San Francisco Motor Sports San Rafael - Ferrari Made its Debuts at 1950 Monaco Grand Prix

Ferrari Debuts at 1950 Monaco Grand Prix

Alberto Ascari in the Ferrari 125 F1 during the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix (photo: Ferrari SpA)

Scuderia Ferrari made its debut in the Formula 1 World Championship on May 21st, 1950, on the very same circuit that winds its way through the Principality of Monaco and which this coming Sunday, hosts the sixth round of the 2012 World Championship.

There were four Ferraris entered in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix: two 125 F1s, in the GP49 evolution, entrusted to the Italians Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi and two 125 F1s for France’s Raymond Sommer and the British driver Paul Whitehead. At the end of the race, Ascari had managed to finish second behind Fangio’s Alfa Romeo, while Sommer was fourth; Villoresi had to retire on lap 63 while Whitehead had failed to start, because of an engine problem.

Many years have passed since then and the Scuderia is the only team to have taken part in every championship at this the sport’s highest level. To date, Ferrari has competed in 836 Grands Prix, taken 217 wins, 205 pole positions and 228 fastest race laps. These numbers are all records as are the 16 Constructors’ championships and 15 Drivers’ titles on the Maranello roll of honour: no other team has won more than Ferrari.

source: www.sportscardigest.com

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San Francisco Motorsports - History of the United States Grand Prix Part 2

History of the United States Grand Prix – Page Two

Due to WWI producing a lack of European entries, the series was discontinued. Between the wars, racing in the U.S. was almost exclusively on ovals. Even though Formula One started in 1950, none were held in the U.S until Alex Ulmann promoted the first post-war U.S.G.P. at Sebring on December 12, 1959. Bruce McLaren won in a Cooper when his team-mate, Jack Brabham ran out of fuel.

An interesting footnote is that both the 1958 and 1959 USAC Times-Mirror sports car races at Riverside were billed as “The United States Grand Prix.” I particularly remember the 1959 because I entered my Devin SS for Andy Porterfield to drive. I watched the race at a spot just before Turn One, a fast left-hander. I marked the spots where each driver would shut off. Everyone shut off at a slightly different point except Stirling Moss who took it flat out!

Chuck Daigh in Lance Reventlow’s Scarab is a nose ahead of Phil Hill in a Ferrari 412 MI at the 1958 “United States Grand Prix” at Riverside on October 12, 1958. Daigh went on to win the race, while Hill's Ferrari and the #181 Mercedes-Benz 300SL of Chuck Porter failed to finish. (Photo: Allen Kuhn)

Andy Porterfield in my Devin SS at the 1959 “The United States Grand Prix,” actually the Times GP at Riverside on October 11, 1959. (Photo: Allen Kuhn)

In 1960, Ulmann moved the U.S.G.P. to Riverside where Stirling Moss won. Then it found a home at Watkins Glen, where it was held through 1980. In 1976, the Long Beach Grand Prix was added to the Formula One calendar giving the U.S. two World Championship events: East and West. Starting in 1980, Formula Ones were held at various U.S. venues. From 2000 through 2007, they took place at Indianapolis on an inland road course utilizing part of the oval.

Stirling Moss at the United States Grand Prix West at Riverside on November 12, 1960. (Photo: Allen Kuhn)

Emerson Fittipaldi won the 1970 U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in the Lotus-Ford 72 (Photo: Autosports Marketing Associates)

Carlos Reutemann drove the Ferrari 312 T3 to the overall victory at the 1978 United States Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen. (Photo: Autosports Marketing Associates)

The 1981 United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach was won by Alan Jones in the Williams-Cosworth FW07. (Photo: Autosports Marketing Associates)

After that and with a lot of starts and stops, Formula One honcho Bernie Ecclestone tried to arrange further United States Grands Prix. Finally, in 2010, he awarded a ten-year contract to Austin, Texas with the first scheduled to take place November 2012 on a new 3.4-mile purpose-built course named the Circuit of the Americas. The race will be called the United States Grand Prix. In addition, another Formula One race–the Grand Prix of America–is scheduled to be held June 2013 on a 3.2-mile street circuit along the Weehawken (NJ) Port Imperial.

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Special Note: Thank You Tim Considine for his help with this column and for his wonderful book, American Grand Prix Racing (MBI Publishing Co., 1997). In addition, thanks are due to another friend, Harold Osmer for his book, Real Road Racing, The Santa Monica Road Races (Harold L. Osmer Publishing, 1999). Both books are highly recommended for those who wish to delve more deeply into the subject.

by Art Evans
Source: Sports Car Digest

San Francisco Motorsports - History of the United States Grand Prix Part 1

What is the foremost racing series in the world? If you said Formula One, you are in the company of most other enthusiasts. The series consists of a yearly Grand Prix in each participating country (although in a few instances, there was more than one). Even though the Formula One series was started in 1950, the concept of having a country’s premier event began long before that. The first one was held in 1906 near the city of Le Mans in France. The first in the U.S. took place in 1908.

