FERRARI RACING DAYS CHAPTER 1 - 2011

PIRELLI FERRARI CHALLENGE RACING TYRE

So why am I calling this one "Ferrari Racing Days Chapter 1"? Well I am because I can! But, seriously though, I am because I will be attending the next event in a few weeks at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. That chapter will be told when I attend that one. So for now, on with this chapter.

I have been looking forward to this event for months, and today the day has come and gone. It was an awesome day to say the least. I got up around 6:30 am and got myself ready to go. On my way though as usual I had stop to make. First stop was to take my wife, Cristy, to her friends house. They were spending the day in San Francisco. Then I headed out and got fueled up the car, stopped to grab a mocha and a cream cheese bagel, and a little cash for the toll bridge and into the event. Finally! The event was here!

599 GTO

I got to Infineon Raceway about 9:30 or so, and since I was alone, I started to get some pictures of the Horses in the Stable. Some mighty fine examples were there too. Several 458's, 430's, a few 360's, 355's, 348's, 308's and more. Only thing though, there was not the crowd that is normally at the event. Only about 50 or so cars. I didn't mind it though. Less crowd means easier opportunities to take some pics. I then met up with an acquaintance (Brian) and headed over to check out the garages. I then met up with an past workmate (Fernando) that I hadn't expected to see there. Only because he was to go on Sunday. Plans changed I guess! It was good to see him. Then I saw the stables. It was such a beautiful site to see. A much better example of horses filled the temporary stables. About half a dozen or more 599XX's, 3 FXX's, including the Black #30 that used to be owned by Michael Schumacher. Apparently he was forced by MBZ to sell it when he signed on. HIS LOSS! Besides those beauties, there were four fine examples of Ferrari Formula 1 history sitting there quietly waiting. A Gerhard Berger F189 Chassis, an F310B chassis, an F2001, and to top the lineup, an  F2007. I had the opportunity to first meet up with the owner of the F310B (Bud). This nice gentleman was there with his wife at his side and loving every bit of it. Then another past workmate popped up (Danny). The cars were then put through some test runs to get ready for the track. OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CHORUS IT IS! Then they were off for a run to stretch the legs of these beautiful horses.

F310B Steering Wheel

Once back in the stable, I met up with the F310B owner once again. I also got to meet the gentleman that owns the F189. While hanging around admiring the F1 beauties, Fernando came back around, so Danny, Fernando and his 2 friends, and I pretty much hung out for the remainder of the day. Fernando then realizes that he recognizes one of the drivers. It just so happened to be Marc Gene, the Ferrari Formula 1 Test Driver. So we go together with Marc and got a group shot. Now just to get that pic from Fernando. Marc was there to drive the F2007 chassis. After drooling for a long time in the stables, we then decided to get lunch. After lunch we stayed to one area of the track closest to the garages to get a great view of the cars hitting the breaks and running through the hairpin. After a while we went back into the stables to see the 599XX's and FXX's get ready for their run. ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL CHORUS! Then off they went. By this time Danny had left us, so Fernando, his 2 friends, and I went back to the hairpin. Fernando and I decided to stop in the empty garages and get some pics and video of the cars as they hit the breaks and go through the hairpin. Oh the site of glowing breaks! Oh so nice! After a bit we did actually get back to the end of the hairpin. That was where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon. We had too! The F1 cars came back out at 4:00. Well at least two of them did. Some not so good things happened to the other two in the earlier session that were not fixable today.

599XX's

FXX

By the end of it all, I was rather tired. Being in the sun a good part of the day was a drain. But man was it all worth it! I ended up getting nearly a thousand shots in one day. So to end this chapter, the day ended up being an awesome day. Now to wait a few weeks for the next chapter. If you want to see all my pics form the day, here is my album page - http://razzi.me/speedtrap73/albums

CIAO! For Now!

OH WAIT! I forgot! there were other cars at the event as well. The F430 and 458 Challenge cars. I'll talk about them in the next chapter. I will be there for 3 or 4 days, so I will have a lot more to talk about at that time. But, for now here's a pic.

Had a great Sunday!

Well I made it home late last night. Very tiring day at school thanks to getting very little sleep once again. Anyways! This is about my great Sunday and not how tired I am.



