Frankly Frankl - Ferrari Mondiali 2016 Daytona Beach, FL - New Audio Book - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Andrew has so kindly asked me to do a guest blog on my recent experience at the Ferrari Mondiali 2016 event down at Daytona Beach, FL held December 1^st through the 4^th. This was the first time the event was held in the United States and it was an event Belinda and I felt we shouldn’t miss. I must say it was worth every minute we were there.

The Ferrari Mondiali is put on every year by Ferrari at the close of the F1 season and hosts the Ferrari Challenge Race finals worldwide.  They bring the XX program cars, the FXX, the 599XX and the spectacular FXXK cars. Also, there were 14 Ferrari Formula 1 cars dating back to Nigel Mansel’s car and multiple Schumacher cars. There was a Concours event, an honors banquet, a Ferrari world record attempt, and the Sunday demonstration by the Ferrari F1 pilots Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Plus, the experience of the Daytona Speedway.

The challenge racing schedule included 10 races throughout the four days, including the final rounds of the three series and the two races for World Champion. Titles were awarded at the World Finals to Carlos Kauffmann, of team Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale in the Pirelli Trophy, Sam Smeeth (Stratstone Ferrari) in the Pirelli Pro Trophy and Thomas Loefflad in the Shell Cup (StileF Squadra Corse). Ferrari of San Francisco was there and were very competitive on track.

On Friday, we got to see the XX program and F1 Clienti run on the Daytona track. This was absolutely thrilling to see so many of the single-seaters that sound like Formula 1 cars should sound, as well as the powerful FXX K machines, boasting more than 1,000 horsepower and hybrid technology derived from Formula 1. This was the first-time modern Ferrari F1 race cars lapped Daytona Speedway. The Drivers were initially cautious, but they became quite comfortable with the high-speed curves and 31-degree banks. The best part was hearing the Formula 1 engines being pushed to the limit filling the speedway as the single-seaters raced along one of the international temples of automobile racing. You could hear these beautiful cars anywhere on the circuit and it made you stop and enjoy the moment.

One very special event that took place was 50 club members got to experience this fun track. It was quite an experience to run on the track at speed and the feeling is indescribable going in to that 31-degree banking for the first time. But after several laps you feel more and more comfortable and it is an experience of a life time. The FCA International Meet is at Daytona in April next year and you will have the chance to experience that wonderful banking. 

Saturday was more racing and more F1, XX and 333 cars. Much of the late afternoon and early evening at Daytona involved an attempt to set a Guinness world record for the most Ferraris in a parade lap. They needed 965 cars, which would be one more than the record set at Silverstone in 2012 during Ferrari Racing Days. Hundreds of Ferraris assembled in the infield then emerged on the track through a back gate. The whole process took more than two hours as Ferrari officials lined the field up two-by-two on the 3.56-mile road course. Ferrari used the Speedway's private FM radio signal (107.9) to communicate with those in the parade.

The bulk of the Ferraris were street models. Several Ferrari Challenge cars, which are street legal, joined in for the final count. There was a long delay, apparently awaiting the arrival of the Guinness guy, and then the mass of Ferraris, side by side, began the first of the required two laps, at a speed of 4 mph. Through the generosity of a dear friend, Belinda got to experience this parade in a new Ferrari TDF, she said 4 mph was just fine for her and she got to see first-hand the steepness of the Daytona banking.

This slow speed caused more than one, as in maybe two or three dozen, Ferraris to pull out of line due to overheating, battery issues or clutch problems.  At least nobody ran into anybody else. Unfortunately they fell short of the record by 155 cars but this was the most Ferraris on track in North America and it was a fun experience to see that many Ferraris on track. At the start finish line were all the Ferrari executives and Sergio Marchione was waving at the cars and he WASN’T wearing a sweater!

After the parade a celebration dinner was held honoring the Challenge winners, Concours winners and featured the Scuderia Formula One drivers and many of the Ferrari Executive Management. It was fun to talk with Enrico Galliera (Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer), Flavio Manzoni (Head of Design), Edwin Fenech (President and CEO of Ferrari NA) and Vettel.  Ferrari introduced their new 488 challenge car and then they auctioned off the last LaFerrari to be built. he car was sold for the record amount of 7 million USD that will be used for a reconstruction project in central Italy struck by the earthquake. Also, two driving suits from the Ferrari F1 pilots were auctioned off for the cause.

