Ferrari club meet - Racing 430 GT2! F50! CS ..[pics updated]

[sameerrao]

Today, I attended the Ferrari Club of America Houston chapter meet.

On the agenda was a fast paced drive thru the countryside and then an exclusive showing of the 430 GT2 - the race car that is raced in the American Le Mans series. Unfortunately due to thunderstorms and possibility of hail, the drive was postponed to tomorrow but the 430 display took place anyway.

The 430 is run by Risi Competizione out of Houston founded by Guiseppe Risi who owns two classy dealerships in Houston and Dallas. The GT2 spec car is the replacement to the 360 N-GT and is faster than the 430 challenge due to much better aero and lighter weight.

The car looks lovely in the flesh and I spent a good hour or two poring over the details.

From a road car standpoint, an F50 was in attendance brought along with a road going 430 by Franco Valobra who hosts the Ferrari annual event in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Franco has set up an additional jewelry store here and is an enthusiast thru and thru. He was responsible for getting the 430 GT2 over for us.

Additionally, there was a 355 spider, Testarossa, 612 Scag, Gallardo, 2 430s, one 308. There are going to be many more cars tomorrow for the run so it will be really cool.

Sorry that the pics are not sorted properly ... I have no time ... need to get some sleep ... have an early start tomorrow...

Enjoy the pics!!!

F430GT2
My fave pic ... doesnt she look real curvy
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http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/29424_DSC_0733.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=29424_DSC_0733.jpg) http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/3534_DSC_0740.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=3534_DSC_0740.jpg)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/4842_DSC_0662.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=4842_DSC_0662.jpg) http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/6410_DSC_0665.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=6410_DSC_0665.jpg)
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F50
http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/5608_DSC_0677.th.jpg (http://Serv1.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=5608_DSC_0677.jpg&path=/files/ih000001)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/31457_DSC_0623.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=31457_DSC_0623.jpg)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/8217_DSC_0742.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=8217_DSC_0742.jpg)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/9304_DSC_0629.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=9304_DSC_0629.jpg)
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CS, 430
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Other cars
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Women
http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/32108_DSC_0668.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=32108_DSC_0668.jpg)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/18190_DSC_0670.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=18190_DSC_0670.jpg)http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/18097_DSC_0676.th.jpg (http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?id=18097_DSC_0676.jpg)

Guiseppe Risi - founder of Risi Competizione
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[bmagni]

nice pics
the black F50 is nice !!
waiting for the rest of the pics

wheres RC ?? :P

[TT]

Some beautiful pics! Any racing 430 is agressive, but the GT2 is mad of course! And the two bitches are quite good looking and sexy!

Thanks for the pics, and good luck for tomorrow/today

[stmoritzer]

grrrr... awesome 430GT2!
Thanks for all the pics, the details. The car must be a bieast :D
The black F50 is not bad eithe!

Have fun today!

[twboy1999]

damn
the blonde is fucking hot

[Wutputt]

Great pics. I hope you can even take more amazing pics tomorrow ;)

[Minacious]

Very nice shots. That black F50 is a rare site, and that silver 430 is to die for. I would have loved to hear that GT2 fire up. I bet is sounded mean. Those girls aren't bad either (TT called them bitches, hahahaahah :D :D :D )

[RC45]

nice pics
the black F50 is nice !!
waiting for the rest of the pics


Yep, nice cars, nice people, nice turnout - almost Hollywood like ;)


wheres RC ?? :P
At home relaxing.

I'm not really into the whole champagne and caviare scene - any event that has to have armed guards/cops around the cars/jewels/property is probably more about the ego's of the flaunters.. not about the enjoyment of driving.. ;)

I just call how I see em.. and obviosly don't appreciate the "finer" things in life ;) :P

[dingo]

I love the F430 GT, so aggressive.....I think its the first one I've seen at a meeting.

The F50 is to die for also, black suits it nicely.

....any event that has to have armed guards/cops around ....

if you were there they would definately be needed, to break up the fights you'd cause telling all the F-car owners how good Corvettes are. ;)

[Pehtren]

Nice event, the pics looks really cool.

