George from MD

Has anyone attended any of their DE events? They are having one in October at Summit which is one of the few times I'm able to get out this Fall- but I've never attended with them and wondered if anyone has any insights.

It would be nice to see a lot of Ferraris together on the track but I've heard both good and bad things...and wonder what to expect....that they like us Porsche folks- that they don't, or that or they drive slower and frown on our more aggressive (if you could call it that) form etc.

DCLee

George:

I did one FCA DE at Summit two years ago. Lotsa great cars and relatively small run groups. It was very expensive, however, compared to PCA. The people were nice.

Dunno if this is still the case, but the FCA track guys used to be fairly suspicious of P-people-- they think we all drive too fast and crash too much, and they were not keen to permit too many interlopers into their world. Nor did they care about whether the event was undersubscribed. As I recall, they had a video crew that was taping the event and offering to sell copies to FCA members-- no cheesy digital snapshots for these guys!

They *will* black flag you if you follow too closely in preparation for a pass, and the Ferraristi don't always give a timely passing signal. These guy are mainly out exercising their very expensive cars, not working to get their lap times down, and you just have to appreciate that to have a good time with them. Their top run group, with Challenge cars, is quite racy and everyone is driving like a bat out of Hell. The lower groups can be fairly sedate.

I may do the October event again just to squeeze in another few days in a truncated track season, but NASA HPDE is a good alternative-- even though the NASA atmosphere is the polar opposite of FCA. I am doing NASA at Summit the 24th & 25th.

Good luck, (and don't forget to bring your brandy flask... )

Lee in D.C.
'04 GT3 RS Clone

George from MD

Thanks I saw the warning about "tailgaiting" on their website and that kind of threw me....but then I understand that the meals are catered....with real linen and silverware....

I dunno if I can drive without heartburn. I thought the two went hand in hand.

TD in DC

I bet I could cause some real havoc there in my 944 track car! It might be kinda fun to get thrown out of an event like that

Imagine the insult of getting harassed in your fine piece of Italian Art by 150 hp of German practicality!

944Ecology

Yeah, I got thrown out of a Ferrari event for driving too fast!!!

We 944 guys can dream, can't we???

George Beuselinck
PCA National Tech Committee, 924/944

TD in DC

I would wear it like a badge of honor! Of course, my report cards always had the "runs with scissors" box rather than the "plays well with others" box checked.

Larry Herman

I'll bet I could get myself thrown out of there.

TD in DC

Hey Larry, maybe we should both sign up. At least we could share laughs over drinks after getting kicked out!

Arrwin

You guys are too funny!

Do it! Do it!!

Dbltime

This sounds like just my group! Hell its been 4 years since I was asked to leave Pocono DE for aggresive race practice... geez...

They would probably ask me to leave when I pulled ole yeller out of the trailer. Do they allow racers tape over rubbin rashes? Diving into the chute chasing Ferrari road cars... oh yea!

Ron Cohn

I have been instructing for Ferrari at Lime Rock and the Glen for seevral years now. Their events are laid back and the people are quite friendly and they always let you know that your work is appreciated.

The level of driving is not what you would expect from Porsche regions, especially in the faster run groups, but they are working on improving this. This Labor Day weekend at the Glen, the chief instructor, Matt Karson (a good guy) had a few instructors ride in cars in the Blue group. I rode with one driver in a GT-3 who was quite good and another in a heavily modified Boxster, who kept overdrivng the cars and missing apexes. Fortunately the car had great brakes and adhesion but he really scared me.

My point: Ferrari hosts all makes of cars and you will find many Porsche in the higher run groups. Most of the Ferrari drivers in the higher run goups may not be that fast, but they seem to be safe. Beginners in Ferrari are similar to beginners in other makes.

You should have a good time and be well-respected with good driving. Let me know how you make out.

Renn 951

I ran with them at Summit two years ago and had a good time. As mentioned above they are generally laid back and put on a super catered lunch.

The biggest reservation I have is that they make passing signals optional. They consider them a "courtesy" but not mandatory. Lots of them seem oblivious to any traffic behind them so if you wait for the "courtesy" you get extremely frustrated, but if you go ahead and grab a pass you have to wonder if the guy in front won't do something stupid because you don't know if he even has a clue you are moving around him.

George, if you want some track time in October you might want to consider the Audi Club event there Oct 3-4. They run a real nice event, and one of our PCA Potomac stalwarts is the Chief Instructor. If you are an Instructor you get comp'd for the event, but you typically have two students so they work you harder than PCA does.

kurt M

Hmm.. I wonder if I could get a 912 with a last legs time for a rebuild motor tossed out?

Do they discount for non F car instructors?

JoelG

Just to be clear, the orignal poster asked about a Ferrari of Washington track day as opposed to a Ferrari Club event. In my experience Renn 951s apply to FoW track days. I've never been to a Ferrari Club event myself.

George from MD

Turns out certain relatives will be visiting that weekend and I'll be unable to sample the hospitality offered by our Italian brethren after all....maybe I can do Schattenbaum the weekend earlier. But thanks all anyway.

But Kurt passing a Challenge Stradale would be a must see event. .....the M-Man vs. Pizza Boy....in this corner....the pride of Potomac.....the master of momentum.....with one huuunndred and fifteeen horsepower....