Ferrari also staged the inaugural Ferrari Classiche Concours during the Finali Mondiali over the weekend. There were 73 of cars entered into the Classiche Concours, the standards were high under IAC/PFA guidelines, with many rare and special cars on display. The ‘Ferrari Classiche Enzo Ferrari’ award for the overall Best in Show went to long-time Ferrari collectors, Brian and Kimberley Ross for their 166 MM Touring Barchetta of 1947, chassis 006, while a 330 P4 Drogo Spider won the award for ‘Most Historically Significant Ferrari’.

The award for the ‘Most Elegant Classiche Certified Ferrari’ went to a 1957 250 GT Cabriolet Pinin Farina Spider Series 1, while the award for ‘Best of Show Ferrari Classiche Preservation Award’ went to a 1972 365 GTB/4 Daytona. Two different Ferrari 400 Superamericas each won an award — a 1961 Pinin Farina Cabriolet won the ‘Best of Show Ferrari Classiche Road Ferrari’ and a Pinin Farina Aerodinamico only

On Sunday Ferrari drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, ended the four-day event with a spectacular exhibition at the legendary circuit. The morning started with a short press conference which gave us the chance to be up close again with these exceptional drivers.

The Sunday demonstrations started with a tribute to Ferrari’s other achievement at Daytona in 1998 when the F333 SP was the first to cross the finish line. Seven of these cars paraded on the track to the excitement of the fans who saw them win so many races in the mid-nineties.

Raikkonen and Vettel provided a show behind the wheel of the two Ferrari F60 Formula 1 machines, demonstrating runs around the track, lightning fast pit stops along with the Scuderia mechanics and of course the traditional burnouts. Before returning to pit lane, the two-drove side-by-side over the finish line in a tribute to the famous parade finish of the three Ferraris at the 24 hours of Daytona in 1967.

In closing all I can say is what a weekend to spend with Ferrari, WOW, WOW, WOW!

Frankly Frankl - Los Angeles Auto Show - New Audio Book - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Apologies for the long absence but commitments to FORZA, hours and hours spent in a recording studio to finish the CD of my book, lectures, road tests –it has been crazy. Hopefully things will settle down a little bit.

Before moving on to the LA Show I have to mention the Verstappen craze sweeping F1 enthusiasts all over the World. He was mentioned on just about all the stands as most people steered clear of politics and talked shop. Or Max. There is a growing campaign , not just in Holland by enthusiasts everywhere to reinstate Zandvoort and maybe  other great circuits such as Watkins Glen.

With F1’s new American owners we are all guessing but if they were to go where the true enthusiasts are instead of just chasing the funny money we-including Liberty -would all be better off.

I had an unforgettable lunch at a restaurant near the Show with British colleagues. The Editor in Chief of Top Gear magazine, the Editor of Ferrari’s own very lavish magazine produced in house at Maranello and Ken McConomy, an old friend from Jaguar UK. Absolutely loved it. Jaguar of course were one of the stars of the show with the Jaguar XKSS at the Petersen museum and the stunning I-Pace on the stand. Should be on sale within a couple of years. Astonishing how well they are doing having been saved by Tata Automobiles of India. Thank you Mr Ratan.

Talking of  foreign ownership it was interesting to spend some time on the Volvo stand. Not many people know that they are owned by a Chinese company-Geely. Some of the cars are made there. I’ve had a Volvo S70 for over 12 years in the UK, never missed a beat. It did of course come from Gothenburg in Sweden. I was wondering about the build quality of the Chinese made Volvos but was assured that it was impossible to see any difference at all.

The new V90 cross country certainly looked stunning. As did the young lady on the Maserati stand. The cars looked good too!

As did the new Huracan Spider which was launched at a villa near the polo fields not far from LA. It was wonderful to see old friend Stefano Domenicali unveil it. He has been a friend for some 20 years and we were all sad to see him leave Ferrari. Still, getting a job just down the road at Lamborghini as CEO cannot be too bad a gig! He is trying to move Lambo away from its medallion image and if anyone can do it’s Stefano.

It broke my heart that Ford- who gave me my very first job  all those years ago- had a parking lot instead of a show.

 Lots of tired looking little cars in truly sad colors. No way to shift the metal. Thank God for the trucks.

It was fascinating to see a fiber-carbon chassis made by Divergent which uses 3-D printing in  automobile construction. They work with Peugeot in France, I found it very exciting indeed although it will take a while before it goes into production.

