On the weekend of September 6 to 8, 2002 the Ferrari racingdays will be held at the
Nürburgring in Germany. The varied programme of this mega-event will include exiting
races in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli, the spectacular Ferrari Shell Historic Ferrari
Maserati Challenge and demonstration runs of Ferrari Formula 1 cars from six decades.
The 2002 Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, will take part in the Ferrari
Racing Days and give some on-track demonstrations of his incredible driving talent.
About 1.000 Ferrari cars are expected in the parking lot, while approximately 20.000
spectators will crowd the tribunes and grandstands.
Ferrari Racing Days
The Ferrari Racing Days are an event hosted by Ferrari Deutschland Ltd., resident in
Wiesbaden/Germany. The exclusive German importer of the marques Ferrari and
Maserati is a 100% subsidiary of Ferrari S.p.A. In 1996, the first Ferrari Racing Days were
held at the Nürburgring. In the following years — including a one-year pause — the
Ferrari Racing Days became an institutional event in the annual motorsports calendar.
Except at the Nürburgring (1996, 1997, 1999), the Ferrari Racing Days were also already
held at Oschersleben (1998) and Hockenheim (2000). For the sixth issue of the Ferrari
Racing Days, one chose the glorious and world famous Grand Prix course in the Eifel
mountains again.
At several occasions already, Ferrari chose the Ferrari Racing Days to present or to
launch a new model: In 1996, the Ferrari 550 Maranello had its world debut at the
Nürburgring; in 1999, Michael Schumacher himself presented the Ferrari 360 Modena
Challenge for the customer racing series ”Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli”, and in 2000
both the Ferrari 360 Spider and the Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina celebrated their
debuts on the German market during the Ferrari Racing Days at Hockenheim.
Varied and interesting programme
The varied and interesting programme of the Ferrari Racing Days will attract Ferrari- and
motorsports-enthusiasts from all over Europe. Modern motor racing, races with historical
Ferrari automobiles, Ferrari Formula 1 cars from several decades and hundreds of
Ferrari of all ages in the parking lots of the paddock will form an attractive and fascinating
event that is unique in Europe.
Modern motor racing at the highest level is guaranteed in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo
Pirelli. The exclusive racing series for Ferrari customers gathers Ferraristi from all over
Europe competing in identical Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge cars. This series will be
covered in a separate paragraph.
The Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge is a racing series for historical Ferrari and
Maserati motorcars and does also include some pre-war Alfa Romeo automobiles which
were campaigned by Enzo Ferrari in the early days of his Scuderia Ferrari. Thus the
production years of the competing cars range from the early 1930’s to about 1972. A
following separate paragraph will disclose more details about this fascinating and
unique historic racing series.
The Formula 1 is the most technically advanced motor racing series, and hence it is the
most fascinating one to many people as well. The Scuderia Ferrari has been part of the
Formula 1 since Day One. There’s no other team in Formula 1 that did more races, more
seasons or that took more wins. In devotion to this great tradition, the Ferrari Racing
Days have always included demonstration runs of historical Ferrari Formula 1 cars —
and this tradition will remain unchanged in 2002. Collectors from all over the world will
once again bring their precious single seaters to the Nürburgring, starting with the 1954
Ferrari 500 Monoposto and ending with the very Ferrari F1-2000 in that Michael
Schumacher gained his first Formula 1 World Championship title for the Scuderia Ferrari.
Michael Schumacher, the 2002 Formula 1 World Champion, will take part in the Ferrari
Racing Days. After he had already been the star of the Ferrari Racing Days in 1996, 1999
and 2000, he will surely not miss the chance to celebrate his early win of the 2002
drivers’ World Championship title together with his fans and thousands of Ferraristi at the
Nürburgring. Michael Schumacher will perform various demonstration runs — sorry, no
more details to be unveiled at this point.
