John Turkel: Auto Page: Ferrari Challenge at WSIR

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Ferrari Challenge at WSIR

Through a generous acquaintance, I was a guest at Willow Springs while some of the members of the USA Ferrari Challenge Series practiced. This is a spec-class, one-make series intended to provide a very evenly-matched field. The cars are just under 2,600 pounds, about 400 pounds lighter than the street-version, and have all the high-end road racing equipment, including adjustable suspension, full cages, racing seats and harnesses, programmable MOTEC (I think) engine management systems, data-aquisition systems, and really great sounding exhaust. There's more information on the Series and the cars on Ferrari's Website.

I met some great people at the event. They had me pace a four-car mini race in my BMW; I was so eager to get on the track that I took off at what they later told me was too fast a pace for a pace lap. Their cars were already warm, so it wasn't a problem. One driver later offered to swap cars with me for a session, which would have been a fantastic experience for me. Unfortunately, his tires went away far earlier than he anticipated, so it didn't happen. Nevertheless, I did finally get a chance to take a few laps in a Challenge car at the end of the day. The car was slightly underwhelming at first, but I soon realized that that was simply because it was so well-balanced, so refined, and so easy to drive (at least at the modest speeds I asked of it). I went out in the BMW to compare, and was immediately struck by how heavy, sluggish and loose my car felt in comparison. This was no subtle distinction, but a huge quantum level of performance. I wasn't surprised by this at all, considering how each car is built and for what purpose.

After a few laps in my car, I noticed the engine oil temp climbing to nearly 300° (210° is normal). The water temp remained nominal, so I just checked the oil level and went back out, shifting even earlier. The oil temp slowly fell to around 240°, which I felt was safe. It was, after all, 109° that day...

	Michael's deluxe new rig, with a yellow 360 Challenge car and one of six existing 360 GT IMSA/ALMS factory race cars beside it.
	Claudio Zampolli (maker of the Cizeta exotic car) and Ferrari tech Roberto pose by the 360 GT.
	A very fortunate (and pretty) lady gets to drive one of the Challenge cars.
	At long last, I get to drive what is probably the finest track car I will ever drive.
	They nearly had to pry me out of the car, despite the heat.