31 March 2008 | Grand Prix of St Petersburg | Houston, Texas
how do you roll?
LEAD UP TO THE RACE
“Silver wings shining in the sunlight.
Roaring engines headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away and leaving me lonely.
Silver wings slowly fading out of sight…�
--Silver Wings, Jimmy Buffet
It’s 10:25 in the morning and I am walking through the Ferrari of Houston compound, outside. We have three buildings—the main one (new car sales, service, parts, and business administration); the “Race Workshop� (Risi Competizione takes up about half the space; the Ferrari of Houston Challenge Team and Corse Clienti activities the other half); and the Body Shop.
The two big Risi Competizione transporters are parked, in parallel, behind the race shop, engines idling. I love those big Volvo diesels and our race trailers.
Then the first one (driven by Wayne Gape) pulls out and heads out the side gate, pulling over after exiting the property while he waits for the second transporter (driven by Michael Taylor) to leave the compound.
Taylor pulls out and I close the big gate behind him.
The two big rigs, totally resplendent and perfect in Rosso Corsa colours with just the right amount of graphics, are staged, nose to tail, on the side street beside the compound. Then the first rig pulls out, gives a honk to the dealership (and our employees) and moves on to the freeway access road, on its way to St. Petersburg and this weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race.
The second transporter follows, gives another honk, and then disappears into the distance.
I watch them as they go out of sight and pause for a moment before going inside to my office, knowing what these two transporters represent in terms of commitment, professionalism, spirit, heritage, and, yes, economics.
Our trucks are rolling to join the battle with the Porsches at St. Pete.
It’s a small moment, in a long season, but I won’t ever forget it. Never do…these small moments are, to a racing fan, magic.
29 March 2008 | Grand Prix St Petersburg | Houston, Texas
how to race a Ferrari
LEAD UP TO THE RACE
“The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on…�
--The Heat Is On, Glenn Frey
This spring, there are two very similar styles of competition going down, in two very different arenas.
One is the NCAA basketball tournament, where the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (uniforms designed by good friend Alexander Julian) have displayed to college basketball fans a pace of attack and action that is so quick, so relentless, so pressure filled it is almost without precedent. Carolina plays basketball at warp speed and if you don’t believe me, ask the teams they have dispatched on their way to the Final Four in San Antonio, winning games with a 25 point average wining margin. Even Rick Pitino, whose Louisville team played the Heels for a chance to make it to the final four (and lost by 10) admitted that “Carolina overpowered us in the fourth quarter�. Carolina coach Roy Williams has built his team around speed and power; Ty Lawson, the point guard with perfect pitch for the right pass, is the speed and Tyler Hansbrough, the most competitive player in American college sports today, is the power. Carolina plays full throttle basketball and their opponents pay the price.
I mention Carolina basketball (and “Ole Roy�) because it’s a great segue to the topic at hand: how to race a Ferrari.
After Sebring, where we had a one lap lead approximately mid-way through the race and then had an on-course incident that ended our run in the No. 62 Ferrari 430GT, I was asked by a lot of race fans why we would press so hard, coming out of a 45 minute yellow flag. Why not, my friends asked, play it safe, stay back, and ease into the race again.
Because that’s not the way you race a Ferrari. Ferraris are built to run at the front and Ferrari drivers believe their destiny is to put the car there and keep it there. There are no apologies given for this strategy, but this has been the Ferrari way since Enzo was the team manager for the factory team. It’s simple and direct and there can be no confusion. Get in front and pull away. Never let up. You are, after all, driving…..a Ferrari.
We will sympathize with the driver who goes out while in front, pulling away, when things go wrong. But we understand the drive and the driver. It’s a Ferrari thing.
Put the car in front and keep pulling away. If you have a chance to increase the lead on the last lap, do it. Pour it on. There is no quit, no safe, no holding back. Get in the car and drive it to the maximum; we know the car can take it and we know the drivers can do it.
So cut it loose and enjoy the ride.
It’s macho. It’s risky. It’s not a “hedged� approach to racing. It is how you drive a Ferrari.
But it is Ferrari. And it is Risi Competizione.
Ferrari—the team that was famous for never naming a No. 1 Formula 1 Driver. The team that was relentless in pursuit of wins on the race track. The team that was never satisfied.
That’s our heritage.
The way you race a Ferrari is relentlessly, as fast you can as long as you can. It’s a very simple strategy—maybe the simplest of all. In other words—Ferrari lives in the present, not the past, and in the present the only place to be is in front.
Will you win every race with that kind of approach to racing?
No.
But will you create the greatest legend in all of sports car and Formula 1 racing?
Yes.
It’s the Ferrari way. It’s how you race a Ferrari.
19 March 2008 | Grand Prix St Petersburg | Houston, Texas
reload
LEAD UP TO THE RACE
“You can turn the clock to zero, honey
I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock all the way back
I wonder if she'll take me back
I'm thinking in a brand new way
Turn the clock to zero, sister
You'll never know how much I missed her
Starting up a brand new day
Turn the clock to zero, boss
The river's wide, we'll swim across
Started up a brand new day..�
--Brand New Day, Sting
There are two ways to deal with a loss. One is to take it as a natural act of life and believe that into every sunny day a little rain must fall.
The other is to fight it like a demon and not accept it and vow to never get used to it.
As you might suspect—if you follow this blog—we believe in the latter and not the former.
Risi Competizione reloaded after Sebring, announcing a new driving team, Harrison Brix and Patrick Friesacher for the No. 61 car and, of course, our favs, Salo and Melo, in No. 62.
Brix and Friesacher are going to be a handful. In 2007, the Risi Competizione No. 61 Ferrari 430GT was piloted by a succession of drivers. It was the rare race meeting that the same two drivers drove the car in multiple races, while Salo and Melo held court in No. 62. This was not an optimum situation but at the time a necessary one.
This year, it’s different. Harrison Brix is a very accomplished and very fast young driver. He has been in conversation with Risi Competizione for three years about driving one of the team’s Rosso Corso Ferrari 430GTs. His time is here and he will perform to a very high standard. I might add that I know three Harrisons (Harrison Ford, Harrison Williams, and Harrison Brix) and oddly, they each share common traits: straight forward, quick intelligent, gentlemanly, competitive, professional. Winners, in other words, on and off the track or the stage or trading floor.
Brix’s driving partner is no stranger to competition, although he might be a bit of a new name to most Americans. Patrick Friesacher drove F1 cars for Minardi. He is a very young 27 years old—he looks like a kid picking up his date for the prom—and blisteringly fast. He and Melo were a force in Formula 3000 in Europe. He is expected to be a force in ALMS with Risi Competizione and we are delighted to have him on board.
The situation in the ALMS title hunt this year is quite simple: Porsche (Flying Lizard) have upped the ante by bringing more cars to the race (three vs. the Risi Comp two). This strategy worked well for Porsche back in 2003 and 2004 when the grid was stacked with Porsches and the only Ferrari on the grid was our 360GT (which broke the Porsche winning streak). It’s the smart move.
Risi Competizione has countered with quality: Friesacher and Brix in the No. 61 Ferrari. The goal—more RC cars on the podium.
The battle is joined and we shall see how it all plays out in the next three races, St. Petersburg, Long Beach, and Utah.
Just a hint: respect the competition, but don’t bet against us.