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Ferrari Happenings

PRESS RELEASE: FERRARI WINS 12 HOURS OF SEBRING

Sebring, 22nd March - The Team MOMO Ferrari F 333 SP, driven by Gianpiero Moretti, Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi has won the 12 Hours of Sebring. Car number 30 finished the race having completed 319 laps, one lap and 31.918s ahead of the Panoz Ford GTR1 of Andy Wallace, David Brabham and Doc Bundy.

The second F 333 SP run by Team Risi finished sixth, 19 laps down, driven by James Weaver, Fermin Velez and Eric Van de Poele. Having qualified on pole position, the car was first slowed by an engine problem and then, only eight minutes from the finish, it caught fire with Fermin Velez at the wheel. The Spanish driver still managed to bring the car to a halt and get out uninjured.

Starting from third on the grid, the Team MOMO 333 SP lead for a good part of the twelve hour race and was always in the top three. Theys and Baldi shared the bulk of the driving, while Moretti, who actually celebrated his 59th birthday on the Friday, took the wheel for just under an hour in the afternoon. The Sebring success comes just over a month after victory at Daytona, thus giving Team MOMO the win in the "36 Hours of Florida" as these two endurance races are known to American race fans.

"I am very happy with this success," said Moretti after the finish. I had never won either at Daytona or Sebring despite racing there so often and so to do both in the same year is very special for me. I have been lucky, but then life is funny like that."

With today's win, Mauro Baldi, who had the honour of taking the chequered flag joins the very elite band who can claim to have won Daytona, Le Mans and Sebring. Those he joins are Hurley Haywood, A.J. Foyt, Al Holbert and Andy Wallace. "The Sebring track is never easy," said the Italian driver. "The track is very bumpy and it hard to keep your concentration, but the chance to win was too good to miss. The car was well balanced and the whole team did a fantastic job." Didier Theys recorded his first win with the F 333 SP and on the way he set the race fastest lap in 1m 57.527s. Once the festivities were over the team was soon back to work as the car has to be prepared and flown to Italy where, next weekend they will tackle the Monza 1000 Kilometres.

For Ferrari this is the 12th victory at Sebring, the oldest endurance race held in the States. The first victory came in 1956 courtesy of Juan Manuel Fangio and Eugenio Castelloti at the wheel of an 860 Monza. This is actually the third success for the F 333 SP and the second in a row: the first two being obtained by Team Evans in 1995 and 1997.

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