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Ferrari testing 458 Challenge Evoluzione at Mugello

Ferrari makes road cars, it makes racecars, and it makes road cars into racecars. The 458 Challenge falls into the latter category, transforming the 458 Italia into the basis for Maranello's one-make spec racing series. It replaced the F430 Challenge in 2011, which in turn followed the 360 Challenge, F355 Challenge and 348 Challenge that started it all in the mid-90s.
Now the Prancing Horse marque is set to move the game forward again with the revised 458 Challenge Evoluzione. Seen here undergoing testing at what could be any tree-lined circuit but is likely Mugello (which Ferrari just happens to own in addition to the Fiorano test track at the factory), the 458 Challenge Evoluzione takes a step further with a new aerodynamics package.
Other changes will likely be nominal, and Ferrari will probably offer existing customer racers the option of upgrading to stay at the front of the pack instead of replacing their $300k racers entirely. One way or another, Ferrari is set to unveil the 458 Challenge Evoluzione, also at Mugello, after the conclusion this year's Finali Mondiali, the event that ties up the end of Ferrari Challenge series from around the world next week.

Can the Dark Knight pull off Enzo Ferrari?

Christian Bale is taking another role where he gets to be in close contact with cool cars. The former Batman has reportedly been cast as Enzo Ferrari in a biopic about the legendary automotive figure that's being directed by Michael Mann, according to Deadline Hollywood. Production is set to begin next summer. The film allegedly takes place in 1957 and is possibly related to the fatalities of 11 people that year in a Ferrari crash at the Mille Miglia. According to Road & Track, the story also might be based on the book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine. Mann has been trying to get the tale of the sports car magnate made for years, and had previously been negotiating to direct a movie adapting the book Go Like Hell about Ford and Ferrari's epic rivalry at Le Mans in the '60s. Bale's casting seems like a challenge, though. The British actor certainly doesn't look much like Ferrari. Also, he's currently 41, whereas il Commendatore was 59 in 1957. Mann's film already has challenger, too. Robert de Niro is also developing a Ferrari biopic in Italy, and he's taking the starring role. That movie would reportedly tell the story of the sports car company from its founding through Enzo's death in 1988. Here's hoping both of them make it to theaters; the auto industry titan's life is plenty fascinating enough to support more than one big-screen tale. Related Video:

Haas pens partnership with Ferrari

Gene Haas is undertaking quite the initiative by starting his own Formula One team instead of simply buying an existing one. And he's making it even harder on himself by laudably insisting on quartering the operation at his home base in North Carolina. But to get onto the grid by 2016, he's going to need some help.
Fortunately that appears to be just what he's getting thanks to a new partnership with no less accomplished an outfit than Ferrari - which, despite not having won a championship since 2008, remains far and away the most successful team in the history of grand prix racing, with sixteen constructors' championships, fifteen drivers' titles and 221 grand prix victories to its name.
Haas Automation, the CNC machine manufacturer over which Gene Haas presides and which funds his various racing activities, has just signed a sponsorship deal with Scuderia Ferrari that has already seen the Haas logo appear on the F14 T that Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen drove in the British Grand Prix this past weekend. More than a sponsor, Haas Automation has become an official supplier to the Maranello squad, but is expected to lead to even closer cooperation that will help get the American F1 team up and running in time for the 2016 world championship.