Officine Panerai sponsors Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge at Silverstone

Officine Panerai, the Italian luxury sports watchmaker, continues its partnership with Ferrari in 2007 with the sponsorship of the Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge which comes to the UK on June 8, 9 and 10 at the legendary Silverstone circuit.

The partnership between Officine Panerai and Ferrari, now in its second year, continues after last year’s successful launch of the Ferrari engineered by Officine Panerai watch collection, the latest eight models of which will be seen in the UK for the first time at the Silverstone event next month.

The Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge is a championship with a very special atmosphere and strong links with the history of the House of Maranello. There are two different series, in Europe and North America (four events in the former and five in the latter, as well as the now traditional final event common to both, the Ferrari World Finals), in which Ferraris produced up to 1982 take part. The cars are divided into categories based on their characteristics: pre-war single-seaters, cars with drum brakes (that is, produced in the 1950s and 1960s) and cars with disc brakes (up to 1982) which compete on different starting grids.

It is significant that among the cars registered to take part in the event, five were produced between 1934 and 1939. It was during this period in Florence, near to Maranello, that Giuseppe Panerai created the first of the legendary Radiomir watches: a technically advanced watch which was the first of the series of watches made by the Panerai family for the Italian Navy.

Following the decision to produce a collection of watches entitled Ferrari engineered by Officine Panerai, closely linked with the history of all Italian-produced cars, Officine Panerai confirms its desire to continue along the path it has now been following for several years, choosing as its point of reference the preservation of the brand’s tradition and history. At the same time it always presents these values in the context of advanced technology and design.

The eight new models launched this year are made up of four in the Granturismo collection, two in the Scuderia and two special editions to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the House of Maranello, which will take the Ferrari engineered by Officine Panerai range up to a collection of 18 unique and collectible timepieces.

The complete Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge calendar:

Europe
Mugello 29 March – 1 April
Silverstone 8 – 10 June
Le Mans 6 – 8 July
Hockenheim 21 – 23 September
Ferrari World Finals (location to be decided) 26 – 28 October

North America
Infineon Raceway California 13 – 15 April
Virginia Int.l Raceway 18 – 20 May
Mont-Tremblant Canada 15 – 17 June
California Speedway 10 –12 August
Laguna Seca 17 – 19 August
Ferrari World Finals (location to be decided) 26 – 28 October