one static shot, but Ferrari has now released pictures of the 458 Challenge in action as the race car was taken out on the Vallelunga race track in Italy. This was so that the two drivers testing the car – Maurizio Mediani (Italy) and Jaime Melo (Argentina) – can help in the fine tuning of the vehicle.

The race car will use the standard road car’s 4.5-litre V8 with 570 hp/540 Nm, while stripping the rest of the car down to the essentials and adding a race suspension setup. 19-inch Pirelli slicks and new generation Brembo CCM2 brakes have also been added. The 458 will take part in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli that will branch out an Asia-Pacific series in 2011. Click here for more details on Maranello’s latest race car.

Pics after the jump.
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Ferrari team boss explains “team orders” at Hockenheim

July 26, 2010 at 10:08 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Ferrari, Formula 1, Motorsports

Ferrari is back on the top of the F1 podium again, but the 1-2 finish led by Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim has attracted plenty of flak for “team orders”, which is banned. Indeed, the Scuderia was slapped with a $100,000 fine and the case is being referred to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC). After the race, team boss Stefano Domenicali faced a press pack full of questions.

When asked to explain why this situation wasn’t illegal team orders, Domenicali said: “I don’t know if I have to explain to you what are team orders. What I can say from my side is that if you are referring to the situation we have in mind, we gave an information to Felipe about what was the situation.

“Because we have already seen in the past that certain situations could not give the best result to the team. That was the information we wanted to give and we leave the drivers to understand and take notice of it in order to make sure the team, in terms of the global results, gets the best.”

The hacks pressed on, asking the chief if yesterday’s situation was any different from Austria 2002, where Rubens Barrichello was infamously ordered to let Schumacher pass and go on to win the race. “Honestly, I don’t know. What we said to him today was an information about the situation behind. That is what we said today,” he replied.

But didn’t Massa’s engineer Rob Smedley apologise to him? “It was not an apology this way. You have to consider the fact, and you can check with his communication on the radio several times in the past, that Rob Smedley’s is correctly in a very good conjunction with Felipe. This is the key of their success. He gave the information to Felipe and he saw what happened and he was not happy about the situation of the car that was not so fast – sorry – was slower than the other one,” was the reply given.

What do you think of this incident? Was Ferrari wrong in giving Alonso, who has a better chance of challenging for the title than Massa, a shot at the main prize?

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Ferrari World Abu Dhabi unveils its ride attractions!

July 23, 2010 at 1:31 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, International News

You’ve got your usual Disneyland and Universal Studios, and now you’ve got another must see theme park to visit, especially if you’re a petrol head. It’s Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi which according to the press release, is an “exciting attraction designed to tell the Ferrari story, passion, excellence, performance and technical innovation to families.”

How they’ll pass that information on while hurtling you at 240km/h into the sky, remains a mystery even to me. If curious as to what are the Ferrari (speed) themed rides on offer, as mentioned before you have the world’s fastest roller coaster, the G-Force which shoots you 62 metres in the air in a seat inspired by the Ferrari Enzo, the Fiorano GT Challenge which is a duelling roller-coaster of Ferrari F430’s, and the “V12″ which as its name describes is a flume ride inside a 12 cylinder engine.

If you’re a little faint-hearted they’ve accommodated your needs as well with attractions such as Made in Maranello which is a virtual trip behind factory doors, Scuderia Challenge – a cutting edge race simulator used by the drivers of Scuderia Ferrari, and Viaggio in Italia which gives you a virtual aerial voyage over Italy.

Other attractions include a 4D fantasy journey, interactive 3D shows along with movies relating to the history of anything Ferrari. Kid’s will have a ball of a time as they’ve got something called Junior GT, which is a driving school where they get special instruction and drive reduced scale F430 GT spiders on a driving course.

After they’ve got the feel of the car, they can hop onto the Junior Grand Prix where they can enjoy the race track in a scaled down versions of a F1 car. Something for everyone, Ferrari World will have a range of concept restaurants and cafés offering authentic Italian dining experiences along with shopping venues.

