OCTOBER 9, 1995
Larini tests the Ferrari V10
THE new Ferrari V10 engine ran for the first time at the team's Fiorano test track last Wednesday in the back of a specially-modified Ferrari 412 T2, driven by Ferrari's outgoing test driver Nicola Larini.
The engine has been running on the Ferrari engine test beds at Maranello since the end of May and is the work of a carefully-selected group of engineers - all with plenty of previous V10 experience. The Ferrari engine research and development department is headed by Japanese engineer Osamo Goto, who was responsible for the V10 Honda engines of the late 1980s, and he was joined by former Peugeot V10 engineers Gilles Simon (project leader on the Ferrari V10) and ChristopheÊMarie (a pneumatic valve design specialist). In recent months Renault Sport's Noel Canvy has also arrived in Italy, bringing up to date Renault V10 information.
Larini will do all the testing with the new engine until the arrival of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine in the New Year. Ferrari is not expected to let departing drivers Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi near the new power unit for fear that they will take information with them to Renault.
Jean Todt says that it is still not definite that Ferrari will race with V10 engines next year and that the V12 programs will be continued until a decision is made for the future, presumably after Schumacher has tested the V12 and the V10 back-to-back.
Larini's position as Ferrari test driver looks likely to be taken by Italian rising star Giancarlo Fisichella, who also hopes to be seen racing with Minardi next year. Larini's future appears to be in touring cars.