Welcome to the Ferrari 'Champions League'

Gordon Sorlini

Maranello’s annual Testa Rossa Awards recognize the top talent in the dealership network

Every year, for the past three years, Ferrari has held the Testa Rossa Awards, a sort of Olympic Games which recognizes the best of the best of Ferrari talents working in the Prancing Horse’s dealerships around the world. The entire process ends in Maranello, where the 12 finalists for each of the four categories – Top Technician, Top Service Manager, Top Marketing Executive and Top Sales Executive – compete for the podium.

This year the finals were held from October 20-22. As always, the competition was fierce, but the environment friendly and supportive. The winners, awarded during a gala dinner held on Oct. 22, were (drumroll, please…): Nicolas Martinson, of Ferrari of Seattle (USA), Top Technician; Matteo Tonolli, of Loris Kessel Auto SA (Switzerland), Top Service Manager; Melanie Segura, of Modena Cars (Switzerland), Top Marketing Executive; and Sebastian Roesner, of Al Tayer Motors (U.A.E.), Top Sales Executive.

The Testa Rossa Awards are part of Ferrari’s RRR (Recruit, Retain, Reward) strategy, which, as the name suggests, aims to attract the best talents in the world to ‘team Ferrari’ – and make sure that they stay. The annual competition also encourages dealerships to focus on constantly improving the skills and competencies of their staffs, and so achieve excellence in line with the Brand standard. The competition is layered: all the last round participants are already the ‘champions’ of their respective geographical regions. Their journey to Maranello begins in their respective dealerships, where they follow a set of constant – and mandatory – training sessions, both online and through classes.

Some training activities are objective (like written tests and questionnaires), while others – such as role-playing sessions – are qualitative. After completion of each session, candidates receive a score; the highest scorers are then sent to the finals in Maranello, where they go through a similar series of tests and role-playing assessments. A truly international exercise, for the latest edition ‘contestants’ came from 20 different countries, representing 11 different regions.

But it’s not all-work-and-no-play: there are moments for relaxing and having fun together, including informal dinners, factory tours and test drives. And every year, Maranello introduces something new. For example, the test-drive this time around was held at night, making for a more exciting and challenging event.

While the awards are for individuals, the idea is to promote team-work within each dealership, for to be the best means you are part of the best team. In recognition of their accomplishments, each finalist receives an anodized aluminium basis and a titanium wheel nut with the competition’s year inscribed on it, the aim being to promote the continuous pursuit of excellence. As with everything Ferrari, the pace is quick. Even as this year’s victors celebrate, the 2020 Testa Rossa Awards are already starting! May the best of the best win.