550 Millennio Press Conference

Already five sold

Five of these impressive race cars will be or have already been produced, and all of them are already sold, although the net price without VAT for a 550 Millennio is about 900.000,-DM.

Two teams will enter one or two 550 Millennios in the FIA GT Championship:
�First Racing� have ordered two examples, of which the first one will be campaigned in the series right from the beginning, drivers will be Fabien Giroix and Jean-Dénis Delétraz. The second car will be join later in the season, with pilots still to be announced.

�GTC�, known for their McLaren F1 GTR-entries in 1997, will return to the series in 2000. They will start the season in a Porsche 911 GT2, but their 550 Millennio will be ready for the race at Monza. Drivers are �Pink Floyd� manager Steve O�Rourke and Tim Sugden.

Hopefully, one will see at least one, maybe several 550 Millennios competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A second series of cars will probably be made for the 2001 season.

Andreas Birner

Ferrari�s return to GT Racing

Since the days of the 365 GTB/4 Daytona Competizione, Ferrari did not have any remarkable or even successful entries in GT racing. Being Ferrari�s first front-engined top-of-the-line model after slightly more than 20 years, the 550 Maranello has often been regarded as some kind of reminiscence to its legendary ancestor, the 365 GTB/4. So, it is no wonder that some enthusiastic �aficionados� of the marque became infected by the idea of entering a 550 Maranello, which is undoubtedly one of the best GT cars on the market, in serious GT racing. The Factory did not pursue this plan � since the abandoned F50 GT project, it had been made clear that Ferrari will concentrate on Formula One and sports car racing exclusively.

The project

A new millennium � a new game: Driven by the same idea, Stéphane Ratel � well-known in motor sport through his involvement in the famous BPR series and his organization of the FIA GT Championship � set out to launch a more successful project involving a 550 Maranello. The Frenchman brought together a group of investors from the UK, Japan and America to provide an adequate financial background to the sporting ambitions of several smaller teams who showed interest in campaigning a Ferrari in the FIA GT Championship. For this purpose, the company �GT Racing Development� was founded, residing in London Mayfair.

Again, Italtecnica was chosen as the right partner to develop a serious GT3 car out of a stock 550 Maranello. Italtecnica is based in Cambiano, southeast of Turin, and they are known for their work with Peugeot and maintaining some Ferrari 333 SPs. Head of the car�s development was Mario Cavagnero.

The car

The converted 550 Maranello has been renamed to �550 Millennio� as a tribute to the �magic� year 2000 in which the project was launched. One of the project�s guidelines was to use only the most advanced materials in the development of this race car, and this became quite obvious when the 550 Millennio had its official roll-out in Paris on February 13, 2000:

The 550 Maranello�s body has been entirely redesigned, sporting a new, very aggressive front skirt with a large air-intake, a giant rear-wing and a rear-diffuser. Skirts, doors and the hood are made of carbon-fiber composite materials, as well as the above mentioned rear-wing. The interior has been reduced to one racing seat, the pilot now being protected by a safety roll-bar.

Thus, last year the French racing team �Red Racing� made a first effort in order to bring Ferrari back to GT motor sport on a private basis: They had one early 550 Maranello (s/n 106404) race-prepared, the job was performed by Italtecnica in Italy. The result was a 550 Maranello with 545 hp @ 7.000 rpm, the weight had been reduced by 390 kg to about 1.300 kg. The car was thought to be entered in the GT3 category of the FIA GT Championship, but timing problems haunted the project, and even the planned entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans had to be canceled since the 550 Maranello was not readied in time. This particular car�s only racing action eventually took place in autumn of 1999 in the French GT Championship.

The 550 Millennio crouches very closely to the ground, featuring an all-new adjustable suspension and thus underlining its aggressiveness. New bearings and high performance springs combined with the stiffened body promise to decrease the body movement on the track remarkably. The car runs on center lock-wheels by O.Z. in the dimensions of 12��x18�� to the front and 13��x18�� to the rear, fitted with impressive Michelin Pilot SX slicks (Dunlop tires might be an option).

The already �quite� powerful V12-engine of the 550 Maranello has been enlarged to a displacement of 6.000 cm3 and now produces 585 hp (stock: 485 hp) @ 6.250 rpm, resulting in a massive torque of 750 Nm @ 4.700 rpm! The restrictor hits at 7.000 rpm. Furthermore, the 550 Millennio now has side exhaust system which leads to a minimized back pressure and a reduced weight. The latter is a mere 1.100 kg, that�s 590 kg less than on the production model! The power is transmitted via a Hewland six-speed sequential gearbox and a discs differential. The clutch has been moved backwards and is now placed right in front of the gearbox to optimize the car�s balance, which is now 51% (front) to 49% (rear). Huge Brembo brakes have been installed in order to keep up with the car�s incredible performance, the discs in the front having a diameter of 380 mm! Adequate cooling should be provided through air-ducts specially designed by the use of a CAD program.