Passion for the Prancing Horse: Ferrari Racing Days.
Scuderia Ferrari, that’s what the letters SF stand for on the emblem for perhaps the most passion inspiring brand ever. Ferrari. Sydney Motorsport Park hosted the first ever Ferrari Racing Days weekend in Australia; covering April 11 to 13 which was an ideal opportunity to showcase the brand and, as it happened, the circuit.
Essentially, the FRD weekend was to show off the brand, by virtue of building a mini showroom, exhibiting some classic cars, running a few F1 cars covering some thirty years of Ferrari F1 history and inviting some privileged owners to drive their cars on the circuit. But the sheer exposure of the black horse on a yellow shield locally and, more importantly, internationally by having a round of the Ferrari 458 Speciale Pirelli Trofeo Challenge which included drivers from Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Australia and the USA is priceless. Two races, over two days, plus twenty odd pilots seeing a circuit they’ve never driven on and being able to take that experience back to their home cities. An added attraction was the parade of cars, on Sydney’s freeway system, from the city to the circuit, of approximately 150 cars. Infrastructure was a major part of the event; in the paddock there were two entrances joined by a red carpet, joining a children’s entertainment area that also had the genuine F1 car driven by Michael Schumacher. A showroom with five cars, some classic cars such as a F40, F50 and Enzo, development cars in the form of the FXX and 599XX plus some truly historic cars added to the spectacle. On track were examples of Ferrari history, from a 348 Testarossa to the new California and more.
A highlight of the weekend was former racer and current F1 test driver for Ferrari, Marc Gene’, running the 2009 F1 car as campaigned by Kimi Raikkonen. Also, for the first time at Sydney Motorsport Park, were more than one genuine F1 car, as opposed to the sungle RB7 Red Bull car run by Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo as part of the Top Gear Festival. The combination of V8, turbo, V10 and V12 cars added an incredible sight and sound sensation, complete with Gene’ signing off with a crowd thrilling burnout.
Although the weather wasn’t the best, the attraction of the brand was such that over five thousand people came along to absorb the sights and sounds of the first Ferrari Racing Days at Sydney Motorsport Park.
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