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See more pics of Schuey and the 599 HGTE
"So how do you fancy taking the new 599 HGTE for a few laps of Fiorano?"
That's the sort of phone call you get if you're (a) a seven-time F1 world championship or (b) called Michael Schumacher. Or both.
At Ferrari's behest, Big Schu has just spent an afternoon putting the harder, faster new 599 through its paces at Fiorano. He put in some 20 laps around Ferrari's test circuit and... yes, you want to know how fast he went, don't you?
Irritatingly, Ferrari won't tell us. We know that the 599 HGTE has lapped Fiorano in 1m26.5s - a frankly insane time, over three seconds quicker than the F40, half a second quicker than the F430 or F50 - but Schumi's lap times are being kept firmly under wraps.
Why? Top Gear demands answers. Has Big Schu lost his touch? Has he got - whisper it now - a bit slow? Was there a malfunction in Schumi's computer-like driving brain?
None of this seems plausible. Big Schu doesn't do slow. Or malfunctioning. Surely the reason they're not publishing his times is because he was just... too fast? How about that for a conspiracy theory, eh?
Anyhow. Take a look at the cheesy photos of Big Schu and the HGTE in our gallery - and add your captions below...
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
Want to comment on this?
ManelGabirra commented on this article
at 01:13 pm on 15 June 2009
Yeah right! Schumi going slow!? Let's face it, Schumi going slow is like The Stig without his helmet. So the conclusion is that Schumi killed the lap time at Fioriano.
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Fiat500rules!! commented on this article
at 03:02 pm on 15 June 2009
The Big Schu... going too slow? I highly doubt that! I wouldn't be surprised if it's because he shot that thing around faster than an Enzo! Maybe Ferrari are just too embarrassed that some retired German bloke in a GT car is faster than a mid-engined supercar!
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senseition commented on this article
at 03:46 pm on 15 June 2009
The Guy called himself Fiat500ruless!! may be right. This awesome 599 HGTE machine could be faster than Enzo, so Ferrari doesn't want to compromise it. It's like if Porsche would put an engine from 997 Carrera into production Cayman/Boxster and it woul be as fast as lets say 997 GT3 RS. It's simply against their policy.
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Ben27 commented on this article
at 04:06 pm on 15 June 2009
Bet it's faster than the Enzo, that's why they wont release the times. Schumi must have absolutely flown round
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carguytom commented on this article
at 05:59 pm on 15 June 2009
i agree with ben27.
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