TOOELE, Utah - As the most successful driver in Ferrari Challenge Series history, Scott Tucker clearly feels at home on the track and behind the wheel of a Maranello supercar. That on-track prowess caught the attention of the legendary factory as he was invited to be part of an elite team testing the newest Ferrari prototype supercar, the 599XX.
Tucker was one of a handful of drivers selected to assist Ferrari SpA. in the development of its next generation of supercars and road cars. He was personally invited to be a factory test pilot by Ferrari's CEO, Amedeo Felisa, in January - an honor not lost on the U.S. driver.
"It was a tremendous privilege to be asked to test these cars for Ferrari," said Tucker. "To be part of its development -- from the beginning -- is a great thrill."
Tucker got his opportunity to get behind the wheel at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March. During that session, Tucker was able to put the car though some simulated race conditions to find out how it responds to extreme driving.
"The car is fast and very well-balanced," said Tucker. "I put it through 10 laps of race simulation to really shake it down."
That feedback was provided to factory engineers who immediately went to work on continuing the complex process of developing the car for release. In the weeks that followed, the work moved at a furious pace, and the results were evident this past weekend as Tucker once again was on track - this time at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park - putting the car through its paces.
"At Homestead, we really focused on speed," Tucker said. "At Miller, we spent a great deal of time on the brakes. The track is a very technical 14-turn layout so we were able to get a great deal of data on braking and stability. We're making great progress with the car."
With more than five hours of testing over four days, Tucker has recorded the fastest laps of any driver in the exclusive test-driver corps. But, the work does not end here. Tucker will once again take to the track for Ferrari in July in Germany at the famed Nurburgring Circuit.
"They will take the results from the North American test sessions back to Italy and work on the cars," Tucker said. "We'll resume in Germany and take yet another crucial step in the development of this great car."
Tucker will also resume racing as the Ferrari Challenge Series heads to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., May 1-2.
ABOUT BOARDWALK
Boardwalk Ferrari, Located in Plano, Tex., is one of the nation's leading Ferrari and Maserati dealerships. The company has extensive involvement in motorsports including relationships in the American Le Mans Series and their extremely successful sponsorship of Level Five Motorsports Ferrari Challenge entry.
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