Photo: Ferrari
Name a Hollywood actor with an immense love for motorsport. If the one and only Steve McQueen is your answer, congrats! Following in the footsteps of the King of Cool, a gentleman with the name of Michael Fassbender is also tempted to take up professional racing.
Known for his roles in 300, X-Men, 12 Years a Slave, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant, the German-born Irish actor loves both bikes and cars. Especially those of the fast variety. Although his love for track days was just a free-time activity in between shoots, Michael has only recently joined the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli family.
A fan of the Prancing Horse and its exploits in the world of Formula 1 since he was a kid, Fassbender trained for his role with Ferrari by completing the Corso Pilota driving program with flying colors. And yes, the actor raced for Ferrari this past weekend at Laguna Seca in the first round of the 2017 North American Ferrari Challenge.
“Ferrari is defined by racing, and training with the Ferrari team gave me a great foundation to hone my skills behind the wheel of the 488 Challenge race car,” declared Fassbender while posing next to his white-painted racecar. “From a very early age I idolized Ferrari and its champion, Michael Schumacher, in particular, so now racing in the Ferrari Challenge brings that dream full circle.”
Considering how Hollywood years for automotive-themed and racing movies, Michael’s adventure in Ferrari Challenge could someday earn his a role in a very special movie. Not Fast and Furious, though, for the long-lived franchise is now more about huge explosions and all-out action than it is about street racing.
There’s still a long way to go until Fassbender will post a fastest lap or score a win, but practice makes perfect. Steve McQueen’s most telling moment as a professional racing driver was the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring, which saw him win the three-liter class in a Porsche 908/02, 23 seconds behind overall winner Mario Andretti and his five-liter Ferrari 512S.
A fan of the Prancing Horse and its exploits in the world of Formula 1 since he was a kid, Fassbender trained for his role with Ferrari by completing the Corso Pilota driving program with flying colors. And yes, the actor raced for Ferrari this past weekend at Laguna Seca in the first round of the 2017 North American Ferrari Challenge.
“Ferrari is defined by racing, and training with the Ferrari team gave me a great foundation to hone my skills behind the wheel of the 488 Challenge race car,” declared Fassbender while posing next to his white-painted racecar. “From a very early age I idolized Ferrari and its champion, Michael Schumacher, in particular, so now racing in the Ferrari Challenge brings that dream full circle.”
Considering how Hollywood years for automotive-themed and racing movies, Michael’s adventure in Ferrari Challenge could someday earn his a role in a very special movie. Not Fast and Furious, though, for the long-lived franchise is now more about huge explosions and all-out action than it is about street racing.
There’s still a long way to go until Fassbender will post a fastest lap or score a win, but practice makes perfect. Steve McQueen’s most telling moment as a professional racing driver was the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring, which saw him win the three-liter class in a Porsche 908/02, 23 seconds behind overall winner Mario Andretti and his five-liter Ferrari 512S.
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