Before that, the premier series in the U.S. was the Vanderbilt Cup. The Cup events were run according to the internationally-recognized regulations of the Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus (AIACR). The 1907 Vanderbilt on Long Island however, was cancelled due to spectator deaths and injuries there the previous year. It came back in 1908, but the American Automobile Association (AAA) adopted different regulations than those of the AIACR. Whereupon, the competing Automobile Club of America (ACA) decided to sponsor a new series, the American Grand Prize, using AIACR rules.

A number of cities proposed hosting the first event, among them Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Even though Indianapolis offered considerable up-front money, beautiful and picturesque Savannah, Georgia was selected by the ACA. The race was scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1908. It was run by the Savannah Automobile Club which had previously staged a stock-car event and the club planned a version of the 17-mile stock-car course lengthened to 25.13 miles. Georgia Governor M. Hoke Smith had convict labor re-surface the road with oiled gravel. The result was so first-rate that President Taft brought leaders from all over the country to view it as a model. In addition, the governor sent state militia personnel to help the city police with crowd control. First-aid stations were set up all around the course manned by 30 doctors. Some sixteen hundred marshals kept things under control.

The course was laid out on city streets south of the historic downtown district. A large spectator stand covered two entire blocks on Estill Avenue. Now named Victory Drive, its four lanes of cross-town traffic are lined with Savannah oak trees showered in Spanish moss. Somewhat over 250,000 showed up to watch cars race for 402 miles over 16 laps. Horace Dodge and Henry Ford came to watch as well as the president of Firestone Tires, who slept in the city jail because all other accommodations were filled to capacity. Merchants and hoteliers were ecstatic.

Twenty cars from the U.S., Italy, France and Germany vied for the first American Grand Prize Cup. Entries came from all over the world including factory teams from Renault, Fiat and Benz. Top pilots of the day included Ralph DePalma in a Fiat and the first Grand Prix winner, Ferenc Szisz, in a Renault.

Rather than go off all together, each car was started every 30 seconds. (Staggered starts were common in those days of long-distance open-road events.) DePalma led from the beginning, setting the fastest lap at 21:36.0, but then slowed with mechanical problems and finished in ninth overall. Rene Hanriot in his Benz took the lead until a slow pit stop allowed Louis Wagner in a Fiat to pass. He was closely followed by Victor Hemery in another Benz and Felice Nazzaro in a second Fiat. A fierce duel took place with all three less than a minute apart, each taking the lead at one time or another. At the finish, Hemery was first, but because of the staggered start, Wagner, who had started six minutes after Hemery, was the actual winner. He covered the 16 laps in 6 hours, 10 minutes and 31.4 seconds. Hemery crossed the line 56.4 seconds later with Nazzaro third. After the race when Rene Hanriot backed up on the course to return to his pit, his tires were shot out by a member of the militia. American-built cars didn’t fare well; none managing to finish.

Entrants in the 1908 Grand Prize at Savannah started at 30-second intervals. Len Zengle in his Acme is lined up ready to go. He retired after seven laps when a spring in his suspension broke.

Louis Wagner in his Fiat leading Ralph Mulford in his Lozier. Wagner won and Mulford failed to finish.

The winner of the first American Grand Prize at Savannah, Georgia was Frenchman Louis Wagner (at the wheel) in his 120 bhp Fiat.

After the successful Savannah event, the ACA planned to run a second one the following year on Long Island in conjunction with the Vanderbilt Cup. It failed to materialize however, so the next race in the series was held at Savannah on November 12, 1910. A shorter 17-mile course was laid out. Victor Hemery in a Benz led off followed by Arthur Chevrolet. Then Felice Nazzaro passed Chevrolet setting a lap record. Next Louis Wagner took the lead, but ran into a tree on the 17th lap. Ralph DePalma inherited first with David Bruce-Brown close behind. On the last lap, DePalma’s engine suffered a cracked cylinder allowing Bruce-Brown to pass and win. This time, more than a half million spectators crowded into the small city.

The 1911 Grand Prize was held at Savannah and Bruce-Brown won again. When Savannah failed to come up with enough prize money, the 1912, the race moved to Milwaukee. (Not on the famous Milwaukee Mile which opened in 1903, but on a 7.88-mile road course on the outskirts of the city.) Unfortunately Bruce-Brown was killed there in practice. There was no American Grand Prize event in 1913. In 1914, it went to Santa Monica, California, then to San Francisco as part of the 1915 Worlds Fair and finally, back to Santa Monica again in 1916. That year marked the end of what was known as the Grand Prize era.

