One of ProFormance’s own recently competed in a renowned global Ferrari racing series. He came back with some gold—and a pretty interesting tale to tell.
If you follow the world of Ferrari racing, you’ll have noticed Massimo Perrina, who recently won the Ferrari Challenge North America in Mugello, Italy, and went on to compete brilliantly in the World Final. You might not realize that this now-international racing notable is a Seattle native, as well as an instructor at ProFormance Racing School.
Along with his trophy, Massimo brings back some good stories from Italy. “Before Mugello, I’d never experienced any tracks outside of the USA,” he says. “It was a totally new rule set, a totally new challenge, with a lot of new drivers.”
Beginning with a bang
Massimo competed in three races during the weekend in Mugello. First was the Ferrari Challenge North America Race 1, which Massimo won, and then Race 2, in which he placed third. The win plus the podium finish earned him the NA Championship.
After that the winners from all the worldwide races came together for the Finale Mondiale: all the global competitors in one paddock, facing off on one track.
Qualifying: the challenges mount up
The Finale Mondiale was perfect test case for Murphy’s Law, thanks to the weather, which was fine up until the start of qualifying. Massimo: “Our qualifying session got pushed to evening – we ended up qualifying in the dark. We were sitting on the grid, waiting to begin our laps, when it started to rain. So we strapped on rain tires. And just when we got the green, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. We were on a rapidly drying track, with rain tires!”
Any track driver knows that rain tires will overheat and lose grip on dry ground, not the best circumstances for qualifying. “The tire pressure keeps going up and up, making driving more difficult.”
The drivers tried to stay where it was wettest, but as the track dried from the outside in, the line that they had to run kept shrinking inward. “There were a million different factors changing at once—you have to be so adaptable!
“Everyone was aquaplaning, and you couldn’t see anything on the straightaway—which isn’t that straight anyway; it has a kind of kink to it. It was frightening, but as a driver, so exhilarating!”
A Seattleite, Massimo welcomes the rain on the track. “It’s the great equalizer. With the caliber of drivers in Europe, the rain worked in my favor, because I honestly prefer it.”
Massimo ended up in Position 13 in the Finale Mondiale. “One setback we had: we mistimed the bleeding down of our tires, so on our final qualifying lap, we weren’t in our optimum tire pressure range. Otherwise we might have qualified for pole position.”
Race day setbacks
Murphy’s Law held sway the next day as well. Race day began with a clear sky and no rain forecast. “But as we were doing our recon laps before the race the heavens opened,” says Massimo. “Everyone was in a mad scramble to throw on rain tires.”
The field did their formation laps in the downpour, and officials decided to raise the red flag. “It was insane. We’re sitting in the pit lane for 30 or 40 minutes, waiting out the rain.”
Eventually the green flag came out, and slowly but surely Massimo began finding grip on the asphalt and picking up some positions. But instead of the 30 minutes he should have had to work his way to the front of the pack, he had only 10 or 11 minutes of green-flag running. In that short time he made it from 13th to sixth. “Not a lot of time, but some of the most fun and heads-up racing I’ve had.
“I like to think that being from Seattle helps with rain driving. We do a rain dance every chance we get, because we can’t wait to drive these cars in the wet. Under the Ferrari of Seattle tent, as drivers, as a team, I firmly believe we understand how to get the most efficiency out of the car in slippery conditions. The data shows that in the rain, Seattle drivers perform quite well—including me.”
A team effort
Massimo is happy to share credit with Ferrari of Seattle, whom he says did a fantastic job. “The technicians, the engineers, they all hit it out of the park. They’re magicians!”
Along with the team effort comes the car itself, the Ferrari 296 Challenge car, which is closer to a street machine than a GT3 car, Massimo says, despite 700-odd horsepower. “The jump from the previous generation is unbelievable. It’s far and away one of the most incredible race cars I’ve ever driven.”
Past idols, future plans
Every young driver has someone they aspire to emulate. For Massimo it’s the legendary Michael Schumacher. “He has just the right amount of aggression. He doesn’t say ‘I’m going to drive this way because I can.’ He’s a team man. He’s also a winner. And a Ferrari hero. I’m a big Ferrari guy.”
Massimo has been around Ferraris his entire life, since his family is associated with Ferrari of Seattle. “My dad said, ‘Want to drive it?’ What kid doesn’t?” Eventually that led to what he terms “a little bit of racing.’
What’s in the cards for Massimo? “Who knows?” he says, but he’s talking with some teams and working on sponsorships for racing next year. Nothing definite yet, but watch this space. Sponsorship, like the weather, offers no certainties. “That’s part of the challenge, part of the fun. It’s unpredictable, and that makes it exciting.”
