Happy ending!!

Maybe next year?... but , feels right

This was absolutely one of the most exhilarating and fun adventures that I have ever experienced in my lifetime!  Literally, we were racing a brand new Ferrari California through the most picturesque Italian countryside speeding down winding back roads and slowing only when we went through some of the 177 towns we paraded through.  In the major cities, they closed the main road and had police escorts. The sidewalks were lined and packed with thousands of Italians cheering, waving flags and constantly swinging their arms encouraging you to rev your engines [“more gas”].  Many of the towns we would drive up red carpet onto a podium located in the main square. The town officials would announce our names and our car number, beautiful young women would come up to the car to give us some memento distinctive of the town- it wasn’t all white knuckled driving!

This was no ordinary driving tour- we hit speeds over 150MPH and 90% of the driving was on winding  back roads downshifting, braking hard and redlining the tach- trying to stay on the tail of a million dollar Ferrari F40 hitting the apex of the next turn.  If you relaxed for a minute there was another Ferrari inches from your tail pipe drifting across the double line to pass! We of course were one of the few in a leased Ferrari that we had only driven a few miles, in a foreign country on roads we never seen before, trying to do what we could do to push the pace.  It was intense, exhilarating, at times a little scary- but a total blast!.  I am still SHOCKED that the police not only didn’t pull us over but often encouraged us to pass them and cheered us as we passed them over a double yellow line going 2-3 times the speed limit.

What made the trip exceptionally special was the company. We were in tears nearly every night at dinner laughing and drinking too much great wine. We made what we hope will be some lifelong friends that alone made the trip worth it! This trip was only possible because of our good friend Mark Gessler. He, aside from being a leading competitor (2010- 2^nd place, 2011- 3^rd and 4^th), got us the highly coveted entry spot in a rented Ferrari (ahead of hundreds of lifetime multiple Ferrari owners were not accepted), organized our teams 40 members in 15 cars, wine dinners and training, etc..- YOU ARE REMARKABLE! The entire trip was all first class and well planned. We were honored to be included and realize you had a lot of other choices. We have truly been given the gift of a close friend and great experience. We are incredibly grateful, thank you!!

You learn a lot about someone when you spend 3 days, drive 35 hours in a small car, at high speeds, in a foreign country, on unknown roads in a rented car with a $15,000 deductible!  I learned that I am truly fortunate to have an incredibly close a dear friend who I deeply admire - Rick Weidinger. We have experienced a lot together and each time we become better friends. Very little drama and a lot of belly aching laughs- the way it should be! Truly my brother from another mother 

The trip had a perfect ending- 3 days in Florence and Rome- capped off with an audience with the Pope! That makes 2 checked off the list! Thank you all for keeping up with this Blog and asking so many great questions and allowing us to share this experience with you! 

Pete- Shocked !!

Mark, Our gracious host

Teams legitimate haul- 3rd and fourth overall out of >500 entries!

David describing what our car #650 really earned!

Memorable lakeside lunch with great new
friends at Grifione Restaurant in Sirmione

Ferrari Enzo

Just barely beat us...

Goin' parking in style with my girl!

Four Seasons Florence- what a dump..

Racecar driver booty

It works in Florence for almost anyone!

Rick- way over his head!

wife'io near the Ponte Vecchio

Rome's skyline

In Rome at St Peter's Basilica

Viva Papa!

Great meal at famous Periluigi in Rome

Late last night binge and laughs!

Final Leg: Day 3: Rome- Brescia- 16.5 hours

That me on the back with my right hand up!


Day 3- Rome- Brescia- 16.5 hours

Today is the longest day and because you are exhausted from 3 days of racing on limited sleep- the most dangerous. After a early 6am start, we had short drive to the famous Vallelunga racetrack outside Rome were we had a time trial and a hot lap around the fog enclosed track.  We nailed the trial and had a blast screaming around the track.  The next leg was the dangerous and famous mountain switchback roads about an hour outside of Rome. The roads were lined by a Saturday car enthusiast tradition- It seemed like every café racer, exotic and vintage car club member, as on the road- all doubling and tripling the speed limit…insanity! A new Ferrari 599 GTO supercar hit a Ducati motorcyclist head on that was drifting into his lane around a blind curve. The motorcyclist actually survived and after hours the damaged 599 GTO was able to limp back to Brescia.

Next was drive through beautiful Tuscany, spectacular! In Siena we were greeted in the Piazza del Campo square, where they have the famous bareback anything goes horserace.

