Ferrari Challenge Season Opener at Miami's Homestead Speedway

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The North American Ferrari Challenge Series 2010 season opener will take place on March 12-14 at Miami's Homestead Speedway.

Now in its 17th racing season in the U.S., the Ferrari Challenge Series (utilizing race-prepared F430 Challenge vehicles) offers Ferrari owners the opportunity to compete against other Ferrari owners in a highly competitive racing series at world-class venues throughout the U.S. and Canada, and is regarded as the longest-running series of its type in North America.

The weekend of races and festivities will also see the world track debut of the 599XX cars on a track.

Aimed at owners that want to experience Prancing Horse driving pleasure at its purest, and conceived exclusively for track but not official competition use (thus unrestricted either by homologation limitations or regulatory restrictions) this extreme sports car incorporates the very best of Ferrari technology, the fruit both of our Research and Development Department's labors and our long experience and experimentation in F1.

The plethora of aerodynamic, electronic control and handling innovations used together for the first time on a single car make this model a genuine technological laboratory. The solutions adopted for the 599XX -- many of which will remain exclusive to it -- enhance its levels of performance and can be summed up in one highly relevant statistic: a Fiorano lap time of just 1 minute and 17 seconds.

Although it is such an extreme car, the 599XX still retains the ergonomics of the road-going model which are essential for non-professional drivers engaging in intensive track driving.

Marco Mattiacci, Ferrari North America CEO, commented on this debut: "The 599XX programme and FXX programme are the ultimate experience in term of utmost integration between a high end manufacturer as Ferrari and his customer base. Such kind of projects and activities set our brand above the competition for its uniqueness and  exclusivity. making F1 technology available to our loyal Ferraristi."

The Challenge season will then continue to the Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah (April 9-11), Infineon Raceway in California (May 1-2), Montreal (June 11-13), New Jersey Motorsports Park (July 31- Aug 1), Watkins Glen, NY (Sept 3-5).

General public can enjoy the races, the paddock areas and the overall Ferrari-festival type of atmosphere. 

The Ferrari Challenge Series is organized by Ferrari North America, Inc., and sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association.  Complete Challenge information can be found on www.ferrarichallenge.com.  Tickets for the Homestead Speedway Ferrari Challenge weekend can be purchased directly at the track.

 Ferrari North America, Inc. is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and is the exclusive North, Central and South American importer of Ferrari vehicles including the 599 GTB Fiorano, 458 Italia, California Gran Tourer and 612 Scaglietti (luxury performance 2+2). For more information please visit www.ferrariusa.com . 

SOURCE Ferrari North America, Inc.