| It was 9.30am when the Piaggio P180
that bears the Prancing Horse symbol touched down at Baccarini airport
in Grosseto. On board was Michael Schumacher, ready to face a historical
challenge in the form of a duel between his F2003-GA and a Eurofighter
Typhoon. Under broody skies, Michael Schumacher climbed aboard the
F2003-GA for the shootout with the jewel in the airforce crown.
Three races were planned: the first, over a 600-metre distance that
favoured the swift acceleration of the single-seater, saw the F2003-GA
break the tape first, touching 294km/h, in 9.4secs versus 9.6 of
the jet. The second duel was over 1200 metres in which the Eurofighter
showed the single-seater a clean pair of heels and sped away with
the win in 14.2 versus 16.7. The F2003-GA reached 308 km/h. The
third, decisive, challenge was fought out over 900 metres and was
a tight affair. The Eurofighter just scraped home, two tenths ahead
of the F2003-GA (13 seconds versus 13.2). On the wet surface that
took away some of the grip from the tyres, Michael Schumacher reached
305km/h.
‘The best race was the first’, joked Michael. ‘If
it weren’t for the rain we would have had more grip, but,
in any case, the result was not important in this race! It was fun
watching the plane take off from where I was sitting. From a technical
point of view, the start was like a normal Grand Prix; if you take
into account the difference in power between an aeroplane and the
single-seater, these results could only have been expected. But
it was a great event and a unique challenge. I hope the fans had
as much fun as we all did!’
Pierro Ferrari awarded the winner his prize: ‘It was an exciting
race and one I enjoyed very much as I love the aeronautical world’,
reflected the Ferrari vice-president. He went on: ‘Apart from
the result, the important.phpect of the day is that we have demonstrated
how Italy is able to produce winning technology in both fields.
Today was the demonstration of the highest technology in two worlds,
that of four wheels where Ferrari leads the pack, and the aeronautical
sphere, in which Italy is at a very high level.’
Filippo Berselli, Defence Under-Secretary, also thought the Grosseto
show had been a great day out. ‘I would say that this is a
day for Italian industry and for Italy. The new European fighter
jet is an extraordinary machine, created with the intelligence and
imagination of Italian industry, who, thanks also to Ferrari, have
had a superb showcase in today.’
As planned, the event went on with a re-run of the 1931 race, this
first ever between plane and a car. In place of Nuvolari at the
wheel of the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 was Massimiliano Stancari and commanding
the Tiger Moth (a substitute for the unavailable Caproni) was Stefano
Rusconi. The duel was fought over four consecutive laps and saw
the car leading for the first three laps only for the plane to sneak
the win at the last with a one second advantage. The Alfa reached
a top speed of 185km/h, lower in the curves, while the plane maintained
a constant average speed of 140km/h.
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