Verrrr...owwwwww!
During our European journey we travel through Italy and in particular, we pass very close to Maranello on our way from Venice to Pisa. Maranello is the current home to Ferrari and this means a mandatory pitstop is required. Italy was the home of Enzo Ferrari who in 1929 established Scuderia Ferrari. The company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles.
Despite the fact that I follow Mark Webber and the Red Bull Renault team in Formula One I am very much looking forward to having a look around the Galleria Ferrari followed by a Coach Tour of the factory and then a cruise around the Fiorano Circuit which is the Scuderia Ferrari test track…..Whoo-hoo! Using the wonders of the Internet we have booked and paid for tickets, securing 4 of the last 6 seats on the Factory and Track tour on the 14th of July 2012.
Speaking of Formula 1, this season has been absolutely fantastic. F1 used to be a boring procession of fast cars unable to pass each other circling a track till the driver who started 1st finished first barring unforseen incidents. Now days with KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) and DRS (drag reduction system) and the various tyre types from Pirelli that means a mandatory pit stop with tyre change and the fact that you cannot refuel during a race all told means that the racing has been fabulous. In the seven races this season so far there has been 7 different winners and the drivers championship is very close with five drivers within 21 points of each other which is close since you can get 25 points for a win. There is also a further 4 drivers within 2 race wins of the lead.
As our visit to Ferrari takes place on the weekend between the Silverstone and the Hockenheim races I wonder what the odds are of running into Fernando Alonso or Felipe Massa from Ferrari or perhaps the young Aussie Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Eric Vergne from the Scuderia Toro Rosso Team. Even better would be….Since Mark Webber is good friends with Fernando Alonso and there have been rumours that he could swich to Ferrari in 2013 then perhaps we might bump into those two in a Cafe around Maranello??
For those of you who enjoy Ferrari porn… here you go
The 599 in a red bikini of course!