David Bruce-Brown won the 1910 American Grand Prize at Savannah in his Fiat on November 12, 1910.

David Bruce-Brown won both the 1910 and the 1911 American Grands Prize.

Ralph DePalma won the Santa Monica Vanderbilt Cup race that took place two days before the Grand Prize in the Schroeder “Grey Ghost” Mercedes. But the best he could do in the GP was fourth, 95 minutes behind Eddie Pullen.

Eddie Pullen won the 1914 American Grand Prize in the streets of Santa Monica, California in his Mercer.

Cars lined up on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica prior to the start of the 1916 Grand Prize.

Eddie Rickenbacker (left) giving some advice to Dario Resta (at the wheel). Rickenbacker stripped the gears in his Duesenberg during the November 18, 1916 Grand Prize and failed to finish. Resta won the Vanderbilt Cup on November 16, but also failed to finish in the GP. Rickenbacker won the Medal of Honor flying in WWI.

Even though Johnny Aitken took over before the half-way point, Howard “Howdy” Wilcox in a Peugeot was given credit for winning the November 18, 1916 American Grand Prize at Santa Monica.

by Art Evans
source: Sports Car Digest

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San Francisco Motorsports - Ride along in a Ferrari 599XX at Monza

The Ferrari 599 may have been replaced by the F12 Berlinetta, but its racing incarnation, the 599XX, still stands, tearing up tracks from all across the world.  To show you just how amazing this 720 HP monster is, we’ve brought along the adjacent video, which offers us a passenger ride in the race car.

The V12 racer is being put through its paces on the Monza track, with the engine screaming like it was willing to swallow everybody around and mix them with petrol and air in its cylinders.

This seven-figure automotive creation is capable of offering an experience that will redefine what you thought was physically possible and it has so many ways of doing this. First of all, there’s the aforementioned sound, which keeps you high as long as the engine is running, regardless of the revs and then there’s the sheer speed of the thing.

Source: Auto Evolution

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San Francisco Motorsports - Ferrari's Beautiful Dino Spyder

Ferrari launched its new racing cars in February 1966 for the coming season, and among them was this fabulously styled 206 S Dino Spyder. 

A scaled-down version of the 330 P3 also launched that day, it was intended to compete in the Group 4 GT class against the latest Porsches. Unfortunately, labor unrest prevented the required 50 cars to be produced, so the little Dino was never homologated. 

Now fully restored and ready for the Monaco auction, the Dino Spyder was shown at the 2012 Techno Classica in Germany. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Eventually only 18 were built, and although they were not quite as successful on the track as their contemporaries, they are highly sought after today. Many have been in the same collection for many, many years. 

Our 18-shot gallery features two examples, with the first one being offered this week at RM Auctions' Monaco sale with a hefty estimate of 2.2 million to 2.8 million euro ($2.9 million to $3.6 million). 

At Ferrari's annual pre-season press conference in February 1966, the car that attracted most of the attention was the achingly beautiful 330 P3, which was the company's latest Le Mans challenger. With it was what seemed to be a scaled-down version of the V12 racer. Known as the 206 S Dino, it was designed to comply with the Group 4 GT regulations and built to take on Porsche both on the track and in the showroom.

Apart from the fantastic Piero Drogo-styled body, the 206 S Dino actually consisted mostly of familiar components. The 2-liter engine fitted was a direct development of the V6 originally developed by Vittorio Jano in 1957 and named after Enzo's late son, Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari. The compact unit had since shown its worth, powering both single-seat racers and sports cars to major victories. In its latest guise, it displaced 1,987cc, and equipped with Lucas fuel injection, it produced around 220 horsepower. 

The 2-liter V6 was fitted with Lucas fuel injection and put out 220 horsepower. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

The new Dino's chassis followed familiar Ferrari lines, consisting of a tubular steel space frame with stressed aluminum and fiberglass panels to create a semi-monocoque. Suspension was also conventional with double wishbones, coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers on all four corners. 

Mated to a five-speed gearbox, the V6 engine was mounted amidships in the chassis. With the lovely Drogo body fitted, the 206 S Dino tipped the scales at just under 600 kg (1,420 pounds), 

Ahead of the February 1966 launch, Ferrari had already been experimenting with a new mid-engine racer known as the 166 P, which was initially raced with a 1.6-liter version of the engine during the 1965 season. It was fitted with several body variants that ranged from a coupe to a cut-down spyder. As a result, the production 206 S Dino was available with both a coupe and spyder body depending on the customer's requirements.