Ferrari 458 Italia



In the morning I got up early to get from Anaheim to South Central L.A. to pick up my brother by 6:30. After picking him up we headed up the 101 to Woodland Hills for the every Sunday gathering located at the Westfield Promenade Mall parking lot. This event is Supercar Sunday. This event is from around 7:00 am until about 10:00 am, or whenever everyone decides to actually show up, and when it's time to go home. If you are ever in Southern California, this event is a must attend. If you are down for a trip and want to break away from the typical touristy crap that you always seem to be stuck doing, here is the site for information - http://www.supercarsunday.com/ - ... To help plan it for yourself to go, it is about 20 minutes away from Universal Studios. So if you are planning that on your Holiday/Vacation agenda, why not go here for a couple hours in the morning to see some great cars. My only issue was that it had rained, and was still someone drizzley and it kept all the cars from coming that were to be there. It was the 1 year anniversary of them moving to this location, and the Ferrari Club was to have had a large number of cars coming. STUPID RAIN! I was able to meet up with a friend though. Also saw several individuals that I had met at various events in the past. Even though the rain ruined what could have been a spectacular event, I still had a very fun time. There was a decent amount of cars. Finally around 10:30 we were able to head out and get some breakfast before we headed to our next destination. Here are some of the photos I took at the event. If you want to see more, I will be adding them to my online photo hosting site that you can access by clicking on the link on the left that says "speedtrap73's photos".



Some of the Ferraris that actually made it

 

Lamborghin Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni

  

Ferrari 599 GTO - Chassis No. 175960



Porsche 911 - Gotta love the color!

After breakfast we then headed up the 405 to go to the Museum District to spend some time at The Petersen Museum. On the way I decided to get off the 405 onto Sunset and take a drive through Beverly Hills and check out the beautiful scenery of some very nice houses. We drove around with no particular plan and had some fun. I then took my brother to Rodeo Drive so he could check it out. After about an hour or so of driving around, we finally made it to The Petersen Museum. I had been wanting to go for the past few years, but for some reason never made it. On one occasion they were closed when I had gone by. Since I was spending the day with my brother, I thought it would be cool to take him there, and I would finally get to see the place.



Troy Ladd - "The Black Widow"

 Once we had entered the front door, there were 2 of the coolest custom Hot Rods that any car guy would love to see. One was built by Troy Ladd and the crew at Hollywood Hot Rods. This was The Black Widow. A 1926 Ford Roadster Pickup built based on a Monogram model kit that had never actually been taken from a real vehicle. This truck is why Troy won the award at the 2009 Grand National Roadster Show. That trophy was for "America's Most Beautiful Roadster". After seeing this thing, I could see why he had won the trophy. This is one Very Cool Hot Rod Pickup.



We walked around the museum with drool dripping from our chins as we saw some very beautiful examples of machinery. I had seen a few of the cars on display before at car shows, but no matter how many times I see them, it just seems to never be enough. Specifically, there were 2 of John D'Agostino's custom creations on display. "The Egyptian", a 1958 Oldsmobile Super 88, and "Elvis II", a 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Bairritz Convertible. These 2 cars were stunning! Then we got upstairs got to the Movie Cars. It was cool to see a few pieces that I truly enjoyed seeing. A 1982 Ferrari 308 GTS that was used for Magnum P.I. for the '82-'83 seasons, the 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder that Raul Julia drove in The Gumball Rally, but the mirror had been put back on, and 2 cars that were driven or owned by Mr. Cool himself, Steve McQueen's 1956 Jaguar XKSS and the 1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Sedan that was used in the Original 1965 Thomas Crown Affair. Then we were off to see the surrent special exibit of "Supercars". Fitting, since we had been to "Supercar Sunday" in the morning. The examples on display in this area were once again some beautiful creations that are very rare. A must see before it is changed to something else. After about an hour looking at these rare pieces we moved on to the Drag Racing exibit. Seeing these vintage machines was a special treat. I grew up hearing about some of these cars, but not enough to really know too much about them. I wish I had spent more time reading the display placards to learn more about them. I just wanted to get in some photos. We then saw the Hot Rod History display. There are some sweet rides here. The Doane Spencer Roadster was the best of all. Such history with this Roadster. Also on display are some beautiful Boyd Coddington and Chip Foose creations. getting the opportunity to see these cars was a very special treat. All in all, my brother and I had a very great day running around being gearheads all day long. To finish off the day we drove up to a neighborhood and got shots of us with the Hollywood sign in the background. Then I took my brother home and hit the road back home. I finally got home around 1:00 AM or so, hit the bed and got up early to make it to school once again to get some education.

1994 Bugatti EB110

Magnum P.I. 1982 Ferrari 308 GTS

The Gumball Rally 1972 Ferrrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder

1962 Greer-Black-Prudhomme Dragster

 

I would like to thank whomever for reading this. If you would like to see my photos from museum, same as stated above, you can click on the link that says "speedtrap73's photos.