It will also a while for VR-or virtual reality to reach the auto industry I hope. I’ve had a chance to try it on the VW stand and left feeling very dizzy indeed. Talking of VW many people thought that they would go bust over the diesel gate scandal but I don’t think they will. Before you say so what, who cares, let me give you some details. They have factories literally all over the World employing hundreds of thousands of people.  Yes, they are just letting 30 thousand of them go-some Christmas present..but they carrying on and therefore Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini will continue to make cars.

As for Ferrari-and I am writing this before the last race of the season- hoping  for one of the boys to   finish on the podium. It was Her Majesty the Queen who in 1992 described her year as Annus Horribilis. This I am afraid is what the Scuderia had in 2016. I hope and pray for a better season in 2017, as do all long-suffering fans of is great marque.

Frankly Frankl - New Audio Book - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Belated Happy 2016 to everyone kind enough to read my blog. 

Apologies for the long absence, it was due to spending literally weeks recording my four hour tape- Frankly FRANKL -life,love, luck and automobiles.

Many of you were kind enough to buy the book which is now out of print.

I am told that the audiobook is good listening, particularly the foreword by a Scottish gentleman pretending to be Jackie Stewart. ( we did of course ask JYS's permission in advance.) Others liked the chapter on my hero Ayrton and of course on Michael. I am afraid we will never see him again or let me put it another way the way he is right now many of us would not want to see him, it is a desperate situation. All credit to his wife and children for doing everything they can. For those of you who would like to see him celebrated by a British crowd I would suggest hitting the YouTube button and tapping in M.S. On Top Gear. The wonderful thing about the Brits is that even though for many years Michael was the arch enemy they cheered him to the rafters.

I still have an old Marlboro World Team big which reminds me of him and the good times we had together.

As for the 2016 season I am not going to make any predictions, there are too many unknowns. I do know that I would like to see Bernie take a bow. Too many circuits have been ripped off, too many spectators have been ripped off by a show which-most of the time-is definitely not worth 500 dollars a seat. Young people have so many alternatives the old, tired formula is just that. Old and tired. I would of course love to be wrong, especially if Seb can blow Lewis and yawn a minute Rosberg into the boondocks.

As far as the audiobook is concerned it is available free from audiobooks.com
or from Amazon on Kindle, Audible or as a 4 disc CD.Hope you will enjoy listening to it as much as I loved recording it.

Andrew FRANKLJanuary 2016

Frankly Frankl - Monaco and Italy Trip - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

My apologies for a long absence but things have been rather chaotic of late.  First it was Virgin Atlantic to London, a quick change on the Easyjet, Europe's SouthWest equivalent and into the mad world of Monaco. During the race weekend it is mayhem but as I have been going there for 48 years it is hard to give up, contagious I suppose. The organization is better than ever, the press facilities have vastly improved, it was pretty grim 20 or 30 years ago.




On the Wednesday I had a wonderful conversation with 1966 World Champion Damon Hill. I told the story of how I saved his Father's trophy from some horrible person who tried to snatch it away from hit wife, Bette.  Graham had left for the Hotel de Paris. Damon like the story so much he asked me to phone his Mum to remind her.  Having lost Graham all those years ago and not being in Monaco she wasn't in the best of spirits until we cheered her up with the call.

Thursday was of course practice and the Hamilton-Rosberg saga continued unabated. Friday night is party night in Monaco with the MyYacht group's bash leading the way. You can do many things in Monaco just don't expect to sleep more than 3 hours a night, the music does not stop until 5 in the morning.  If you are rich but unlucky you will have cars going round outside your expensive hotel's window for 12 hours solid. Luckily I stay at the other end of town.



Saturday is of course qualifying. I won't bore you with the details as you all know them. But I enclose a photo of the only thing money cannot buy in Monaco-an invitation tho the Prince's reception in the Palace.  The food of course is excellent as are the drinks but the best bit was watching the European Cup final with Prince Albert and his friends. Except for my soothsaying abilities predicting that his wife Charlene was pregnant! Wonderful news for all concerned.

Sunday's race once more is history, but it was nice to see new Australian hero Dan Ricciado chase Hamilton, a foretaste of what was to come a fortnight later in Canada.

But on Monday morning we were off bright and early in Maserati's much admired Quattroporte.  The company is doing well and it is easy to understand why. Solid as opposed to in your face luxury which the cognoscenti appreciate.



