Ferrari Challenge Europe Series

Circuito de Ricardo Tormo Valencia 29 – 31 March 2019

Where do I start, clearly as the name suggests this was all about Ferrari – the cars, the people, the organization everything. The Ferrari race cars sound great and on track they are fast, just what we want at Iberianmph.com.

The management at Circuito de Ricardo Tormo always put on a great event, however this particular weekend was all about Ferrari. Basically the track, security, stewards and safety officials were provided by the circuit. The rest was all down to Ferrari organization. Hence no children’s bouncy castles, food outlets for the spectator, sideshow events…..nope nothing. Only Ferrari.

I had applied for accreditation from the Ferrari people in high places and did not even receive the courtesy of a reply. Not that it mattered as I was still going to see what was on offer and get where we at Iberianmph.com need to be – the garages, pit lane, starting grid, paddock wherever there was a picture or a story.

The weekend basically had four races, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. These were for the Pirelli Cup and the Shell Cup. Over 40 cars were entered in these events, basically rich paying-drivers of which some were excellent race drivers and others basically driving a fast car at the back of the others.

When there was no racing on the track then it was open to those who were Ferrari owners and customers who had the finances to participate in driving their cars around a race track. Pretty boring for me but then I suppose those who got to drive their shiny Ferraris around the track were having a Ferrari thrill.

Back to the real racing. It was fast with some quality drives by some, especially on Sunday in the wet. For sure there will be hefty repair bills for some of the teams but what the heck, if you can afford to race a Ferrari you can afford to repair it!

On a sad note, prior to the first race the track organizers held a minute’s silence for one of the employees, Juan Perez Milla, 63 years old who had worked at the circuit for 17 years and sadly passed away following an accident a few days previously. Those who knew Juan will greatly miss his charm and humour.

Moving on, in 2 weeks’ time the Circuito de Ricardo Tormo will be hosting the first round of the Euro Nascar 2019 and Iberianmph.com will be there to see who wants to talk to us!

Please now take a few moments to enjoy my photos from this event below.

Tony