MICHAEL Schumacher’s failed attempt to take Jacques Villeneuve out at Jerez in the title-deciding European Grand Prix in 1997 is one of the big-ticket moments of the German’s legendary, albeit sometimes controversial career.

The move failed and Villeneuve drove on to clinch his first and only Formula 1 World Championship, with Schumacher’s Ferrari parked off track, damaged by the collision its pilot had instigated.

In the aftermath Schumacher was found guilty of deliberate dangerous driving and stripped of his runner-up result in the championship.

But did you know the same Ferrari that Schumacher drove that day in controversial fashion (that also won the Japanese Grand Prix that year) was sampled by an Aussie just a few years later and sent Down Under?

Mark Noske, an original Holden Young Lion in 1997, drove the ex-Schumacher Ferrari 310B at Fiorano in September 2000 after it had been purchased by Tony Raftis from Prancing Horse Racing.

The Undercut – Unpacking The Bend & Bringing on The Mountain

V8 Sleuth’s take on the world of Supercars from The Bend & Bathurst, with thanks to Shell OTR!

Noske was racing for the team at the time in a Ferrari 360 Challenge in the then-new Nations Cup series run by PROCAR Australia.

His time in the Ferrari F1 car was limited to just eight laps while test driver Luca Badoer was busy testing for the remaining Grands Prix of that season.

“The horsepower wasn’t what I expected,” Noske told Motorsport News at the time in Issue 189, available here to get access to via the MN archives.

“I thought it would be quite aggressive with the throttle, but the brakes just blew my mind. Those things stop something severe.

“I can see why (Mark) Webber’s pushing so hard to get into them. You just don’t want to get out of them.

“They do a client-spec car, so there’s less likelihood of it blowing. The engine has four hours of life, goes back in a box and gets rebuilt.”

The ex-Schumacher Ferrari was sent to Australia and was used for various demonstrations and displays, though was later sold back overseas.