Team 96 Italian Job 2017

Our Rally Stage today took us on a 45 mile drive to Maranello for a visit to the Ferrari Empire.  Clocks went back yesterday, so it was a cooler start though we have yet to drive with the roof up since we arrived in Imola. An Autumnal drive through lovely scenery with sweeping bends and a series of hairpins to get up into the hills and then down into Maranello.  We did have a rather major navigational error today though we recovered and arrived on schedule still talking to each other.  We first visited the Ferrari Museum, which is celebrating the 70th year of Ferrari production, and we saw a fabulous collection of cars and engines covering this period, together with a brilliant display of the trophies they have collected over the years.  It was interesting to note that Ferrari had won the Mille Miglia, the Le Mans 24 hour race, and Grand Prix wins within 3 years of the start of production in 1947.  This was followed by a bus tour around the huge area of their production facilities, including a huge Wind Tunnel Complex, and a look at the Fiorano Race Circuit which is used for testing their cars.  However they are restricted from testing their Formula 1 Cars after the imposition of new F1A restictions in recent years.  Unfortunately, being a Sunday, we were not allowedaccess into the production plants.

From Maranello we drove to the Valle de Samuggia for a wine tasting (minute portions !) at a local vinyard, followed by a superb lunch.  We had scheduled to visit a Permeggiano production centre, though this did not materialise - though we have seen enough Parmeggiano cheese in the last 3 days to last a lifetime.