THROWBACK THURSDAY. The first teaser has dropped for new Top Gear, and that naturally got us trawling the interwebs for our favourite episodes, that moment Clarkson had a pie pushed in his face, and new presenter Chris Harris‘ previous videos. One in particular left our man thinking about a VERY special afternoon he spent at Fiorano with LaFerrari
[Not a valid template]This is the most powerful car to leave the Ferrari factory including its current Formula 1 racers. Even without the 161bhp boost from the electric motor, LaFerrari’s 789bhp has more punch than the last V12 the Scuderia used in F1 back in 1995. Behind the fortified gates of the Fiorano test track, there it was resting in pitlane, waiting to be let loose. Its door open, its key inside.
As soon as I buckled in and exited pitlane, black clouds descended and emptied a week’s worth of rain in one sudden downpour half way through my out lap. With just under 1000bhp and no all-wheel drive safety net, I now added a wet and very slippery track to the equation. I could feel its active aero working with veins under the floor directing air towards the back and over continually moving rear wings and diffuser flaps. The aero gives 360kg of downforce at 200kph when cornering but it was still spinning up at 240kmh and snapping sideways from 4th to 5th in the rain.
And just like that I was signalled to box without getting to open it up in the dry. My taxi back to the airport approached. What could have been? The life of a motoring journalist is indeed bittersweet.
Source – Chris Harris on Cars
