Unlike the Italian Navy’s flagship carrier, ITS Cavour (550), ITS Trieste serves as an amphibious assault ship capable of carrying up to 600 troops—or a Ferrari.
There is apparently a Guinness World Record for the fastest car driving on a boat. For no other reason than to say he had done it, an Italian race car driver reportedly broke that record on Thursday off the coast of Italy.
Fabio Barone, who holds several speed records to his name—all in signature red Ferraris—reached 152 km/h (94.4 mph) on a different aircraft carrier last year, setting a record that most will never hear about. However, this month, he set out to outdo himself by driving his car on the flight deck of the Marina Militare’s (Italian Navy’s) ITS Trieste (L 9890).
Although the Trieste is not officially classified as an “aircraft carrier,” the landing ship/helicopter dock (LHD), which entered service last December, is now the largest vessel in the Italian fleet. Its flight deck measures 803 feet 10 inches in length (245 meters)—long enough for Barone in his Ferrari SF90 to reach a new speed record, and still brake before his car also reached the ski jump ramp, which, as the Associated Press explained, could have launched him and his car “into the cruise ship stationed just fore.”
Driving a Racecar on an Aircraft Carrier Can Be Tricky
Such speed records may be seen as merely achieving high speeds, but numerous considerations need to be taken into account. At just over 800 feet, the flight deck of the warship is considerably shorter than a conventional runway, which is why the ski jump ramp is present. However, the ramp also lessened the distance the Ferrari could cover to reach its top speed and then brake.
It is unclear whether wind or temperature played a role, but ITS Trieste had been at sea the night before the scheduled attempt and came back with a wet flight deck. That required its crew to dry it for Barone’s attempt, aided by the late morning sun.
“If it remained wet, then of course it’s impossible to have the maximum speed and best brakes. It can be very, very dangerous,” race engineer Alessandro Tedino, who helped prepare the car and ship, told AP.
How Barone’s Guinness World Record Unfolded
In cinematic fashion, Harold Faltermeyer’s theme from 1986’s Top Gun blared as the Ferrari SF90 was lifted to the flight deck on one of the warship’s aircraft elevators. A group of special needs children were chosen to serve as honorary “mechanics for the day” and removed a sanity cover before Barone climbed into the supercar and fired it up. He drove back and forth on the flight deck several times, warming up the Ferrari’s V-8 engine.
Then, in just a few seconds, Barone raced across the flight deck, setting a new record with a detected velocity of 165 km/h (101 mph), and then avoided launching into the sea—or worse, the aforementioned cruise ship!
The team will submit the certified results to Guinness World Records.
“The main thing you focus on is concentration, and then you realize that you are breaking the record only when you are halfway,” Barone explained. “I have two hands, two feet, and I use them at the same time like a pianist.”
About the ITS Trieste Pseudo-Aircraft Carrier
Unlike the Italian Navy’s flagship, ITS Cavour (550), an actual aircraft carrier, ITS Trieste serves as an amphibious assault ship, capable of deploying a fully equipped battalion of up to 600 troops for amphibious landings from its floodable well deck and helicopters from its flight deck. The warship can operate with a variety of NATO landing craft and boats, and features a garage deck capable of holding both wheeled and tracked vehicles, including the Italian military’s Ariete main battle tank (MBT).
The Trieste has a 7,400-square-meter (80,000-square-foot) flight deck and features two island superstructures, similar to those of the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, with flight operations directed from the aft island. Although the ITS Trieste is outfitted with the aforementioned ski jump lift, making it capable to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, fighter aircraft is a “secondary function” of the warship with ITS Cavour serving at the Italian Navy’s primary carrier for seaborne fixed-wing fighter operations.
Now, the Trieste can claim to have served as a platform for racecar records—a function that no other aircraft carrier holds. Most would agree it is fitting that an Italian carrier should have that honor!
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock / 24K-Production.
