Ferrari Finali Mondiali
At Mugello – Part 1

Keith Bluemel Words by Keith Bluemel
"Follow The Leader" - heavy traffic on the sinewy Mugello circuit

The Ferrari Challenge series world finals were held at the Mugello circuit in the Tuscan hills between 25th-30th October, bringing together some 100+ 458 and 488 Challenge cars, from the three series, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, to do battle for the titles in the Coppa Shell and Trofeo Pirelli divisions.

Colourful Lake Forest Sportscars entry driven by Dave Musial
Kanthicha Chimsiri represented Asia and Thailand in her pink 488 Challenge

The event also featured Corse Clienti activity from F1 cars, F333 SPs (which run with the F1 cars), and the track only FXX, 599 XX and FXXK models. There were also sponsor activities with track demonstration runs on the Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The whole programme took place in fine ambient weather conditions, with plenty of autumn sunshine, particularly on the Saturday, the fine weather attracting around 40,000 spectators over the course of the weekend.

F2004 that totally dominated the season and gave Michael Schumacher his 7th and last World Championship
A pair of 333 SPs with the Doran/Moretti Racing 1995 Daytona 24 Hours Winner leading the way

Apart from the on-track action, the paddock area was turned into a massive tented village, which apart from housing the garage areas for the Challenge cars, also had a massive Ferrari display building, whilst another housed the Corse Clienti reception area, a Ferrari Store and a Junior Paddock. The latter featured a toddlers play area, together with a Scalextric circuit and a remote controlled car circuit, plus additional features like face painting, so that all age groups were catered for. The third main structure was the dining area for lunch, with a wide variety of delectable food available each day.

Japanese-owned Ferrari FXX-K tames its 1,036 horsepower into a corner with the rear flap lifted as air brake
"Triple-XX" - a threesome of 599XX in action

Although the weekend clashed with the Mexican Grand Prix, thus meaning that the F1 team weren’t in attendance, there was still plenty of F1 activity with the F1 Clienti contingent, actually playing much more strident music than the current crop of F1 cars. Even if Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen weren’t in attendance, there were a number of other Ferrari works drivers for fans to see, including Giancarlo Fisichella, Andrea Bertolini and Davide Rigon, who did demonstration runs in three F60 F1 cars as part of the finale celebrations on the Sunday afternoon, after the conclusion of the Challenge finals.

All Photos by Keith Bluemel

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