Filed under: Motorsports, Performance, Ferrari, Racing

If you’re lucky wealthy enough to own one of Ferrari’s retired works Formula One machines, the automaker’s F1 Client department takes care of maintenance and preparation of your historic racer, whether it be Nigel Mansell’s ex-F190, Michael Schumacher’s championship-winning F2001 or any number of pedigreed prancing ponies.

This week, the crew brought 10 of its most prized possessions out to the N

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari, Racing

We were pretty impressed after initially watching the Ferrari F430 Challenge cars turn laps at Miller Motorsports Park this past weekend. After all, each of the cars boasts a 490 horsepower V8 and is set up specifically for racing. You can imagine that they’re quite capable of turning insanely quick laps. Then a trio of FXXs took to the track and our definition of “fast” was altered forever.

Despite the fact that it will never turn a competitive lap, the Ferrari FXX is a brutally impressive racecar. The second generation Evoluzione version (pictured above), is Ferrari’s most advanced GT car ever built with an 860 horsepower V12, a sequential gearbox that can perform shifts in just 60 milliseconds and a curb weight of just over 2,500 pounds. We might have preferred the beauty of the 599XX, but there was no doubt which car was the most capable of the lowest lap times.

In addition to our photos of the FXXs in the pit lane garages, we also came away from the weekend with plenty of shots of the cars on track. Have a look for yourself in the high-res gallery below.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

2010 Ferrari Challenge at MMP: Ferrari FXX is king of the track originally appeared on Ferrari News on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari, Racing

Oh, to be wealthy. We’re not talking about slightly rich, either. We’re talking about having your own Ferrari racecar with factory support wealthy. Such a program actually exists, known as Corse Clienti (translated from Italian as “Racing Clients”). Imagine showing up to the racetrack with your car already there, which was flown in from the Ferrari factory earlier that week. There’s no need to to get the car prepared, as Ferrari’s very own mechanics are already on the job. Just sit back and relax until it’s your time to get on the track, then hop in and take off.

The Ferrari 599XX, the latest member of the Corse Clienti stable, is brand new for this year and only made its debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway last month. We were eager to see them up close, and the first thing we did upon arriving at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday morning was to go looking for the Corse Clienti cars. It didn’t take long to find them, as they were all safely stored in the garages along pit row. There were no less than seven 599XXs, plus an additional three FXXs as a bonus.

In person, the 599XX is a sight to behold. It’s not nearly as dramatic looking as the FXX, but that’s a good thing in our opinion. In fact, it’s one of the most beautiful modern racecars we’ve ever seen. Unlike the FXX, which seems to be a little rough around the edges, the 599XX has beautifully crafted details both inside and out. For instance, the inside of the door has “599XX” worked into the design of the carbon fiber, and the interior actually seems like a fairly hospitable place to be. The engine bay, like all other Ferraris, is a work of art, and even the functional aspects of the car like the splitters, winglets and diffuser all have an aesthetic appeal.

You can see all of the details of the 599XX, like the largest paddle shifters we’ve ever seen, the F1-like wheel donuts and more in the gallery below along with an additional gallery of the FXX.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

2010 Ferrari Challenge at MMP: A look inside the Corse Clienti garages originally appeared on Ferrari News on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automotive records can be funny things. While everyone seems to be interested in knowing what vehicle is the quickest, fastest, most expensive or rarest, there always seems to be plenty of dissent when one automaker claims its product takes the coveted prize away from another. Such is the case with the Ultima GTR720.

There’s no doubting that both the Ferrari FXX and the Ultima GTR are fast cars. Which car is actually faster around a race track, though, is currently up for debate. The track in question is the Dunsfold aerodrome circuit, better known to many as the Top Gear test track. Not long ago, the crew from TG invited one Stig impersonator by the name of Michael Schumacher in the super high-test Ferrari racer to take a lap around its circuit, and the tame racing driver managed to set a new record at one minute 10.7 seconds.

Here’s where the mine-is-bigger-than-yours part comes in. Ultima reportedly contacted Top Gear to let them know its car could go ’round the track faster than the aforementioned Prancing Horse, but the show apparently never responded. Taking matters into its own hands, then, Ultima borrowed the track for itself and is claiming to have completed a lap in one minute 9.9 seconds - less than one full tick quicker than the Ferrari, but quicker nonetheless. Plus, Ultima says, the GTR720 was both cheaper and fully road legal while the