Red Bull to light up Bologna in Ferrari’s backyard

The area around Bologna in Italy area has a pretty rich racing history, what with motorcycle manufacturer Ducati hailing from the heart of the city and the cars of a certain scarlet-hued outfit emerging from up the Autostrada in Maranello, but not since the days when nearby Imola hosted grands prix have the people of Emilia-Romagna been treated to two full-on days of F1 action.

That will change this weekend, however, when Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso fire up the engines of a couple of cars at the Red Bull Speed Days in the city.

The event is being staged as part of the 37th Bologna Motor Show and from tomorrow until Sunday evening, motor racing fans will be treated to a riot of Red Bull motor racing machinery being put through its paces at the Bologna Fiere.

Top of the list, of course, are the F1 cars, and David Coulthard will be on hand to put the Red Bull Racing RB6 through its paces, while Daniel Ricciardo will give Toro Rosso’s home fans a treat by blasting around the course in this year’s STR7.

The Bologna bash will be just the latest stop on the two drivers’ hectic schedules. David will jet in tomorrow straight from the FIA Gala Prize-Giving tonight where, as MC of the ceremony, he will hand Sebastian his third consecutive F1 Drivers’ Championship trophy and present Christian Horner with our third Constructors’ trophy in a row. Daniel, meanwhile, will arrive fresh from driving the Red Bull Racing RB7 in a massive show car run in Buenos Aires, Argentina last weekend.

DC and Dan won’t be the only Red Bull athletes feeling the need for speed, however. Fans will also get to see recently-crowned nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb give his Citroën DS3 WRC car a good pasting, while Drift king Aleksandr Grinchuk will demonstrate the art of driving sideways very fast in his Red Bull Nissan 350Z.

Double WRC champion and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz will also be in attendance, as will world champion stunt-rider Chris Pfeiffer. Fans will also be able to get up close and personal with a Team Phoenix Audi R8 Le Mans contender and the Red Bull NASCAR car.

Not content with all that? Then how about rounding it off with the world finals of the Red Bull Kart Fight. This is the culmination of a global selection process that stretched from Russia to the USA, from Japan to Portugal. Now, the 20 finalists will gather at the Speed Days event to battle for the Kart Fight world title.