The main reason for the massive crowds on Sunday was the presence of the Formula 1 team drivers
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barichello, together with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Jean Todt, and
test driver Luca Badoer, with Fiat supremo Gianni Agnelli also making an appearance. The crowds went
wild when they appeared with fireworks exploding, horns blowing, flags waving and tumultuous applause, as
they walked up and down the track acknowledging the passionate celebration of their successes this
season by their die-hard supporters. After the walkabout, the three drivers provided the unique sight of three
Ferrari F1 cars running on the track at the same time. They circulated together at high speed after a line
astern wheelspin start, until Luca Badoer pitted leaving the two F1 team mates, who have brought so much
success to the Scuderia this season, to bask in the adulation of the crowd. The piercing sound of the three
V10 engines at x thousand rpm, as they passed between the pit complex buildings and the grandstands
opposite was phenomenal, a high octave (and octane) symphony. Schumacher and Barichello each then
made a tyre change pit stop on consecutive laps, before circulating once more to perform a doughnut duet
finale on the pit straight. They burned so much rubber that they were completely engulfed in the acrid cloud
that lingered in the still air, from which they eventually emerged to rapturous applause and more horn
blowing from the ecstatic crowd. A great spectacle, that made the long queue to get into the circuit
worthwhile, then you remembered that you had to do it all over again to get out! Overall it was still worth it,
after all it is 21 years since the last double. |
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With Michael Schumacher having won the F1 Drivers’ Championship three weeks before, and with Ferrari
having clinched the F1 Constructors’ title the previous weekend, there was no doubt that the end of season
Challenge final meeting was going to be something quite spectacular, and it was! |
The event featured final rounds of all the European, plus USA and Pacific region F355/360 Challenge series,
a pair of races for each of the three Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge groups. On top of this race
programme there were Historic F1 demonstrations and a current F1 team track display, together with
aerobatics displays, so it was a very full programme for the entire weekend. There were estimates of more
than 60,000 attendees on Sunday, although this figure seems conservative, based on the massive crowds
along the main straight and on the hills beyond, in Italy who knows the true size of the paying public at any
event! Although I have been to this event at Mugello a number of times, and circuit access is not one of its
strong points, I have never experienced such enormous traffic jams as those on Sunday morning trying to
get to the circuit. A thirty minutes journey under normal conditions took three hours, and some drivers even
missed their races because of what was a virtual gridlock. Such is the fanaticism for Ferrari in Italy, that the
public flocked to the circuit in tens of thousands to celebrate the Ferrari F1 World Championship double,
and to catch a glimpse of the new hero of all Italy, Michael Schumacher. |
The action throughout the weekend was fast and furious, unfortunately a little too furious in the second
Challenge race on Saturday morning. On the first lap, the third place runner Daniel Kunzli spun off the track
hitting a protective barrier, the impact threw the car back into the centre of the track in front of the pursuing
pack. Most managed to avoid the stationary car, but in the ensuing pandemonium Ulrich Plattenhardt from
Germany was completely unsighted and ploughed into it, suffering critical injuries from which he later
succumbed. The accident cast a sombre tone over the day’s proceedings, and the drivers later held a one
minute silence on the starting grid in respect for their colleague. As a further mark of respect, the
organisers cancelled all podium celebrations for the remainder of the meeting, presentations being made in
a low key manner on the grid at the end of each race. Fortunately there were no other serious incidents to
mar what should have been a joyous occasion, damage being mainly confined to bent panelwork and
mechanical components. |
The F355/360 Challenge races produced competitors from the all the European series, together with
contingents from the USA and Pacific regions, whilst the Historic Challenge races had the largest grids of
the year coupled to some exciting racing. The Grid C entry featured Jacky Ickx in the Modena Motorsport
312 PB that he occasionally raced for them last season, as a bonus to the regular series contenders. David
Franklin had his second outing in the 712 CanAm belonging to Carlos Monteverde, who drove his 365
GTB/4C in the same race and his 250 Testa Rossa in the Group B race. |
The Group A and B races were both Maserati benefits, with William Binnie taking both single seater races
in his 6 CM, and Burkhard von Schenk in his 300 S just taking the drum brake sports racing and GT car
races from the 250 Testa Rossa of Carlos Monteverde on each occasion. |
Apart from the racing there was a splendid half hour track display of historic Formula ! cars, ranging from Jo
Vonlanthens 4 cylinder 500, through flat and vee 12 cylinder examples, like the 312 T, 641 and 412 variants,
to the 1998 V10 engined F300 of Michael Gabel, that produced a wide variety of orchestral sounds to
please the ear of the enthusiast. |