Ferrari Racing Days–Sydney

I created the above video as a montage of the action from the recent Ferrari Racing Days in Sydney that I attended. I would have liked the video shots to have been closer to the action but overall I don’t think it was too bad for video captured on a mobile. The biggest thing is the sound, listen to the cars scream by.

I purchased the owner’s suite tickets for both days, which basically gave me access to everything. They certainly weren’t cheap but when you consider the fact that they includes full catering for the two days and special benefits like pit tours then it does balance up the ledger somewhat.

I arrived on Saturday as part of the Drive to Sydney cavalcade which I covered in a previous post. Once parked I headed off for a walk through the ‘paddock’ and then onto the owner’s suite to grab a coffee and some treats.

What surprised me most about the owner’s suite on this first day was how full it was. It make sense when you think about the fact that all the cavalcade drivers where there along with many others who only planned on attending the one day. For me it was kind of like the experience of when you go into an airline business lounge for the first time. You think that it is going to be a pretty exclusive place but it in fact ends up being a place where just about everybody is. This kind of takes the shine of the exclusivity if you ask me, but I certainly understand why that is the case business-wise.

It certainly wasn’t unpleasant but I found the Sunday much more relaxed due to the lower amount of attendees.

Above the owner’s suite was another restricted area that had a marquis as well as a view of the track right across the form the start finish line. This is the location from which most of the videos were shot.

The events on the track continued on during both days with the highlight probably being the F1 show which included a few ‘mock’ pit stops and a burn out along the front straight. Nothing beats an old F1 engine sound.

Out the back in the paddock they had a number of areas including an F1 zone for the kids (racing simulators and slot car racing), current model Ferrari display (i.e. new car looking for owners), the supercar pavilion (with a 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and La Ferrari) as well displays of ‘classic’ Ferraris.

As an owner suite ticket holder I also got the opportunity to do a pit tour where they take you through all the working pits and show you all the cars (including form F1 models). That is really good and really informative as we found all about the different racing series Ferrari were conducting over the 2 days.

There was of course all the action on the track which you could see from just about anywhere. However, it was always good to be able to retreat to the comfort of the owner’s suite, grab a drink and take a load off your feet while watching from above pit straight.

I was certainly glad I went both days and was more than happy that I got my money’s worth. I think that you could have probably just done one day if weren’t that crazy about the prancing horse. For me, the Sunday was the better day, with less people, less rain and less stress (since I didn’t have to worry about my F355 getting wet).

It was however a great experience to share my passion with everyone else who attended. They all seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Kudos to Ferrari Australia for making this happen and to everyone who made it a success., I hope to see it back in Sydney real soon!