zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Spend The Next Ten Minutes In An Untouchably Expensive Vintage Racing Ferrari 250 GTO
Spend The Next Ten Minutes In An Untouchably Expensive Vintage Racing Ferrari 250 GTO-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:50

Image for article titled Spend The Next Ten Minutes In An Untouchably Expensive Vintage Racing Ferrari 250 GTO

It’s Friday, people! Act like it! Kick off your weekend by riding onboard with Marino Franchitti in an authentically-recreated Ferrari 250 GTO for a few laps of the Goodwood circuit. Obviously this is the kind of experience that very few people in the world get to enjoy, because most of us aren’t as talented behind the wheel as Marino Franchitti is. But that doesn’t mean we can’t sit over his right shoulder and enjoy a fierce battle as he spends a stint of this race right up the chuff of a TVR Grantura and a Bizzarini 5300GT.

The 250 GTO is a recreation of the extremely rare Series II car, built with exacting detail to the original over ten years—finishing in 2008—and used extensively since. The real deal would cost someone several handfuls of millions of dollars, so it makes a lot of sense to run an exact replica, even a quite expensive one, in vintage racing, rather than risk the real thing. And I’m quite glad they did.

This is a wonderful ten minutes of video, despite little actually happening in the form of on-track passing. I don’t know who was driving that Grantura, but they’re wicked quick in the thing. That the whole dance is set to the glorious high-revolution sounds of a wailing Ferrari V12 only helps amplify the incredibility of it all.

It’s flat out from the chicane across start/finish, nearly making it to the top of fourth gear before feathering the throttle through Madgwick. The Ferrari catches its rivals quite nicely here with mid-corner speed. Onto the straight, there’s a shift into fifth, and hard down on the accelerator for just a second before breathing through Fordwater. Down to fourth and scrub some speed with a drift from the tail at St. Mary’s. Hard back on it, then down to third to negotiate Lavant. Upshift, upshift, dodge the grass on the left, then let it sing until you get to Woodcote. Second is necessary for the chicane, and you’re back across the line.

Astonishing stuff. I could watch it again and again.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Verstappen Wins With Bold First Corner Overtake In Mexico City
Verstappen Wins With Bold First Corner Overtake In Mexico City
The FIA Formula One World Championship began its season-concluding stretch of 5 races over the next 6 weeks with the Mexico City Grand Prix. Yes, the race has a new name. Though, the venue remains the same. It was expected that the high altitude of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez would...
Dec 14, 2025
Delma Cowart, The Clown Prince Of Racing, Dies At Age 80
Delma Cowart, The Clown Prince Of Racing, Dies At Age 80
We don’t remember Delma Cowart the same way we remember other racing drivers. He never won a NASCAR race (but, as the saying goes, he never lost a party). He never even competed in a full season. But Cowart, nicknamed “the clown prince of racing” made his legacy off...
Dec 14, 2025
We Must Protect Yuki Tsunoda At All Costs
We Must Protect Yuki Tsunoda At All Costs
This weekend in Mexico did not go well for 21-year-old Alpha Tauri racer Yuki Tsunoda. With a grid penalty looming over his head before qualifying even began, he did the best he could to get up into Q3 and give teammate Pierre Gasly a nice tow down the long...
Dec 14, 2025
Subaru Of Canada Will Discount Your Car Purchase If You Promise To Go Rallying
Subaru Of Canada Will Discount Your Car Purchase If You Promise To Go Rallying
Just because Subaru no longer participates directly in the Canadian Rally Championship with its own manufacturer team doesn’t mean the automaker is wiping its hands of the series. Now, to encourage Canadians to keep rallying Subarus, the company is offering new car buyers an $8,000 (or $10,000 Canadian) discount...
Dec 14, 2025
City Of 9 Million People Needs Formula 1 Race To Put It Back On The Map
City Of 9 Million People Needs Formula 1 Race To Put It Back On The Map
City planners are always claiming that their latest project will put their region back on the map. In most cases, it’s a plan to build a new public swimming pool or erect an arty sculpture to attract tourists. But now, one fledgling area in the UK is hoping can...
Dec 14, 2025
Martin Brundle And F1 Aren't That Important
Martin Brundle And F1 Aren't That Important
The Powers That Be in Formula One have apparently not recovered from the United States Grand Prix grid walk. There, former driver and commentator Martin Brundle asked rapper Megan Thee Stallion for an interview, only to be rebuffed by her bodyguards. He — and other higher-ups in F1 —...
Dec 14, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved