A new Ferrari Grand Tourer is in the offing and, in an innovative move, will be revealed to the fans and enthusiasts in a non-traditional way. In the build-up to the new model’s official unveiling at the Paris Auto Show next October, Ferrari will be revealing it bit by bit on the dedicated ferrarigtcountdown.com site. Visitors to the site will be guided through a sensory voyage of discovery which, over the coming weeks, will gradually reveal the new car in its entirety and feature some highly gratifying virtual road tests too.

The new site launched last week and began that voyage of discovery with the sense of sound. The roar of the new GT’s engine is the first bit of it to be revealed to enthusiasts, in fact, and will be followed over the next few days by the first photographs of this eagerly-awaited car whose name will also be revealed.

This is the first time that the Prancing Horse has used this virtual voyage of discovery approach which will allow it to illustrate various aspects of the new GT model’s design and the many, many technological innovations that it sports.

Updates and additions to the site will continue until the Paris Show. To ensure that you are kept constantly abreast of the new content being revealed, simply register with the site and then experience these sneak previews of this latest gorgeous Ferrari creation.

This new approach to unveiling the car will naturally also be flanked by more traditional encounters involving the release of photographs and, of course, the Paris Show. It is, in fact, just one part of a highly focused strategy that puts the web at centre stage as an instant, privileged communications channel through which Ferrari can keep in constant contact with its burgeoning numbers of fans and enthusiasts worldwide.

Defending world Champion Kimi Raikkonen scored his second win of the season with a dominant performance in the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, leading all the way and leaving teammate and likely title rival Felipe Massa trailing in his wake.

The big story of the afternoon was a heavy crash by McLaren-Mercedes’ Heikki Kovalainen. Just before his first pit stop, the Finn suffered a right front tire puncture at the high speed turn nine, possibly the result of suspension failure. The car speared across the gravel and buried itself below the tire wall, in a similar fashion to Michael Schumacher’s accident at Silverstone in 1999.

The car had to be pulled out by a tractor before the driver could be extricated. Thankfully a thumbs up to the TV cameras indicated that he was OK. Later it was confirmed that he’d received a bang on the head, and he was taken to a nearby hospital for observation.

Barcelona rarely produces an exciting race, and indeed this was the eighth time in succession that the race has been won by the man on pole. While there were few changes of position, it was close at the front.

Raikkonen beat fellow front-row starter Fernando Alonso off the line, while Massa also outran Alonso. Despite having one less lap worth of fuel, Massa wasn’t able to make any impression on his teammate. A length safety car period caused by Kovalainen’s accident closed up the field, and after it Raikkonen was only able to open up a gap of around 3 seconds on Massa.

Alonso held onto third place until he suffered a spectacular engine failure after 34 laps. That moved Lewis Hamilton up, and in the final stint the McLaren man pushed Massa hard, while BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica also kept Hamilton on his toes. The fact that the top four were separated by just 5.6 seconds at the end showed just how close the competition is at the front.

Mark Webber took more points for Red Bull with fifth, ahead of Honda’s Jenson Button, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli. BMW’s Nick Heidfeld suffered a 10 second stop and go penalty after being caught out when the safety car came out just before his scheduled stop, finding himself with no option but to pit to refuel. Also out of luck was Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who had an engine failure, and Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais, who was hit by Williams’ Nelson Piquet Jr. in an incident that eliminated both drivers.

SPANISH GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari

3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes

4. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber

5. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault

6. Jenson Button, Honda

7. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota

8. Jarno Trulli, Toyota

9. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber

10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Ferrari

11. Timo Glock, Toyota

12. David Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault

13. Takuma Sato, Super Aguri-Honda

14. Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota

15. Fernando Alonso, Renault

16. Rubens Barrichello, Honda

17. Heikiki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes

18. Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri-Honda

19. Sebastien Bourdais, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

20. Nelson Piquet Jr., Renault

21. Sebastien Vettel, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

22. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Ferrari

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Raikkonen, 29

2. Hamilton, 20

3. Kubica, 19

4. Massa, 18

5. Heidfeld, 16

6. Kovalainen, 14

7. Trulli, 9

8. Webber, 8

9. Rosberg, 7

10. Alonso, 6

11. Nakajima, 5

12. Button, 3

13. Bourdais, 2

The famous Italian sports carmaker signed an agreement today (April 24, 2008) with the Percassi Group for the opening of the first Ferrari Store in the British market. Set to open this fall, the Ferrari Store will be located on London’s Regent Street and will cover an area of around 550 square meters spread over two levels housing a wide range of Prancing Horse products aimed at Formula 1 fans, GT enthusiasts, children and collectors.