During the Ferrari Racing Days, the ”Ring” will turn red again since the large parking lot in
and around the paddock will fill with about 1.000 Ferrari cars. Additionally, the Ferrari
Club Deutschland (FCD) will hold a big meeting during the Ferrari Racing Days. Both the
members of the FCD and registered Ferrari owners will have the chance to drive their
cars on the Nürburgring’s sprint course on Sunday in the morning and in the late
afternoon.
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is an FIA-sanctioned GT championship for Ferrari
customers that his performed with the 400 hp Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge. Jean Todt,
Ferrari’s motorsports director, is the patron of the series. The maintenance and the
preparation of the cars are handled by factory-authorised Ferrari dealers only.
Ferrari started their customer racing series in 1993 with the Ferrari 348 Challenge.
Between 1995 and 1999, the series continued with the successor to the 348 Challenge,
the Ferrari F355 Challenge. Evenutally, the year 2000 saw the first season of the Ferrari
360 Modena Challenge.
The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe unites Ferrari pilots from Austria, Belgium,
the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Scandinavia,
Spain and Switzerland. The German drivers form the strongest section — speaking in
numbers of participants — of the series, closely followed by the Swiss pilots. Except the
European Ferrari Challenge, there are other series in Italy, the USA, Japan and
Asia-Pacific.
The field of participants in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is divided into two
performance categories to adapt to the differences in the driving abilities of the about 60
competitors. In the ”Class I”, there are about 30 highly experienced and very fast drivers.
Many of them already gathered a remarkable routine in other racing series. These ”Class
I”-drivers struggle for the ”Trofeo Pirelli”. The other 30 or so drivers compete accordingly
in the ”Class II” that is open to rookies and hobby pilots, too. At the end of the season,
one of them will hold the ”Coppa Shell” in his or her hands.
A separate press kit on the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli will be available during the
Ferrari Racing Days in the pressroom.
Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge
Since several years already, the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge offers an
opportunity to enthusiasts and collectors from all over the world to race their historical
Ferrari racecars together with fellow Ferraristi in exclusive historic and Ferrari-events.
Shortly after the first races of this series, some pre-war Alfa Romeo racecars were added
to the field of participants; the background to this decision is the — widely unknown —
fact that Enzo Ferrari started his Scuderia Ferrari in the late 1920’s / early 1930’s with
entries of Alfa Romeo automobiles. Since the year 2000, the Shell Historic Challenge is
open to historical Maserati racecars as well. In regard to the quality and the value of the
cars gathered in the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge, the series is unrivalled
worldwide.
The Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge is open to GT cars, racecars, prototypes
and monoposti. To be eligible for the series, the vehicle in question needs to have been
produced strictly for competition purposes by Ferrari or Maserati when new, up to the year
1972 inclusive. Only technically and visually unaltered cars are admitted to the Shell
Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge, replicas and modified cars will not be accepted by
the event committee. A very few exceptions are — although rarely — made for Ferrari road
cars if it is proven that the very car in question does have a period racing history; for
example, there are several Ferrari 250 GT Lusso which were campaigned in GT-races
and hillclimbs through the second half of the 1960’s. It is highly appreciated by Ferrari
that the competitors of the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race their precious
classics instead of hiding them in air-conditioned garages all the time. This is particularly
remarkable when one realizes that this is the only historic racing series in the world that
often sees automobiles like a 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa (value: between two and six
million US$) or even a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (value: between eight and ten million US$)
competing. Thus the field of the participating cars of the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati
Challenge is probably the most valuable one in the world!
In regard to the remarkable differences in the age of the individual cars, the Shell Historic
Ferrari Maserati Challenge, too, is divided into two categories: The first group of cars
racing against each other is made up for drum-braked vehicles. Talking Ferrari, this
means that this category gathers cars built until 1959. The second group is dedicated to
disc-braked cars — including the legendary Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta and the
Ferrari 250 GTO from the early 1960’s as well as the spectacular Le Mans prototypes 512
S / 512 M, 312 PB or the powerful competition version of the 365 GTB/4 ”Daytona”, all
from the early 1970’s. Some collectors make use of the division of the Shell Historic
Ferrari Maserati Challenge into two categories: They start in BOTH categories in different
cars!
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