Driving Fiorano with Alonso
May 31, 2011 | 02:57 PM
#1
Thread Starter
| Teamspeed Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 195
Driving Fiorano with Alonso
I was lucky enough to be invited to drive my GTO at Fiorano, with one F. Alonso in attendance showing us all how rubbish we really are. I hope you like the photographs and video.
YouTube - ‪Fiorano circuit in a 458 with Fernando Alonso‬‏
We went out in our own cars with Ferrari instructors who insisted on sport mode until they felt comfortable you were ok to switch to race (but no CT/CST off). This was a great opportunity to learn this very technical and surprisingly narrow circuit. We were fortunate that there were no noise restrictions - can you believe the local noise loons restrict the circuit activities to the extent that often, exiting the final hairpin onto the main straight you are told to back off and cruise until you're past the pits.
We also got the opportunity to drive 458's on the "steering pad" - a tight course marked out with cones and including a skid area. This was excellent - in Sport mode the 458 simply would not swap ends but Race allowed nice graceful drifts, really enjoyed this!
Fernando arrived just before lunch (the Turkish GP was the previous day). He looked a bit sullen, but I guess anybody would if they were forced to wear those sunglasses. Anyway, we got time out in the 458 driven by him, and he was very chatty and relaxed. He was just showboating but his level of car control was simply incredible. A very slick day and highly recommended if you get the opportunity.
YouTube - ‪Fiorano circuit in a 458 with Fernando Alonso‬‏
We went out in our own cars with Ferrari instructors who insisted on sport mode until they felt comfortable you were ok to switch to race (but no CT/CST off). This was a great opportunity to learn this very technical and surprisingly narrow circuit. We were fortunate that there were no noise restrictions - can you believe the local noise loons restrict the circuit activities to the extent that often, exiting the final hairpin onto the main straight you are told to back off and cruise until you're past the pits.
We also got the opportunity to drive 458's on the "steering pad" - a tight course marked out with cones and including a skid area. This was excellent - in Sport mode the 458 simply would not swap ends but Race allowed nice graceful drifts, really enjoyed this!
Fernando arrived just before lunch (the Turkish GP was the previous day). He looked a bit sullen, but I guess anybody would if they were forced to wear those sunglasses. Anyway, we got time out in the 458 driven by him, and he was very chatty and relaxed. He was just showboating but his level of car control was simply incredible. A very slick day and highly recommended if you get the opportunity.
Thanks for posting this. 
Jun 1, 2011 | 07:39 AM
#7
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Joined: Nov 2010
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