DANVILLE, VA. – VIRginia International Raceway acted as host and playground for a horde of Ferraris as the 2007 Ferrari Rally of Virginia swept onto the track’s scenic South Course for the opening leg of the event for the exotic Italian cars.

With the rally starting Wednesday morning, Sept. 5, at historic Berry Hill Plantation, VIR was the first stop on the three-day, 750-mile event. Not a race, but a very leisurely drive through some of the most scenic and enjoyable roads in four states, the rally attracted a variety of Ferraris, from a classic 60s historic car to the latest products of the marque.

The VIR portion of the rally consisted of a pair of timed runs over the South Course, VIR’s 1.65-mile track section that includes the signature Oak Tree turn and most of the track’s equally famed “Uphill Esses” turns. Leaving the pit exit, cars accelerated to the “Madison Avenue” chicane, slowing them for the short run over a hilltop and into the sharp, decreasing radius right-hand turn taking them into the infield of the Full Course. A tricky uphill and downhill sweeper followed, leading to a sharp left-right-left combination, before a brief straight led to the right-hand hairpin turn onto the main course again. The final two turns of the Uphill Esses, Nine and Ten, led into the downhill-uphill entry to Turn Eleven, the famous Oak Tree Turn and then back into the pits at the timing line.

In spite of the insistence that the event is not a race, numerous participants spun, nearly all in the first downhill run in the infield. No damage resulted to cars, though some egos likely got bruised and everyone drove away from the track happy.

“Ferraris have always played a central role in the history of VIR,” said managing partner Connie Nyholm. “The VIR stage in the 2007 Rally of Virginia is just one more page in that long and continuing history.”

The remainder of the event takes the participants on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with lunch at Roanoke, Va., before the overnight stop at the historic Homestead Resort deep in the Virginia mountains.

More touring takes the route through some scenery-laden roads in West Virginia, to Pennsylvania before an overnight stop in the Woodlands Resort. The next day sweeps the exotic parade in to historic Winchester, Va., then on a drive through Virginia’s horse country to a civic reception in Washington, D.C. for the final day of the event.

VIRginia International Raceway hosted a round of the Ferrari Challenge race series earlier this year, where drivers and guests alike thrilled to the sights and sounds of a fleet of Ferrari F430s racing around the Full Course, plus a priceless collection of Historic Ferraris, Alfa Romeos and Maseratis from as far back as the 1930s, all racing as hard as they were built to race.

VIRginia International Raceway is a multi-purpose road racing facility, located on the Dan River between Danville and South Boston, Virginia. Reopened in 2000, VIR hosts a wide range professional and amateur auto and motorcycle racing and track events, and is well established as “America’s Motorsport Resort.” In addition to its historic 3.27 mile natural-terrain road racing circuit, VIR is the cornerstone of VIR Club, America's first motorsports country club; the VIR Raceplex Industrial Park and Motorsports Technology Park, which includes the Virginia Institute for Performance Engineering and Research (“VIPER”); the Plantation Valley Kart Track, a 5/8 mile paved natural terrain karting circuit; an expanding variety of on-site lodging (including 45 hotel rooms and the trackside Villas which are for sale); Camp Motorsport for enthusiasts of all ages; and the Oak Tree Tavern, a full-service restaurant located within the circa-1840 Plantation Clubhouse.

VIR’s next major event is the GT Live/KONI Challenge event, the weekend of October 5-7. With the widest variety of motorsports available, the headliner event will be the KONI Challenge races for high-performance production sports cars, coupes and sedans. With limited modifications, these are the same cars seen on the highways every day. The VIR races will be the finales for the two classes, both featuring a six-hour enduro format. The big engined Grand Sport (GS) racers will take the track in the weekend’s capstone, while the smaller Street Tuner (ST) class attracts the import and hot compact crowd.

GS races feature Porsche, Nissan, BMW, Mustang and Pontiac, while the ST cars attract entries such as Mazda RX-8, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, Dodge SRT-4, MINI Cooper S, Acuras and a variety of BMWs. The entire field races on Hoosier tires, further equalizing the competition.

Other attractions of the GT Live weekend include such diverse programs as:
• GT Sim Race: Ride in some of the world’s hottest cars in cars on VIR’s 3.27-mile Full Course.
• Tarzan’s Lap Battle: Drive your own car in on the 1.1-mile Patriot Course in a Time Attack, competing for lap times
• Rally-X: drive your car on VIR’s gravel rally stage roads.
• Karting Zone: race karts on VIR’s Plantation Valley Kart Track.
• Car and bike shows and fan festivals for Mazda, Nissan/Infiniti, Subaru and Mitsubishi EVO.
• GT Track Attack pitting American tuners against Japanese tuners for cash prizes.
• US Drift Shootout: the best amateur and professional drifters competing on the Patriot Course for cash.
• The best motorcycle stunt riders in the business compete for cash prizes in the invitation-only XDL U.S. Stunt Riding Championship.

For information on the track and other event schedules, call 434-822-7700 or check our web site at www.virclub.com.