KEY POINTS:
Melbourne is gearing up for the 2007 Grand Prix Festival, a downtown street party on March 3 that counts down to race weekend on March 15-18.
The knees-up is a joint initiative between the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, Ferrari and the City of Melbourne and has been designed to celebrate Ferrari's 60th birthday.
The highlight of the day will be the journey of a Ferrari Formula One through downtown Melbourne.
Ferrari is the most successful team in the history of Formula One, with more wins and world titles than any of its competitors.
This year it is celebrating the 60th anniversary of both its first car, the Ferrari 125S, and its first Grand Prix win, which came in Rome just weeks after that first car rolled out of the hallowed factory in Maranello.
"This is our opportunity to bring Ferrari to Melbourne in every sense and thank the hundreds of thousands of people who have supported Ferrari during its illustrious history," said Kevin Wall, general manager of Ferrari in Australia.
"This event is the centrepiece of the Australian celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of Ferrari. Not only will we have a Ferrari Formula One car on the streets of Melbourne, there will also be a unique display of more than 60 of the best Ferrari road cars from across Australia."
The Formula One Ferrari will drive along a closed section of Lygon St, between Pelham and Faraday Sts.
More than 1km of steel barriers will be installed along the street and marshals and security staff will keep the viewing public clear of the course.
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation is using the initiative to highlight road safety.
"This is not about speed," said its CEO Tim Bamford. "This is an opportunity to promote Melbourne, Australia and our iconic Lygon St precinct to the world.
"We would like to stress that this is a promotional exercise and we will be implementing stringent safety conditions and protocols.
"We remind all drivers that, under normal conditions, there is no such thing as safe speeding."
The festival includes a celebrity driving challenge and driving exhibitions.
Merchandise shops and Formula One simulators will dot the downtown area.
