He indicated he had finished, and already the next magazine representative was attaching his test gear. After I had downloaded the data, I answered the group of eager Ferrari representatives who had gathered around. "First run 3.8; second run 3.5, and third run, 3.3 seconds," referring to the 0-60 mph times of the car, "but he only reached 97.18 mph." That was all he did. The first three acceleration runs of the day (he was improving) and just four minutes of data. One run was on a slight uphill, one downhill. One run started in a corner exit and finished when he applied brakes for the next corner. I scanned the data to see if I had missed anything after the acceleration, but no--no maximum braking, and no threshold cornering. He did say he had used the Enzo's launch program ("Race" on, "ASR" off) which only allows a driver-selected-rpm clutch-drop from the F1-style gear box--no fancy Formula 1 racing traction control. We'd have to be happy with what we had recorded. In fact, we were in a better position than one of the other magazine's representatives whose luggage and test gear were lost en route to Italy.
As the sun reached its apex, all available track time had been eaten up by the other magazines who had been invited. I got the last ride of the morning with Dario in the red car.
As you can probably deduce, nothing about this test was normal. It began about three weeks prior, when a cryptic subject line appeared in Motor Trend's email Inbox, "Save the date: Ferrari program in Italy April 16." Once opened, the message continued, "We will be hosting a data-acquisition testing session for the Enzo Ferrari. This program does not include a test drive of the Enzo [see Editor, Kevin Smith's "First Drive" in Nov '02], which will be driven by Dario Benuzzi. Media will be able to sit in the passenger's seat to insure proper testing, if need be, but will not be able to drive the car on the track or on the road. We would be very appreciative if you can join us for this test of the car's performance at this event." Well, if you insist.
We grabbed a Racepak satellite-based data-acquisition system, a clean change of undergarments, and boarded the next flight for Bologna, Italy--the final destination, and Paradiso di Tifosi for the Ferrari faithful: Maranello. There, we were joined by representatives from other car magazines from around the world.
Initially, the instrumented-test session was to be held on an Italian Air Force strip with the possibility of a run approaching the car's reported top speed of 217 mph. Unfortunately, the situation in the Middle East had yet to be resolved, and we were forced to use Ferrari's own 1.85-mile closed-course Pista di Fiorano test track. Yes, the track that Enzo himself had ordered to be built and which he could observe from his office window. Then, as now, Ferrari used the track "as a site for experimentation and testing, as a place to test and train drivers, and also for the race team to practice and train." So true.
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