As for the car i like the F430 GT2, and you mad a great job with details :P

Thanks for the pics :P

EDIT: where the hell is nejcdolinsek :lol:

[Stikz]

Really nice pics man, lots of hot chicks too, lol. Thanks from a fellow desi. :D

[sameerrao]

Re-organized the pics a bit and added a few that were missing the first time around. See post #1

Thanks for your comments. I will be seeing the 430 GT2 in action in 2 weeks time at the Houston GP ... I bet it will be awesome in motion.

Minacious - the car was completely drained of all fluids so couldn't be started up. It would caused major accidents if this motor ran. As it is the traffic were almost at a standstill while people craned their necks over to get a close look at this beauty.

Dingo - I was told that this was the only GT2 in the entire world as of today. Apparently, it is also going ot be run in Europe so maybe more cars will be buiolt eventually.

TT - bitches hmmm? :lol: What's up?

[sameerrao]

Dingo - I was told that this was the only GT2 in the entire world as of today. Apparently, it is also going ot be run in Europe so maybe more cars will be buiolt eventually.

Are you sure?? :?

There were a couple of them at Magny Cours last weekend and one winning at Monza three weeks ago :wink: They were F430 GT2 made by Michelotto... don't know if we're talking about the same car :?

Actually - next thursday my brother's boss is going to Fiorano to pick up one of them :mrgreen:

Anyway - fabulous pics... my brother loves you!! :wink: :P

That's what the mechanic who brought the car had said. Maybe he meant the US not the entire world. My bad!

I am pretty sure that the cars you saw must be the same because the GT2 was meant to compete in Europe and US. I dont think Ferrari has the dosh to build custom cars for each series.

So from a racing standpoint there seems to be just 2 430s - Challenge and the GT2. Correct me if am wrong.

The mechanic also mentioned that the 430 GT2 make less power than the standard car because of air intake restricters.

The US drivers are supposed to be Mika Salo and some Melo.

One interesting aside, Compare the brake temperature gauge on the brake caliper of the 430GT2 ...
http://img307.imageshack.us/img307/2786/dsc07653hc.th.jpg (http://img307.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc07653hc.jpg)
... with the temp gauge on a 2003 Williams F1 car
http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/2850/fw24wheel4sm.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fw24wheel4sm.jpg)http://img307.imageshack.us/img307/4136/fw24braketempguage7cq.th.jpg (http://img307.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fw24braketempguage7cq.jpg)

The 430 max temp recorded is 154C or 309F while the min temp on the F1 car is 160C or 320F and goes up to 199C or 390F :shock: :lol:

[dingo]

The mechanic also mentioned that the 430 GT2 make less power than the standard car because of air intake restricters.



Yep, it uses two 28 mm restrictors but I also believe its only a 4.0L engine instead of 4.3L as in the Challenge and roadcar.

Although it only weights 1100kg so still fast enough....

[DeMoN]

never really liked the shape of the f50...

[sameerrao]

never really liked the shape of the f50...

I wasn't a huge fan of it also from a purely looks standpoint. But if you see the honesty of the car - simple interior, technology distilled from the F1 car, etc it becomes more and more impressive. It is a true driver's car like the F40.

Personally if I had the money to buy Ferrari hypercars, I would choose an F40 and 288GTO. All for the same price as one well-sorted F50.

[DeMoN]

^ As would I. F50 may be a great performing car, but I dont see the ferrari lines to it. Looks like a kit ferrari.

[RC45]

Did you get to go on the drive afterall?

[sameerrao]

Yep ... I will post a topic on it maybe later tonight ... I need to finish up some chores first and upload the pics ...

[chest3r]

Awesome car, that F430 GT2 :shock:

Usually I don't like grey cars much , but that F430 looks pretty cool, don't know why :D

OMG!! This blonde girl :love: :love: :drool: :drool:

http://serv2.imagehigh.com/files/ih000001/32108_DSC_0668.th.jpg

[sameerrao]

She looks a bit like Paris Hilton doesn't she?

[RAMMIUS]

:love:

Great pics sameerrao , thx

The F430 GT2 it`s absolutely gorgeous , beside the fact that already it`s winning races :mrgreen:

Black F50 looks very nice too :D

Oh yeah very good looking ladies too, especially the blondie :P