17 May 2016
Campagnano di Roma, 17 May 2016 – The special drivers of the Ferrari XX Programmes and F1 Clienti had their first of two days of free practices on Tuesday at the Vallelunga Autodrome. The cars of the XX Programmes dominated, with 21 of the vehicles involved in the first day of testing. Eleven FXX Ks were on track, confirming the extraordinary success of this 1000-plus horsepower car. The 4 km circuit near Rome also saw two 599XXs, six 599XX EVOs and two FXXs, the progenitor car of this exclusive Prancing Horse project.
Formula 1. In addition to the 21 cars of the XX Programmes there were also five Formula 1 single-seaters of F1 Clienti, the companion project to the XX that allows a select group of customers to buy cars pensioned off by the Scuderia and have fun on the track in safety with the advice of experienced drivers like Marc Gené. Two of Felipe Massa's cars are on the Vallelunga track. In 2008 Massa was in contention for the title until the final race in Brazil, when only on the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix did Lewis Hamilton manage to subdue the Brazilian’s onslaught. There was also an F2007 that won the World Championship with Kimi Raikkonen and an F2002, one of the record cars, belonging to Rubens Barrichello. However, the most exciting sound on the first day was the 412 T2 of 1995, the last Prancing Horse Formula 1 car with a 12-cylinder engine.
Programme. The first day began a bit slowly because of rain on the track. There were seven sessions of free practices with nine planned for Wednesday, when the programme will be completed.