More Maserati fun was to follow.  We invited PR Director and old friend Luca del Monte to lunch together with former PR Director of Ferrari, the much loved Antonia Ghini.  Well, it turned out to be something very special and unforgettable indeed. Fernando Alonso was a couple of tables away but because Luca and Antonio are so popular we had a steady stream of the Ferrari hierarchy joining us to say hello.  There was Johnathan Giacobazzi whose name will be familiar to fans of the great Gilles Villeneuve.  His company were one of his major sponsors, then Matteo Torre also joined us, he is the head of sales and after sales.  Slight confusion - his name is identical to that of our good friend the other Matteo in the press department. They keep getting each other's phone calls.



But on to the reason for the trip-to-drive the Speciale.  I won't reveal too much about it, you will have to read Forza (about to go to press) but the encounter with the police was very exciting indeed!.  The short answer to your question is: an amazing automobile which I, personally would only use on the track. Yes, you can commute in it but the question is why?


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Frankly Frankl - Drama at Monaco - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

Well, well, well...  what dramas we are having in Monaco, As you may have seen on television there are accusations from Lewis Hamilton that his fastest lap was deliberately sabotaged by team mate Nico Rosberg.  Tut tut.

Great for TV, great for F1, we haven't had such aggro since the halcyon days of Senna and Prost. Love it!

Briefly, with just a minute to go in final qualifying Rosberg "accidentally" locked up and went off the track at the only place where you could do that without doing any damage to the car.  Still, out came the yellow flags, everyone lifted off in case there was a crash and the outcome: Hamilton's lap was compromised and he is livid.  I will deal with it the way Senna did he muttered ominously.  As for the rest, well, Red Bull are doing better with Ricciardo in third and Vettel in 4th and our boys are not far behind with Alonso's lap in a not particularly good Ferrari. don't miss the start whatever you do.

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Frankly Frankl - More from Monaco - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

You never quite know who you will bump into in the middle of the Monaco Grand Prix. As I've mentioned the other evening it was Keke Rosberg with his wife and Jonathan Palmer, another former racing driver, introduced me to his son Jolyon.  Look out for the yellow car in the GP2 race, he is the favorite.  Sure enough this morning he ran away to a comfortable victory.

There were three yellow flags and some great accidents.  Let me be clear.  I am taking about the cars getting damaged and the drivers walking away. This being Monaco some of the tangles were slow and spectacular.  The injuries were to the egos and the carbon fibre.  Jolyon is tipped for a Formula One seat next year, on the evidence I've seen it makes sense. The rest of Friday is spent at various parties and receptions.  All the sponsors are here from all over the world, this is one race wives are happy to attend as the glamour and the shopping opportunities are second to none.  McLaren are having a bit of a tough time at the moment, not quick on the circuit and not quick in the sponsorship stakes.  For years they've had major names such as Vodafone, no more.  To add insult to injury this year their amazing huge motorhome which is like an entertainment center has been relegated.  Ever since I can remember it was always Bernie's control complex first, McLaren second, Ferrari third and so on.

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Frankly Frankl - Live from Monaco - Frankly Frankl-life, luck, love and automobiles

There is something very unfair about practice sessions in Formula One.  Here we are Thursday afternoon with tens of thousands of people in the grand stands and there isn’t one car on the track for 40 minutes. The reason – the track was a little bit wet.  Now I can understand that the teams don’t wish to risk their precious race cars unnecessarily but what about the paying public?  If you go to the circus and nothing happens for 40 minutes you demand your money back.  Here you just sit and wait.  Pathetic.  Finally team Toro Rosso decided to brave the elements, with 45 minutes to go we were still waiting for the rest. This is the first time this year that I’ve been able to hear the engines first hand and I am afraid they do sound absolutely awful. Lawn mowers make a better sound!  Still, I can only report on what is happening and not on what I would like to happen.  50 minutes into the afternoon session there are now five cars going around which seems logical to me because the race might be held under wet conditions and then this would be useful to the drivers and the mechanics.

Last night was a lot more interesting, had dinner at a place called Pulcinella. Interesting crowd, Keke Rosberg was at the next table with his wife, cool as a cucumber. Two tables from him sat Herbie Blash, someone you would all know – he is the grey haired gentlemen who ushers the drivers from their cars to the weighing machine. 

Stay tuned for more.

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