A global Ferrari 'relay race' spanning five continents and some 50 countries got off to a rousing start in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The Ferrari 60 Relay was organised to mark Ferrari's 60th birthday and will involve the participation of over 10,000 Ferrari owners and fans who will be driving a vast array of Ferrari models from the past six decades.
The race began at the future site of the Ferrari theme park in Abu Dhabi and is set to wind up here at Ferrari headquarters on June 24th, after 148 days.
Participants are carrying special batons which have been embossed with symbols of the 60 greatest moments in Ferrari's history, from its first success at the Rome Grand Prix of 1947 to the Ferrari FXX of 2006.
On hand for the sendoff was Piero Ferrari, the company's vice president and son of founder Enzo Ferrari, who in his address recalled his legendary father who he said had "the intuition to create a marque which could symbolise Italian talent and uniqueness".
From Abu Dhabi, the race moves to Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. From the Emirates the race heads east, to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. The next leg will be in South Africa and then on to Latin America, up into Mexico and from there to the United States and Canada. Ferrari Relay 60 will then move to Europe, where it will cross Portugal, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain, Greece, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey. After brief stages in Lebanon and Egypt, the race will finally tour Italy to end in Maranello.
Each country visited during the relay race will dedicate to Ferrari an object representative of its local culture and traditions. These will then be sent to Rome for an exhibition at the foreign ministry, which will be inaugurated when Ferrari 60 Relay visits the capital on June 16.
Once the exhibit is over, the objects will be auctioned off in Maranello, with the proceeds going to a charity organization.
Another initiative to mark Ferrari's 60th anniversary will be the creation of a special model of which only 60 cars will be made, each linked to one of the 60 events which defined the company's history.
These will include historic Grand Prix victories, legendary models like the GTO and F4 and people who helped make Ferrari what it is today.
