The New York Times published this article on 25 Jan 2002, written by staff writer George P. Blumberg:

Ferrari Racing: Thrills Aren't Cheap

Pity the Ferrari owner. How can he fantasize racing down the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans at 195, when he is stuck in rush hour on I-95? "You only get to use short bursts of performance," said Michael Louli, a 47-year- old financial adviser in Toronto, whose four Ferraris include a 360 Modena coupe and a 360 Spider convertible. With 400 horsepower, each can reach almost 200 miles an hour.

"By the time I hit second gear, I'm already over the highway speed limit," Mr. Louli said. "You can't exploit the cornering capabilities without breaking the law."

He puts a total of 5,000 miles a year on the two 360's he drives on the street. His other cars include a high-performance Mercedes-Benz S55 sedan. But his two other Ferraris — racing versions of the F355 and 360 — are reserved for the track.

To drive Ferraris at their limits, Mr. Louli joined a select group of owners to compete in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race series. Owners of special race-ready 360 Modenas and F355's demonstrate their driving skills in seven races on North American tracks, capped by a finale on the famed Monza track in Italy. Participants pay huge sums to participate in the events, which run from April though October, but they need only show up and drive. Their cars are prepped and waiting at each track.

"Racing is part of these cars' genetic code," said Maria Homann, who manages the Challenge series for Ferrari. "Enzo Ferrari started the company to race cars, and selling road cars was only a means to finance the racing. The Challenge lets drivers experience their cars in their natural habitat, on the track."

Some Challenge events are "support races" — opening acts, essentially — at Formula One venues. Challenge drivers get to mingle, at tracks like Monza, with members of the Ferrari racing team. For the original Challenge, in 1993, the cars were modified model 348 street machines. These were replaced in 1995 by F355's, which in turn gave way to 360 Challenge cars built specifically for racing. Last year, 42 of these 360's ran the Challenge in North America, accompanied by eight F355's, which are being phased out.

The drivers are amateurs who have attended driving school, but the caliber of the events is professional. There are gleaming car transporters adorned with Ferrari logos and loaded with spare parts and tools, plus a complement of mechanics. There are catered meals at trackside and nights in luxury hotels. And there is the opportunity to rub shoulders with great drivers like Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

One might expect a first-class event, given the cost. The tab for a season can reach $400,000, depending on how many times a car is crashed. The first expense is the car, at about $179,000. Then you sign a $96,000 contract ($12,000 a race) with a dealer's team to keep the car running and ready. "We assign a mechanic to you for the season," said Giuseppe Risi, who runs teams out of his Ferrari dealerships in Houston and Dallas. (Thirteen of the 29 United States dealers have racing teams). Shell offers free fuel and lubricants, and Pirelli provides two sets of tires for each car each weekend.

Participants pay a support fee to Ferrari of about $32,000 for track fees, liability insurance, event management and other costs. You can insure a car for about $2,200 a weekend, but there is a $10,000 deductible. It costs at least $15,000 to transport a car to and from Italy for the final race in October. Owners also pay for parts. Burn up the brakes or clutch, blow a transmission or bend a fender, and it will cost you. Road-going Ferraris carry a two-year warranty, but racing cars have none.

"This is highly competitive racing," Mr. Risi said. "Lots of bodywork gets replaced." Dr. Stephen Earle, an orthopedic surgeon in San Antonio who races with Ferrari of Houston, has had his share of costly experiences. Last year at Monza, "I crashed in Friday's event while I was in second place," he said, skidding on oil. "I entered the corner and exited backwards at about 130," he added. "Then the car dug into a gravel trap."

The damage was repaired that day and he was in the back of the pack, starting 31st on Saturday, driving hard to finish 14th over all and 3rd in his class. He is a previous North American Challenge champion and will race a Ferrari at Le Mans this year. He turned 50 on Jan.1.

When Mr. Louli joined the series in 1996, "I thought I was a hot driver," he said. "But my first race, I didn't want to scratch the paint on my new car. Everybody was so aggressive, banging around; I hung back, so I came in last — a rude awakening." He has been wide awake since, and is a top competitor, this year racing both his F355 and his 360, competing in two classes. "Sometimes there's only 10 minutes between my races," said Mr. Louli, who is known as Ironman. "I jump from one car into the other. This summer I ran two 40- minute races back to back, and it was 140 degrees in the cars. An expensive sauna."

Switching cars is not easy because they are different. The 360 uses a Formula One- style shifter, with paddles behind the steering wheel, and is a true racecar — "much more unforgiving," Mr. Louli said. Its steering is just two turns lock to lock. His F355 has a conventional manual transmission and steering that takes 3.2 turns.

Ferrari owners are almost all men and "typically 30 percent are doctors and attorneys," Mr. Risi said. "Then there are the `boom' people — real estate, oil, shopping centers, technology and dot-coms — then the independently wealthy and the independent entrepreneurs." Challenge drivers range in age from 35 to 65. Last year, the series was dominated by Lucio Nicolodi, 36, who drives with the Ferrari of Beverly Hills team. The scion of an Italian family with a pharmaceutical fortune, he has homes in California and Italy.

The background of Buddy Stubbs, 62, who owns a Harley-Davidson dealership in Phoenix, is an anomaly. Mr. Stubbs, who resembles Willie Nelson, is a former national motorcycle racing champion. "I was a racing gypsy," Mr. Stubbs said, "until Walter Davidson called me in 1966 with an offer to take over a failing dealership in Phoenix." That dealership now prospers, and Mr. Stubbs has finished two years in the Challenge, with three podium finishes in 2001.

No matter their backgrounds, these are competitive people. "All the drivers are the king or master of their domains," Mr. Louli said, "but it seems their egos only come out when they're in the cars, and off the track it's a shared experience and we don't talk about business or try to impress. We just talk racing Ferraris."

Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.