Specifications – standard version

Engine
V12

Power
456 kW (620 hp) at 7600 rpm

Max. torque
608 Nm (448 ft-lb) at 5600 rpm

 

Performance

Top speed
> 330 km/h (205 mph)

0 – 100 km/h (0 – 62 mph)
est. 3.7 s

Features compared to the standard car

edo 630 Scuderia carbon fiber aerodynamics package contains:

• New front apron with enlarged cooling air inlet
• Front spoiler lip
• Newly developed side skirts to reduce crosswind sensitivity
• Completely new rear apron with wheel arch vents
• Underbody with wider 6-blade diffuser
• Carbon fiber rear spoiler lip

 

This conversion is carried out exclusively in house at edo competition Motorsport GmbH/Ahlen.

Engine available in 2 power levels:

 

Stage 1 – 599 GTB
Achieved output: est. 650 hp / 660 Nm (487 ft-lb).

 

Stage 2 – 630 GTB
Achieved output: est. 750 hp / 720 Nm (531 ft-lb).

 

This conversion is carried out exclusively in house at edo competition Motorsport GmbH/Ahlen.

 

• Wheel/tire combinations: 20“ Racing wheels, Front: 9.0×20 ET27 with Dunlop Sport Maxx GT tires 255/30R20 Rear: 11.0×20 ET42 with Dunlop Sport Maxx GT tires 325/25R20
• With painted centers and stainless steel outer rims.
• On request, wheels painted in different colors.
• edo/KW sport suspension Racing suspension technology for the road with adjustable compression and rebound damping.
• Sport spring set Color red, Lowering rear: 40mm and front: 20mm.
• edo performance exhaust Newly developed performance exhaust system with remotecontrolled butterfly valve to adjust the sound level

Codenamed the F149, the new 2+2 entry level Ferrari is expected to be less expensive than the $190,00 F430 while using the same 4.3 liter engine.

Some innovative and new technologies will find their way in the new Ferrari including direct-injection, a new gearbox, an innovative throttle body.

The F419 will be built on the same chassis as the Maserati GranTurismo, which explains the recent spy shots we’ve seen of the car wearing the GranTurismo’s body.

Ferrari expects on building 6,000 to 10,000 units a year after it debuts at the Paris Motor Show in October.

Today Ferrari is present at the 2008 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition with its line-up, providing a visual feast of passion for all audiences. Taking pride of place at the Ferrari stand is the 612 Scaglietti. The model is used to inaugurate the new One-to-One Personalisation Programme, which is making its debut in Asia at the 10th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. Other models on display include 430 Scuderia, an evidence of the brand’s tradition and ability to translate F1 technology into its production vehicles; 599 GTB Fiorano, the most high performance mid-front engined two-seater Ferrari ever produced; and F430 Spider, the classic convertible model which boasts Ferrari’s cutting- edge technology.

In just a few weeks Ferrari will release the first official photos of the new F149/California GT. Two weeks ago the large dealeraships and well-fortuned customers already had a sneak preview. And we received more details now.

The Ferrari F149 or California GT will be introduced at the Paris Motor Show this year. But in two weeks time Ferrari will release the first official photos. The new Ferrari will look like a small 599 and at the sneak preview some specifications were released. So this is what we received in our mailbox.

- A brandnew Ferrari 4.7 liter engine with 480/500 bhp, so not based on (or a regeneration of) any current engine.
- Seven speed ultra quick gearbox.
- 0-100 km/h in less than four seconds.
- Topspeed is kept under F430.
- Ceramic brakes are standard.
- There is a long list of options available.
- Double clutch-system.
- Direct fuel injection.
- Foldaway metal roof.
- The latest Becker TOUCH satellite navigation.
- Bluetooth, Ipod and USB-Stick connections integrated

It sounds very exiting, but we still have to wait for the official information and photos.

The “competition” versions (Challenge and GTC) of the F430 will be competing this coming weekend at the Silverstone circuit in England. The F430 Challenge cars will be taking part in the second round of this season’s European Ferrari Challenge Pirelli Trophy, while the F430 GTC will be making their debut in the FIA GT Championship, where they will be going for a repeat of the clean sweep they achieved over the past two years, when they took the Drivers’, Constructors’ and Teams’ titles, thanks to AF Corse.

