Gerhard Berger was again in motion this weekend on the wheel of an F1 automobile when he was reunited together with his 1989 Ferrari 640 at Goodwood’s 81st Members’ Assembly.
The ten-time Grand Prix winner did not maintain again as he placed on a present for the ages, the Austrian unleashing the complete energy of his automobile’s 3.5-litre V12 engine, paying homage to its glory days as he roared down Goodwood’s start-finish straight, showering sparks.
The sight and sound of the ‘640’ ignited a wave of nostalgia among the many ecstatic crowds who had been transported again to considered one of F1’s most illustrious eras.
“I used to be pondering yesterday, I don’t assume I’ve pushed it since ’89. Funnily sufficient the pedals, the mirrors, all the things was simply excellent,” commented Berger after his maiden demo run on Saturday.
“The clutch was a bit tough for pulling away however it was advantageous after that. It’s an incredible automobile.”
Berger is clearly now not accustomed to dealing with high-performance thoroughbred automobiles. Subsequently, pushing the 640 to its limits was fairly a stunning expertise for the 64-year-old F1 veteran.
“I felt somewhat sick, as a result of I’m not used to the G-forces anymore,” he admitted with a chuckle.”
©Goodwood
Whereas Ferrari’s 640 is actually within the working as some of the stunning F1 automobiles of all-time, it’s monitor file is lackluster at greatest, an insufficiency rooted within the automobile’s modern however very unreliable semi-automatic gearbox.
“I used to be the primary answerable for driving it at Maranello,” recounted Berger. “To be sincere after two or three laps I got here in and mentioned ‘Properly, each automobile may have this sooner or later as soon as it really works’.
“For the primary time, you had each fingers on the steering wheel, you might shift in corners, you might be far more assured. It was simply nice. That was the upside.
“The draw back was it by no means labored greater than 5 laps, as a result of there was nonetheless rather a lot within the management space going flawed and within the first 12 months we had a whole lot of failures.
“We couldn’t do take a look at mileage, we couldn’t type the setup as a result of we ran out of time as a result of we had been chasing issues.”
“However the automobile was nice and the gearbox was nice. After we completed the races we at all times completed effectively.”
Gerhard Berger reunited together with his 1989 #Ferrari 640 as he laps #Goodwood. What a noise. That is the #F1 engine noise we miss! #Tifosi #81MM pic.twitter.com/kgjzC6xcKj
— Goodwood Highway & Racing (@GoodwoodRRC) April 13, 2024
Berger then highlighted essentially the most profound connection he shares with this automobile, a bond that secures its particular place in his coronary heart: the 640’s extremely robust tub was the protecting defend he wanted to outlive his huge crash and fiery blaze at Imola’s Tamburrello flip.
“I’ve to say, I survived a horrible accident with this automobile in Imola,” he defined.
“The carbon chassis was so effectively carried out that I may survive. We registered a 120g influence and I nonetheless survived. The automobile saved my life. I’ve a private thanks for it.”
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