You can forget about the holiday in Italy, all you need is a ticket to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The theme park will officially open its doors on the 28th of October this year. More pictures of the attractions are available after the jump.
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Ferrari 458 Challenge revealed, Challenge Trofeo Pirelli series coming to Asia-Pacific in 2011

July 16, 2010 at 12:48 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News, Motorsports


Click to enlarge

The Ferrari 458 Challenge made its world debut at the company’s Annual Dealer Meeting in Maranello recently. This car replaces the F430 Challenge and will see action in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli in the 2011 season, which will also feature an Asia-Pacific series. The RM2 million supercar’s stock engine, which is a 4.5-litre V8 producing 570 hp and 540 Nm of torque, is maintained, but other bits have been fine-tuned.

First up are the modified gear ratios and the calibration of the dual-clutch F1 transmission, which they say guarantees higher torque at lower revs. Also available will be the E-Diff electronic differential that is no stranger to the Ferrari road car range. Contained within E-Diff is the F1-Trac traction control system which has a wet and dry setting. It constantly monitors grip levels for maximum road holding.

Acceleration has been improved using weight saving techniques (standard car does 0-100 km/h in under 3.4 seconds), among them reducing the thickness of the body panels and using materials such as carbon fibre and Lexan. This lighter body will sit on a new 30 mm lower suspension set-up made of solid aluminium bushings, stiffer springs and single-rate dampers. There are also centre-nut 19” racing rims, larger dimension Pirelli slicks and new generation Brembo CCM2 brakes, which is also on the track-only 599XX.

All these enhancements have been proven on track as Ferrari says that the car laps Fiorano in 1 minute and 16.5 seconds, a whole two seconds quicker than the F430 Challenge.

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GALLERY: Ferrari 599 GTO looking fabulous in action

July 13, 2010 at 10:36 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News

Previously, we’ve only seen studio images of the 599 GTO, but here’s Ferrari’s fastest ever road car basking in glory under the sun. And boy, does it look good strutting its stuff. As a recap, the 599 GTO made its public debut at this year’s Beijing Auto Show and this latest Gran Turismo Omologata is the road going version of the extreme 599XX. Only 599 examples will be made – this is sure to be a collector’s dream.

The 599 GTO’s 6.0-litre V12 makes 661 bhp at 8,250 rpm with maximum torque of 620 Nm at 6,500 rpm, while complying with Euro 5 and LEV 2 standards. Those Italian stallions can pull the 1,495 kg GTO to a 3.35 second run from 0-100 km/h and a top speed of “over 335 km/h”. This car lapped Fiorano at 1’24, which is faster than the Enzo.

Other highlights include a second generation magnetorheological suspension control system and new carbon-ceramic brakes that decelerates the car from 100-0 km/h in just 32.5 metres! The driver-car interface is integrated with Virtual Race Engineer (VRE) which provides the driver with instantaneous information on performance.

Go ahead and drool at the pics after the jump.
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Ferrari prodigy Lance Stroll beats F1 driver in kart race

June 26, 2010 at 7:29 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, Formula 1, Motorsports

As previously reported, Ferrari recently recruited a new member into the Ferrari Driving Academy in the form of 11-year old Lance Stroll from Canada. The talented lad joined the Scuderia at the recent Canadian Grand Prix for a go-kart session, and guess what, he ruffled some F1 feathers on track!

Almost everyone from the team took part in this friendly race where the 12 fastest drivers went on to compete in a final event. The dozen included both F1 drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, but Stroll finished the day second! To achieve that, he must have left some test drivers AND one of Ferrari’s two F1 drivers behind in his dust!

Your guess is at good as ours as to who that might be, as Ferrari conveniently forgot to add that bit of juicy information to the press statement. Of course it isn’t exactly a level playing field due to factors like Stroll’s lower weight, but it still gives you an idea of what this prodigy is capable of. We did our share of racing with F1 drivers on karts before, but the best of Malaysian motoring journalists couldn’t come within two corners of the real deal! Read our account here.

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Ferrari signs ex-McLaren chief engineer Pat Fry

June 23, 2010 at 6:32 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, Formula 1, Motorsports

Ferrari has confirmed the appointment of former McLaren chief engineer Pat Fry as the Scuderia’s assistant technical director. The 46-year old Briton will work under technical director Aldo Costa starting from July. It’s likely that Fry will jump into the development of next year’s car.

