The coiffed, bejeweled, stylish relative of Top Gear’s most famous racing driver has led a life in the shadow of his English cousin. Thankfully, he gets a chance to strut his stuff at one of the world’s most iconic racing tracks in a stunning Ferrari 458 Italia. Imola, a famous track located in the small country of San Marino, was host to the San Marino Grand Prix for twenty-seven years before being removed from the calendar to make room for the Belgian Grand Prix.

After the famous accident that claimed the life of Ayrton Senna, a long, technical complex of corners was thrown in to manage the speeds around the section which once led into a famous, deadly sweeper named Tamburello. This long, left-hander claimed the life of the Brazilian, and incurred huge accidents for F1 aces Gerhard Berger, Michele Alboreto, and Nelson Piquet. This controversial addition slowed cars down but took away one of the most daunting corners in racing. Nevertheless, it’s still an interesting section to traverse.

Sporting a smart Armani suit, the Italian Stig looks at home wrestling the 458’s steering wheel.

As the Armani-wearing cousin of the Stig sets out on a hot lap of Imola, the aforementioned chicane is one of the first to be covered. The three corners which comprise this chicane invite the driver to carry too much speed into and out of the complex, which opens initially and then tightens towards the exit. Note how the car understeers on exit, and a sharp steering input is used to wrestle the recalcitrant Ferrari over the curbs.

Thankfully, that section is by far the most “Mickey Mouse” portion of the circuit, if it could even be called that. The rest of Imola is flat-out, hero-corner stuff. Daunting, incredibly rapid yet sinuous, Imola is an old racing circuit with a real rhythm, a beautiful but intimidating cadence. It’s easy to mock the new Hermann Tilke circuits with their stop-and-go sections, but there is a certain pace and variety of corners that modern circuits lack. Perhaps its the history, perhaps its the ambiance, but there is something distinctive about old, manly tracks like this, and hopefully, we’ll see a few more like Imola on the F1 calendar soon.