Florence was as always stunning and we were able to pull up on the curb, take a few pictures and have an espresso with a great view of the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge. After Florence we drove through the Maserati factory and then to Maranello- home of the Ferrari factory. This is hallowed ground for racing enthusiasts. We drove through the center of the plant and I am still in shock-they allowed all of us to race a hot lap around the famous Michael Schumacher designed Fiorano test track Ferrari test track. Five grueling hours later, we finished the race in Brescia at 9pm to cheers from Miriam and Rick wife, Amy, who were patiently waiting for us at the finish. Marks team took second ad third and Mark invited me on the back of the car where I was doused with a double magnum of Italian Champagne- a fitting end to a truly magical week! It exceeded every one of our very high expectations and it was the biggest check off on my bucket list!



Famous Vallelunga racetrack outside Rome



Looking to Pass



Quick Lunch with teammates

 

Drive through Tuscany

Entering Piazza del Campo in Siena



Entering Florence- Famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge




Entering Ferrari Factory

 

Inside Ferrari Factory grounds at Marenello



Huge reception in Parma!

 

To the victor goes the spoils!



Race Day 2- Imola- Rome: 13 hrs

Race Day 2- Imola- Rome: 13 hrs

 The race up the spectacular ancient mountain top town of San Marino was unbelievable! They practically closed the road and it was wide road and we hauled ass! By now we have the hang of the nearly 500Hp car and the F1 paddle shift transmission- awesome machine! We now understand why the others have driving gloves. We nailed the two time trials and were driving with confidence. Rick was making steady passes of slower Ferrari’s- we must have passed 25 cars. When we thought it could get any better- Terminillo region- great winding roads through the snow covered mountains- breathtaking! Our pictures don’t do it justice!

Day two had a fitting end. We drove into the Olympic stadium in Rome, then a police escort parting the sea of the famous Rome traffic, on to the podium that was 400 meters from Saint Peters Basilica to thousands cheering. The biggest crowd yet.  We were even interviewed by Sky TV and got a police escorted evening tour of Rome! This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We were at our hotel by 8pm and had a Ferrari group dinner. No late night- up at 4:30 for an early morning 6 am start for the longest day-nearly 17 hours!

Police escorted tour of Rome

Entering Rome and Vatican city

In the Olympic Stadium in Rome

Entering the beautiful mountain top town of San Marino

View from San Marino

Entering time city for time stamp

Mountain drive through Termillio

Termillio

Entering Termillio- as wall as our board video camera

Race Day One: Thursday, May 12th

At the start- Game on!!

Rally Day One: Thursday, May 12^th

We drove up to a podium for our 5:44PM start time to thousands of cheering Italian car enthusiasts wishing us well. After they announced our names, country and car type, we launched toward Sirmione for our first stamp and first time trial. Next we hit back roads, where we promptly learned how fast the other Ferrari drivers hit the streets- this was no tour of the country side, it was a street race! Hitting the winding country roads at 90MPH in the straights, brake hard, downshift, hit the apex, foot to the floor and repeat. If you didn’t there was a line of impatient Ferrari’s on your rear bumper impatiently waiting to pass. I must admit it was a bit unnerving at first, but we quickly got the hang of it. Our first major city was beautiful Verona, it was spectacular! The city rampart walls and ancient castles lit up and crowds lined our route through the city. We drove inside a castle and up a podium where we were again announced and greeted by young women dressed in renaissance costumes. I must admit it was pretty cool! Final leg of the day was to Bologna and for a rare stretch on the Autostrata where we hit close to 150MPH. We made it to our time control at 1:00am for a 7am start. 

 

Saying much needed prayer for rookie Americans!

Our car ready to start!

 Rick ripping through the countryside

Greetings from fair maidens

 

 

 

 

Entering Verona

Late night arrival to the second checkpoint

The race and our interview on Ferrari TV

This is a video on Ferrari's website where I am interviewed about our experience in racing in the Mille Miglia. The video gives a good overview of our adventure!

What is the race about and our Goals
A rally race is about time, direction and endurance.  Teams are judged on three criteria- location stamps, time trials and time controls. 
 1. Location Stamps:In order to complete the race each team must get the 24 location stamps in various cities throughout the route.
2. Time trials: There were approximately 30 time trials where you were measured foraccuracy between two short points ( .10-3km) drivers are penalized for each 1/100^th of a second that they are off.  
 3. Time controls: There were time controls which was driving longer distances (1-5 hours) and arriving with in one minute of your scheduled arrival time. Easy only if you haul ass, don't get lost, don't hit major traffic, and have no car touble. 
It it an endurance race because your are driving over 35 hours of driving in 3 days on an unknown roads driven at very high speeds(not shown in the video )on winding back roads with 3-6 hours of sleep each night.

Our goals before the race:

1.     Be safe

2.     Have fun

3.     Don’t damage the car

4.     Finish the race- get all the location stamps

Mission accomplished!

One woman we hoped we would never see again!

Rick driving through Tuscan countryside

After interview with Sky News Network



One stamp left and we finsih the race