Team manager Mark Dutton and crew chief Kris Goos undertook the special sojourn between the recent Ipswich and Tailem Bend Supercars events.
The invitation came via Triple Eight co-owner Earl Evans and Steve Blackmore, who had bid on a three-day Ferrari experience package at a charity auction.
“Earl and Steve were generous enough to send ‘Gooey’ and myself,” Dutton explained to Speedcafe.
“Of course, we could learn from how the world’s best car company does things, but also you can’t say it was all work. It was super fun and very cool.”
The two Triple Eight loyalists were therefore welcomed onto Ferrari soil at Maranello as part of a small tour group.
“The main part was a tour of the road car factory, which was really cool to see the cars being made,” Dutton detailed.
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“There was also a little tour of some of the F1 departments, but because [the Italian Grand Prix at] Monza was on, most of the team was down at the track when we did that.”
With the Scuderia busy doing battle with Red Bull Racing and the rest of the F1 fraternity just down the road, Dutton and Goos elected not to give away their true identities.
“It was quite funny because there were some people on the tour asking where we worked,” Dutton chuckled.
“You didn’t really want to say where you worked, because you’re from Red Bull, they might misconstrue that you’re the competition, even though quite clearly, we’re not.
“We just said ‘Australia’ and left it at that!”
With the tours out of the way, it was time for the group to get behind the wheel at the marque’s neighbouring test track, Fiorano.
They were thrown the keys to the 296 GTB, which features a 3-litre twin-turbo V6 and hybrid system that combines to pack an 830-horsepower punch.
“We drove Ferraris around their official test track for two days. There were instructors, different groups of people, it was amazing,” enthused Dutton.
“The speeds you’re doing with a lap sash seatbelt and an open-face helmet, braking into Turn 1 at around 240km/h… thankfully they kept a good number of driver aids on. It was good fun.
“And on the Sunday, you pause the driving and the education sessions to watch the start of the grand prix.”
Between track sessions, Dutton – who won five Supercars titles as engineer to Jamie Whincup – was in the unusual position of being sat down with an instructor to analyse his driving data.
Goos, as it turns out, is the hidden talent behind the wheel.
“There was a little gymkhana circuit that they did on the skid pan on the Sunday, which was the only thing they published everyone’s times for,” he said.
“Kris Goos was P1 out of about 30 people, some of which were amateur racers with a lot more experience than him. He flew the Triple Eight flag very well there.”
Once out at the track and away from the F1 factory, there were no more secrets being kept.
“Towards the end we did say where we were from and the instructors were saying they love Supercars, which was very cool,” he said.
And in case we weren’t all jealous enough of the clearly mind-blowing experience, the enthusiastic Dutton adds one more sidenote to the story.
“There’s a restaurant right next to the test track that was said to be Michael Schumacher’s favourite,” said Dutton.
“It was the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life! It’s cool when the little things live up to the reputation.”
Triple Eight sent two delegations overseas in the lead-up to The Bend, with five members of its pit stop crew visiting a NASCAR race and team workshops in the United States.
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