Introduction
Marking the company's 30th anniversary, Uwe Meisner's Modena Motorsports hosted the 2015 edition of its well known 'Trackdays' at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The German Ferrari expert traditionally invites its customers and other interested parties to take to the track during the two-day, biennial event. The Trackdays offers owners and spectators to enjoy vehicles that are too expensive or precious to run in proper races. The track is also opened to more modern material, like contemporary Ferrari road and racing cars. Represented by its German distributor, Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg was also out in force, while longtime friend of Modena Motorsports Jackie Ickx offered rides around the track in the all-new Porsche 911 GT3 RS. As is tradition, Modena Motorsports also reserved track-time for single seaters, which this year included a pair of Gilles Villeneuve era Ferraris. The event was concluded with a brief concours d'elegance on the start-finish straight with the class and outright winners.
Our photographers attended the Modena Trackdays for the first time since 2009 and have returned with this
150-shot gallery.
Formula 1 and more
At past editions, Modena Motorsports partnered with Ferrari Corse Clienti to stage sessions for recent F1 cars but these were missing in 2015. This was made up to some extent by two Ferraris brought and driven by Uwe Meisner himself. The earliest of these was the seventh and final 126 C2 produced for the 1982 season. This was undoubtedly the fastest car of that year, underlined by the Concstructors' Championship for Ferrari, but it will forever be associated with the fatal crash of Gilles Villeneuve and the career ending accident of Didier Pironi a few races later. We understand that the 126 C2 brought by Meisner is the only surviving example and that this was the last time it would be seen as it is reportedly sold to the Far East. The other Ferrari F1 car driven by Meisner was an F399 as used by Michael Schumacher during the 1999 season. A third Ferrari, again from the Villeneuve era, was also run on day two. Brought by the Swiss Turning Wheel Collection, this World Championship winning 312 T4 was driven by Patrick Stieger. Among the non-Ferrari single seaters on track was a rare Fittipaldi F8C and a more recent Dallara as used in the World Series by Renault.
Classic Cars
The remaining three groups out on track included one reserved for classic road and racing cars (pre-1984). As a result, we were treated to the sights of a Maserati 300S sharing the tarmac with a Ferrari 308 GTS. Among the other Maseratis out on track were a mid-engined Tipo 63 Birdcage and one of just two 'Piccolo' 250Fs. A close relation and a very rare sight was a freshly restored OSCA 2000S, powered by a straight-six engine. Among the other non-Ferraris that starred in this group was a very proper DeTomaso Pantera Group 4, a spectacularly driven Isdera Imperator 108i and a roaring AC Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. Needless to say, Ferraris were strongly represented in this group and leading the way was a trio of machines from the Turning Wheel Collection; a 512 M, 312 PB and a 512 BBLM. A further 512 BBLM was also brought by a Dutch collector, who also wheeled out his 308 GT/M. We were also particularly taken by the Ferrari 225 S brought by Mario Linke. Originally ordered by Count Paolo Marzotto, this car was, on his specific request, finished by Vignale without chrome trim or the trademark portholes. It was beautifully presented in a classic, dark red.
Supercars
Many of the spectators will no doubt have ventured to the Spa-Francorchamps track to get a glimpse of the supercars that were also on track at the Modena Trackdays. Considering that they have barely produced over 100 cars, it was impressive to see no fewer than five Koenigseggs at the track. Two were actually driven, including an Agera that was piloted on day 1 by the Swedish manufacturer's official test driver, Adrian Sutil. Among the other high-end machines on track were a Ferrari LaFerrari, and its British rival, the McLaren P1. In addition to the new 911 GT3 RS, Porsche also supplied one of the highly anticipated Cayman GT4s. In an alternate session, the track was opened to contemporary competition cars. These included several generations of Ferrari Challenge machines and also more recent GT2 and GT3 cars. Other manufacturers were represented by a McLaren MP4-12C GT3, Aston Martin DBR9 and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. One of the more unusual cars out was a race-prepared Ferrari F512M.
Final thoughts
As mentioned above, the event was concluded with a concours d'elegance on the start-finish straight. The well deserved 'best of show' winner was the sympathetically restored Ferrari 212 Inter Ghia, brought by Anthony Hertzberger. The car has come full circle as it was delivered new to the current owner's father. Although the line-up of F1 cars was somewhat disappointing, this
150-shot gallery will show that the rest of the fields more than made up for that.