ItaliaspeedTV - Ferrari @ 35th Bologna Motor Show 2010

Wednesday was a special day for all Ferrari fans attending the thirty fifth Bologna International Motor Show. The programme for what has become a traditional appearance from the Prancing Horse marque was divided in two parts: one with a racing theme, featuring no less than sixteen F430s from the Italian and European Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli and the other, a demonstration run when Luca Badoer took to the track in an F60 Formula 1 car.

At the end of yesterday's race which was run over three legs, Philipp Baron emerged victorious in the main category of the Trofeo Pirelli: the Austrian from the eponymous Baron Service team managed to take the win at the end of the day over Andrea Belluzzi, the Motor Modena driver from San Marino and Veregra Competition's Matteo Malucelli. Among the gentleman drivers in the Shell Cup, the win went to Giuseppe Fascicolo, at the wheel of the car entered by the Rossocorsa/Pellin dealership, from Flavio Pierleoni (Scuderia Veregra) and Massimo Mantovani (Team Malucelli).

At midday, the competition arena in "Area 48", as the motorsports arena is known, was the scene of the traditional appearance from Scuderia Ferrari: for Luca Badoer, who drove the car, this was his farewell as test driver. Bringing an amazing thirteen year career to a close, Badoer did some hot laps and carried out a pit stop simulation at the wheel of an F60, the car used by the Scuderia during the 2009 Formula 1 season and with which Badoer himself drove in his only two races for Ferrari. He received a very warm reception from all the fans packed into the stands.
Badoer also took part in a special forum organised at the show by the Gazzetta dello Sport daily paper. He met over one hundred readers taking part in this unique event, clearly showing all the emotion he felt at the end of what was a very special day for him. "Even after so many years of doing it, driving a Formula 1 car here, so close to the spectators, so as to let them get a close up feel for the power of these cars is a feeling one never gets used to. Plus, today's experience was more emotional than usual, because it is my last appearance in my role as official Ferrari test driver. The thing I will miss most is driving the Formula 1 car. I have never been one for the bright lights, as the one and only thing I wanted centred on my job of taking a car to its limits, working out where there was room for improvement. Although this is something I have missed for quite a while now, as testing has been cut back and there is not much for a test driver to do."
Asked if he had regrets, Luca replied: "the only regret is that I was only able to do two races. The team had confidence in me at that time and that is something I will always be grateful for. Unfortunately, at the time, I had not been driving for ten months and found myself at the wheel of a car that was difficult to adapt to and so I could not show what I could do." On the subject of the current two race drivers: "Alonso is a great champion, a driver who will be able to win a lot, especially because of his great ability to work closely with the team. Massa had a difficult season, but with fewer problems, he will return to being a great driver and I know him well enough to know that's true." To those who wanted to know who he would miss the most, Badoer would not single out one name. "There are so many, too many people, who have been with me on this long journey. It is the strength of Ferrari that I will always feel close to these people."

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• bologna
• motor
• show
• 2010
• scuderia
• ferrari
• luca
• badoer
• f430
• challenge
• trofeo
• shell
• italia
• baron
• pirelli
• philipp
• 458
• gt2