The sole prototype Ferrari entered, the Risi team's 333SP, was out of luck in the fortieth running of the Daytona 24 Hours race. In the hands of Eric Van de Poele, Stefan Johansson and David Brabham, it was forced to retire with accident damage. In qualifying the old warrior (new car - old tipo) went surprisingly quickly and started from 6th on the grid, amongst some very modern machinery with the latest F1-type chassis. In the early stages of the race it had been in contention and was leading for a long time. However, after six hours, a gearbox problem meant the 333 had to spend a long time in the pits, putting it back into 36th place. During the night the Ferrari started to climb back up the order despite a further gearbox failure, eventually running just outside the top ten, but its race ended off the track. The car slammed into a barrier with Brabham driving and the damage was too serious to continue. Also in the race was a 360 Modena Challenge, prepared to the FIA N-GT Championship rules, making its debut in a 24 hour race. Entered by Ferrari of Washington, it was driven by Cort Wagner, Constantino Bertuzzi, Bill Auberlen and Derrike Cope. It finished this tough event in twenty fifth place overall, even though a mechanical problem meant it had to pit for a long time after the sixteenth hour. Right behind it finished the 360 Modena Challenge entered by the Mastercar team, driven by Andrea Montermini, Sergey Zlobin, Franco Bertoli and Vincenzo Polli. The race was a debut win for a Dallara-Judd, driven by Freddy Lienhard, Didier Theys, Mauro Baldi and Massimiliano Papis. Now, why does the name Dallara ring such a bell? Well, it was they who designed and built the 333SP in the first place, all the way back in 1993...... What goes around, comes around. Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page. |