More than 50 cars will take part in the English leg of the Prancing Horse one-make series, representing no less than 23 countries. After doing the double in Monza, Austria’s Philipp Baron (Baron Service) comes to Silverstone as favourite, thanks to a 14 point lead over Frenchman Ange Barde in the Pirelli Trophy classification. Heading the Shell Cup is an Italian driver, in the shape of Walter Forer (Rossocorsa/Pellin), ahead of fellow countryman Gianluca Carboni (Kessel) and Englishman Michael Cantillon (Ferrari GB Dealer Team).

Ten F430 GTC will line up for the start of the first FIA GT race, split between six teams. Among the drivers, worthy of note the presence of reigning champion, Toni Vilander: the Finn races as part of a pairing with Italy’s Gimmi Bruni, who finished second in 2007. In fact, Bruni, along with Robert Bell, won the first race of the LMS series in a GTC, held at Barcelona back on 6th April. On the same day, Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher took victory at St. Petersburg (USA) in the second round of the ALMS series.

Clearly, the work of the Corse Clienti department moves on at quite a pace. Apart from the racing activity, there is also the FXX programme and that linked to the historic Formula 1 cars, which got underway last weekend in Shanghai, as part of the second running of the Ferrari Festival, which saw over 60 Cavallino cars take part in an event aimed at owners and fans of the marque, in the Far East. Several FXX cars and three Formula 1 single-seaters were on track, all part of the past 15 years of Scuderia history: the F310, the model Michael Schumacher took to his first Grand Prix victory for Ferrari back in 1996 and the title winning F2003-GA and the F2004, which were world champions in 2003 and 2004, as used by Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Sets the fastest pace on Monday

Felipe Massa is continuing his current high after setting the fastest lap at circuit de Catalunya on Monday. The lap was clocked at 1:18,339, which was a time three seconds faster than Alex Wurz testing his Honda. In fact, no one else came close to this stunning time of Massa, causing a few eyebrows to raise. The team Scuderia is running a new radical front wing.

Ferrari’s main title rival of the moment McLaren saw their tester Pedro de la Rosa come in third, with Nick Heidfeld of BMW hitting fourth spot. The Renault of Piquet jr was fifth, while David Coulthard was the sixth man on the grid.

Slick tyres, which are returning to F1, have also been out there for the picking in preparation for their comeback. There’s been a lot of spinning out of the track on Monday and the session had to be stopped a few times as a result.

Two races down, no finishes, no points, so how do you respond? Felipe Massa showed his critics exactly how at the Bahrain Grand Prix by taking the chequered ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari’s first 1-2 of the season.

Massa had been dominating the track all weekend topping free practice session times but was just pipped by Robert Kubica for his and BMW’s first ever pole position. He soon made up for this by over taking the Polish driver at the lights to take the lead and there he stayed despite a mid race challenge from team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Kubica eventually finished 3rd with his BMW team mate Nick Heidfeld just behind him completing another successful grand prix which leaves the German team heading the constructors championship.

McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen eventually finished 5th, but Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare. Starting from 3rd on the grid, the British driver was hoping to be challenging the leaders from the offset, however he failed to hit the car’s anti-stall button and found himself down in 10th position off the line. Things then went from bad to worse as he drove into the back of former team mate Fernando Alonso forcing him to make an early unscheduled pit stop prompting claims the Spaniard deliberately “brake tested” Hamilton. Ron Dennis later reported the crash was due to a wing failure and not a driver error as Hamilton believed it to be. Eventually Hamilton finished 13th and a lap down.

The result now leaves Raikkonen leading the world championships on 19 points, three points ahead of Heidfeld with Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalianen all on 14 points as the Formula 1 race season heads to Barcelona in three weeks time.

Bahrain Grand Prix Race Result

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	1:31:06.970	2	10
2	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+3.3 secs	4	8
3	Robert Kubica	BMW	57	+4.9 secs	1	6
4	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	57	+8.4 secs	6	5
5	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+26.7 secs	5	4
6	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+41.3 secs	7	3
7	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	57	+45.4 secs	11	2
8	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	57	+55.8 secs	8	1
9	Timo Glock	Toyota	57	+69.5 secs	13
10	Fernando Alonso	Renault	57	+77.1 secs	10
11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	57	+77.8 secs	12
12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	18
13	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+1 Lap	3
14	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	56	+1 Lap	16
15	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	15
16	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	56	+1 Lap	21
17	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	56	+1 Lap	22
18	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	56	+1 Lap	17
19	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	55	+2 Laps	20
Ret	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	40	Gearbox	14
Ret	Jenson Button	Honda	19	Accident damage	9
Ret	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	0	Accident damage	19