Meet Ferrari’s Factory Test Driver, Raffaele De Simone
$FCAU
Raffaele De Simone, 35 anni, puts the thrill of the race
into every new Ferrari road car.
A former race car driver with a degree in mechanical
engineering, Mr. De Simone became Ferrari’s head test driver 2 yrs ago. He is
responsible for ensuring that the handling, gadgets, gear, and sound of
each new model meet expectations.
Mr. De Simone spends his days driving at speed around the
Ferrari test track near the company’s factory in Maranello, Italy, perfecting
the features; from the steering to the technology adopted from Formula 1 cars
that generate the sensation of power and finesse in equal measure.
After spending a few hours behind the wheel, Mr. De Simone
tells a team of engineers if he wants more noise at the higher rpms, a smoother
downshift or more down force when coming off a corner.
“It’s not a Ferrari just because it’s Red, low to the
ground, has lots of technology and goes very fast,” says Mr. De Simone. “There
must be the human touch that brings out emotion in the driver.”
He also works to ensure that each model has the distinctive
sound of a Ferrari engine, music to the ears of Ferrari lovers. The team will
tweek the engine and exhaust pipes to satisfy his demands.
Mr. De Simone developed a passion for fast cars as a
teenager and once dreamed of breaking into the top tier of racing.
Dario Benuzzi, who tested Ferraris from the late 1960s until
a few years ago, handpicked and then mentored young Mr. De Simone beginning in
Y 2003, after watching him compete. Now, Mr. De Simone admits, it is hard to
imagine any other job I would rather do.
For Ferrari’s clienti, there’s a way—expensive though it
is—to get tantalizingly close to experiencing what De Simone gets to do on a
daily basis.
Good customers and buyers of Special Edition SuperCars with
price tags exceeding $1-M are often offered a drive around Ferrari’s track,
with a test driver giving pointers from the passenger seat for a few laps. Then
it is back in the driver’s seat for him.
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