Fry left McLaren last month after 17 years with the Woking team. He started his career with Benetton in 1987 and worked there as a race engineer and test team engineer till 1992 before moving to McLaren in 1993.

At McLaren, he was made chief engineer alongside Tim Goss in 2002 and both men alternate as lead designers – Goss is in charge of this year’s car, while Fry was working on the 2011 MP4-26 before leaving McLaren. Would he bring valuable information to his new team?

“Within our team, then, I think we’ve got quite a bit of a talent and depth, so in these situations it’s a great opportunity for someone younger, maybe hungrier, to come along and replace all of us,” McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said of Fry’s departure last month.

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11-year old Canadian snapped by Ferrari Driver Academy

June 11, 2010 at 1:52 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, Formula 1, Motorsports

The tale of a 10-year old called Lewis Hamilton going up to Ron Dennis and telling the boss that he will race for McLaren one day is now a household story. Young Lewis was signed less than three years later, and he’s now the youngest ever F1 world champion. This young man you see here could well be the next Hamilton.

Only 11 years old, Montreal born Lance Stroll is the latest and youngest driver to be part of the Ferrari Driving Academy, which was created late last year to find and support talented young racing drivers with the eventual aim of getting them into F1.

At his age, Lance already has two wins at the Canadian national championship in Rotax Mini Max category, Coupe de Montreal and Coupe du Quebec Micro Max Championship in 2008 and both Mini Max Championships in 2009. He finished sixth in the World Finals at Lonato in the Mini Roc category and second in the Rotax Micro Max Florida Winter Tour. He also won the series this year in the Mini Max category along with championships for the Tag/Cadet Florida winter tour. Unsurprisingly, he has been nominated for the Rookie of the Year in 2008 by the Fedération Sport Automobile du Quebec and Driver of the Year in 2009.

“We are pleased to welcome Lance to our group,” said Luca Baldisserri, the Scuderia’s chief track engineer who runs the academy. “He is very young, but he has already shown in karting that he is exceptionally talented. We will follow him step by step in his forthcoming events in North America and he will soon also take part in our courses at Maranello.”

At the academy, Lance will join Jules Bianchi, a French driver who won the French Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007 and the F3 Euroseries in 2009 along with podium finishes in the GP2 Asia series. The fact that such an important man in the Ferrari F1 hierarchy heads this program shows how serious Ferrari is in wanting to find new talent.

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Ferrari announces plans for 599 GTB roadster!

June 10, 2010 at 12:33 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, International News

Ever thought that the noise from the Ferrari 599 GTB wasn’t loud enough for you? Well, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo could have a solution to that problem as he has just announced that a roadster version of the 12 cylinder engined car will go into production, allowing you to listen to the engine roar unobstructed.

“This is a very unusual car and it will certainly surprise you,” said Montezemelo. “It’s only going to be available to a very select number of clients who’ve been asking us for an open-top version of the 12-cylinder for quite some time now. We won’t be unveiling it at a show though. Instead, we’ll be organizing private presentations.”

This isn’t the first V12 convertible from Ferrari though, as previously there was the 575 Superamerica which was unveiled in 2004. The car had an unusual folding system as the panoramic sunroof lifted straight up and plopped backward on to the boot, to avoid compromising luggage space. Only gripe about the setup is the fact that it looked like a convertible Suzuki Vitara with the top up.

Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed in regards to the roof system it will use, but you can always trust Ferrari to do what’s best for its supercars. For such limited numbers I’d expect a simple cloth roof to be used instead of designing a complicated hard top convertible system. What you can expect though, is an increase in price to pay for the work that goes into stiffening the bodywork.

The original hardtop 599 GTB costs around $300,000 when it first hit the market and featured a naturally aspirated 12-cylinder engine that produces 611 bhp and an incredible 607 Nm of torque. We could expect to see a modified version of this engine housed within the new roadster to make up for the extra weight of the extra body stiffening.

Montezemolo has even hinted that there might be a suffix added to the title and said it will be a romantic name, along the lines of Fiorano, Italia and Maranello. Thus the best this writer can come up with is something like Venice or Verona. Ferrari 599 GTB Verona – sounds good? What do you think the new car should be called?

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