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Ferrari F80 Hypercar driven

Ferrari F80 Hypercar driven

News.com.au10-07-2025
Fanging a car with 20 per cent more power than a Formula One racer and a $7 million price tag on a racetrack might sound like billionaire behaviour, or a typical Tuesday for Lewis Hamilton, but for a mere mortal, the prospect of piloting Ferrari's new F80 can produce cavalcades of cold sweat.
The F80 – which can smash through the 100km/h mark in just 2.1 seconds and blast past 200km/h in 5.75, on its way to a top speed of 350km/h – uses a vastly vavoomed version of the 3.0-litre turbo V6 hybrid engine found in the sensational Ferrari 296 GTB, and in the brand's 499P World Endurance race car (it's won the last three 24 Hours of Le Mans events in a row).
In Ferrari's 296, that highly strung V6 makes a whopping 614kW, in the race car it is limited to 500kW, but the F80 raises the bar to the moon, with 883kW – or 1200 horsepower (an F1 driver must make do with just 1000 horses, a mere trifle).
Being strapped into the racing harness of this weapon on wheels it's impossible to miss that my driving coach is not only squeezed in and pushed towards the passenger door, but he's sitting slightly behind me as well. This is the F80's radical 'one-plus-one' seating layout, which puts the (heavily sweating) driver closer to the middle of the action.
Said coach is busily explaining to me that the car has already learned its way around the Misano circuit in Italy we'll be driving and that by engaging the F80's unique 'Boost Optimisation' system, it will give me an extra punch of F1-style electric power where the computers have calculated I need it most (on corner exits, basically).
Pondering, as I am, just how absurd the levels of grunt now tempting my right foot are, it occurs to me that I need more boost like I need to suddenly and violently age by 20 years.
Every logical bone in my brain is telling me that this F80 is going to be too much, that 1200 horsepower is the kind of thing only racing drivers are mad enough to entertain. Three laps later all other cars have been ruined for me and I'm trying to work out how many of my children, and organs, I'll need to sell to raise the $7 million.
The F80's acceleration is beyond belief, rough shoving you into the seat as if God himself has placed a palm on your chest and said 'not so fast, Son', while the braking, from its new carbon ceramic units, provided more g-force facial squishing than I've ever experienced outside of passenger rides in actual race cars (they can stop the F80 from 100km/h in just 28m, or from 200km/h in 98m, very handy on a racetrack).
What sticks in your spinning mind most, however, is just how fast you can hurl it through corners, thanks to the incredible active aerodynamic package fitted to this car (including a DRS-style rear wing much like the one on Hamilton's work Ferrari), which mashes you into the ground with more than a tonne of downforce at 250km/h, which just happens to be the speed you can take the fastest flying corner at Misano (or you can if you have testicles the size of water melons, I managed 200km/h).
Another clever bits of tech that make getting all this power to the ground plausible include the fact that this Ferrari is all-wheel drive, with an electrified motor in each front wheel. Apparently the Ferrari engineers have concluded that once you go past 1000 horsepower, rear-wheel drive alone is not enough.
And not wise.
The next day we were encouraged to try the F80 on real roads in a real world that seems unsuited to so much madness, but I was surprised again to learn that it doesn't ride as brutally as one might expect from a machine that seems to be basically an F1 car with a roof.
The passenger seat is truly awful, but if you're the one paying the $7 million, you'll never be sitting there anyway.
THIRST: 13.5L/100km
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Apprentice Rochelle Milnes stars with four winners to secure Adelaide jockeys' premiership at Morphettville
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  • News.com.au

Apprentice Rochelle Milnes stars with four winners to secure Adelaide jockeys' premiership at Morphettville

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Trainer Chris Waller praises Tommy Berry's tactical mastery as Cigar Flick storms home to victory at Randwick
Trainer Chris Waller praises Tommy Berry's tactical mastery as Cigar Flick storms home to victory at Randwick

News.com.au

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  • News.com.au

Trainer Chris Waller praises Tommy Berry's tactical mastery as Cigar Flick storms home to victory at Randwick

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Sapphire Coast preview, best bets, inside mail for Sunday, July 27, 2025
Sapphire Coast preview, best bets, inside mail for Sunday, July 27, 2025

News.com.au

time4 hours ago

  • News.com.au

Sapphire Coast preview, best bets, inside mail for Sunday, July 27, 2025

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Raced up on speed and kept fight when a neck second to Sundrop who had the sit on her at Barrandera last start. ALOTTOSAY (2) ran three consecutive placings to start her career including a long neck second to Throw One In here before breaking through with a nice win at Nowra on Apr 20. Resumed with a barn storming win from Winnie Fortune at Moruya on July 11. TIMELESS GRACE (5) won well on debut at Wagga but disappointed at Moruya last start. Blinkers go on. â– â– â– â– â– WALK THE PIER (3) had some handy provincial form including a debut second to Correon at Kembla before changing stable and scoring a three length win from London Star at Moruya. Drawn well and can go back-to-back. ZOUWASE (4) was beaten as favourite first-up over 1435m at Moruya then raced-wide without cover over 1400m at Narrandera. Will appreciate the step up to 1600m. Stepped up to 1600m third-up here last campaign and scored a big win from Ideelic. Blinkers back on and can bounce back. PLAYFUL PUZZLE (8) won nicely at Queanbeyan two runs back before getting second on protest at Moruya. Bet: Walk The Pier to win â– â– â– â– â– LONDON STAR (6) sat second chasing Badhatharry and kept fighting to a length second at Wagga. Was bumped at the start and settled near last before running on strongly along the rails to finish second behind Walk The Pier. SABLONNEUSE (11) was a handy third in his Kembla trial and debuted with a fourth to Gooloo Bucky at Moruya. Will take improvement from the run. CLOSETHEDOORDARCY (4) has finished runner-up in three of her last five starts including a nose second to Chebici at Queanbeyan. Her two recent failures have been on heavy tracks. Bet: London Star to win â– â– â– â– â– MISS STALWART (7) ran home strongly to beat Tom Cruising here on June 8 then got a long way back and made up some ground when ninth to Donwon at Moruya. Came from a clear last when fifth to all-the-way winner Pretty Vegas and Tonkatsu Goddess at Goulburn last start. 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