Ferrari Club Track Day 2017

I've owned my Ferrari 360 Modena manual gearbox since 2005 , but this was my first track day with Ferrari Club Hellas in Serres Race Circuit in northern Greece.

First part was the road trip... We left Athens at 6 am on Friday morning and we drove 500 km to Thessaloniki... With two refueling stops we managed it in 2 hours and 55 minutes... The last 80 km to Serres we did it in 30 minutes... (we were cruising at 230 km/h and at certain points we did 290 km/h with safety - no traffic)

We arrived at the track and there were many 360 , 430 , 458 and one 488. There was also one 458 Speciale and one 458 Challenge.

The experience of driving my 360 Modena with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires was amazing... Very nimble car, I managed to do about 220 km/h on the main straight... the inner curves were amazing and the track had new tarmac so the handling was unbelievable... I never experienced driving to the limit with safety...

I did two sessions of 5 laps, because I wanted my tires to last for the return trip... There was no issue with the brakes, because I braked mainly on the long straight, the inner curves I braked very little...

Next my friend suggested I try his car... He had a F430 spider with bucket seats, ceramic brakes, 6-point racing harness and slick tires... His exact words were : "here drive my car and see the difference of slick tires"

I jumped into the opportunity and it was AMAZING !!
The track experience is transformed... There was never an issue of overheating the tires.. Just grip, grip, grip... Even though the F430 is more powerful, it managed to put all the power down... And cornering was amazing...

Next my other friend took me for a spin in his 458 Speciale to show me the racing lines... AMAZING !! I never got nervous... This car gives you so much confidence... Amazing balance, perfect feedback and grip...

And finally, I watched my friend race the circuit with his 458 Challenge car !! Wow !! He did the best laps, of course...

The 488 was a different animal... Very very powerful machine with so much torque, more refined and heavier too..

The lap times were :

1:24.532 for the 458 Challenge car
1:27.072 for the 458 Speciale
1:27.184 for 488 GTB
1:27.231 for the F430 Spider with slick tires
1:27.636 for 458 with Michelin Cup tires
1:31.604 for F430 Spider
1:38.376 for F430
1:42.151 for 360 Modena manual gearbox (me)
2:00.238 for 355 GTS manual gearbox

Of course there were many factors, such as driver experience, and how much the driver wanted to push their car that affected lap times...

Pure pleasure to be there !!! So much fun !!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login