Ferrari likes to win, and so, not content with having to fight McLaren for the Formula 1 championship, it is venturing into the A1GP series. From the start of the 2008/09 season all A1GP cars will be Ferrari powered, thus guaranteeing the Prancing Horse victory.
With a driver, but without fuel, the new A1GP car weighs 695kg, while the 4.5-litre V8 engine kicks out 600bhp and 406lb ft. It tested at Magny-Cours last week, bringing the total mileage of the Powered by Ferrari test car up to 3541 miles.
The car has also spent 300 hours in the wind tunnel, optimising the design for overtaking. ‘The effort of the design team has been to provide a chassis that has a good level of downforce, but without the normal penalties,’ says John Travis, A1GP technical director. ‘We have tried hundreds of different aerodynamic variations to ensure the close, exciting racing the series is famous for not only continues but gets better.’
The A1GP series runs over the winter months, when other race series shut down, and will enter its fourth championship this year. The season starts with the A1GP Mugello on 19 September 2008, and also marks the start of Michelin’s three-year deal of sole tyre supplier.
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