Posted on 12/10/2003 2:30:39 PM PST by stainlessbanner
rosseto - Seemingly unbeatable in Formula One, six-times World Champion Michael Schumacher will on Thursday test his speeding skills against a supersonic jet fighter at an Italian military airbase.
Schumacher, at the wheel of his Ferrari F2003-GA, will take on the brand new Eurofighter Typhoon hunter-bomber in two straight-line speed contests down the runway of the Grosseto base, in central Italy.
In theory, there should be no contest. The F2003-GA can reach a maximum speed of up to 400km/h while the Eurofighter can speed at almost 2 450km/h, aviation officials say.
But the duel has been designed to provide maximum equilibrium between the two contestants, meaning the outcome of the contest will be hard to call.
The first race, which will take place over a 500-metre course, is likely to favour Ferrari's superior acceleration. The second, over a 1 500-metre track, should provide an advantage to the Eurofighter.
"We have organised things so that the race may be as balanced as possible, with one race that should, in theory, favour the aircraft and the other favouring the Ferrari," said Italian Air Force General Sandro Ferracuti.
"In any case, both machines tend to enhance the individual skills of their pilots," Ferracuti said.
Italian astronaut and test pilot Maurizio Cheli will pilot the Eurofighter, which was born out of a collaboration between Italy, Germany, Britain and Spain.
A similar contest took place in 1981, when Canada's Gilles Villeneuve and his Ferrari 126 CK turbo beat a F-104 jet fighter over a one-kilometre race at Istrana airport, in northern Italy.
Fifty years earlier, in 1931, however, Italian motor racing legend Tazio Nuvolari and his Alfa Romeo 2300 had to concede defeat against a biplane.
That same duel will be replicated on Thursday. But this time, it will be Schumacher at the wheel. - Sapa-DPA
GROSSETO, Italy -- In a race between a Ferrari and a fighter jet, score one out of three for Michael Schumacher.
Formula One champion's Ferrari F2003-GA was a nose faster than pilot Maurizio Cheli's Eurofighter Typhoon in the first race of 600 meters. The plane then easily won at 1,200 and 900 meters in the drag race at a military airport.
"It was an interesting experience," Schumacher said, adding there was a lot less pressure than facing Formula One rival Juan Pablo Montoya.
Cheli did not gloat over winning the last two races.
"Everyone is a prince or king in their own environment," the pilot said.
Tuscany's Baccarini airport featured vintage cars and planes and a military band to entertain thousands of spectators. Six fighter jets flew in close formation and the event was shown live on Italian state TV.
Cheli's jet and the Ferrari lined up on parallel runways and went full throttle when the green signal came, mixing the deep sound of a jet turbine with a high-pitched Formula One engine. After covering the required distance, the jet went airborne and then landed following each race.
Schumacher won the first race in 9.4 seconds, with the jet 0.2 seconds behind. The jet won at 1,200 meters in 14.2 seconds, with the Ferrari 2.5 seconds back. In the final race of 900 meters, the jet finished in 13.0 seconds, with the Ferrari 0.2 seconds behind.
The Eurofighter's top speed when airborne is listed at 1,521 mph; the Ferrari's limit is 229 mph.
Thursday's event was organized by the Italian defense department and hailed as a demonstration of Italian industry.
Now that would be entertaining...
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