There was one small hitch in Ferrari's plan: in order for the 206 S Dino to be homologated as a Group 4 GT racer, at least 50 examples had to be produced in a 12-month period. Unfortunately for the Italian manufacturer, labor unrest brought production to a halt, and understandably, Ferrari focused all its attention on readying the cars for the 1966 Formula 1 and Le Mans campaigns. This forced the few 206 S Dinos that were built to compete as prototypes. 

The final 206 S Dino ever produced was originally used as a road car. It's seen here at the 2004 Goodwood Revival. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

This was a cruel twist of fate as the 206 S Dino proved to be as quick as it was beautiful. At the type's competition debut, the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours, Scarfiotti even led the race briefly just after the start. But the reliability of the car was not up to Ferrari's usual levels and teething issues prevented the Dino from converting the pace in many notable results. Highlights in 1966 included class wins at the Nürburgring and Spa and an outright victory in the Coppa Citta di Enna on Sicily.

In the second half of the year, Ludovico Scarfiotti used one of the Dinos to defend his European Hill Climb championship but struggled against Gerhard Mitter in an eight-cylinder Porsche. He did win a round and several other privateers successfully campaigned their 206 S Dinos in local events. Due to the labor trouble, only 18 examples eventually were built of the lovely little Dino. They were raced for many years, and one was even fitted with a body that resembled the much later 312 PB sports car.

Although not one of Ferrari's most successful racers, the 206 S Dino does remain as one of the prettiest cars to roll off the Maranello line. With 18 built, they are not quite as rare as the similarly styled 330 P3 and 330 P4 models but they are still highly sought after and quite a few have been in the same hands for many years. 

The third Dino Spyder built was raced extensively, then sidelined with a seized engine in 1969. A new block was eventually cast and the car was back on track. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

The car coming up for sale in Monaco, chassis 006, was the third production 206 S Dino and supplied new to Colonel Ronnie J. Hoare's Marenello Concessionaires Racing Team. It was raced all around Europe by the likes of Mike Parkes, David Piper and Mike Hailwood in the striking Maranello Concessionaires colors. 

Parkes achieved the car's best result when finished sixth overall and first in class during the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. In August of 1967, Ronnie Hoare sold the 206 S Dino on to privateer racer Gustaf Dieden through the Swedish Ferrari concessionaire.

Dieden raced the car at several events before a crash forced him to return the car to Maranello to have the left-front corner repaired. The Dino was later sold and campaigned by fellow Swedes Hans Wangstre and Evert Christofferson under the Team Bam-Bam in such international events as the Nürburgring 1000 km and Targa Florio. 

In 1969, the V6 seized and it was replaced by an experimental Volvo engine, effectively ending its competitive racing career. The current owner acquired the car soon after and put it in storage until a replacement engine could be found. Eventually, the original drawings were used to cast a series of four new blocks in the late 1980s; the owner also had bought a second chassis with a damaged engine.

The last Dino Spyder, restored and repainted, was seen at the recent Retromobile in Paris. It's now offered for sale by a London collector-car dealer. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Following a full restoration, the car was campaigned in historic events by various drivers. In more-recent years, chassis 006 has been meticulously restored by Tim Samways to its original specification and colors. It is seen here both prior and after the recent restoration, at the 2004 Nürburgring Old Timer Grand Prix and the 2012 Techno Classica.

On May 12, this lovely machine with just four owners from new will be offered for the first time since 1970 by RM Auctions in their Monaco sale. 

The final 206 S Dino produced, chassis 032, is believed to have been sold new to Vincenzo Arcuri. He had the car road registered and apparently never raced it in period. It subsequently passed through the hands of such noted collectors as Corrado Cuppelini, Piere Bardinon, Robert Lamplough and Jacques Setton. The current owner acquired it in 2001 and had it prepared for racing. 




Wouter Melissen  | http://www.ultimatecarpage.com 
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San Francisco Motorsports - Ferrari F70 New Enzo gets Rendered

When it launches next year, the Ferrari F70 will not only be the Italian automakers first hybrid vehicle, but will also carry the lofty expectations of successfully succeeding the fabled F1-inspired Ferrari Enzo supercar.

There is already a ton of buzz surrounding Ferrari’s upcoming Enzo successor, the Ferrari F70, and here to add a little more excitement are some beautifully rendered images of what this Maranello masterpiece might look like when it launches.

Before we really get into it, though, here is what we know so far: First, we know Ferrari was recently on hand at the Beijing Motor Show showing off its latest HY-KERS hybrid system. This monstrous V12 is set to feature in the Ferrari F70 and offer enhanced levels of performance a standard engine system could not. Second, we know that the F70 will feature lithium-ion batteries supplied by South Korean electronics giant Samsung, and become the first hybrid ever to come out of Maranello. Third, the F70 will utilize “advanced F1 technology” much the way the Enzo did with its liberal usage of carbon fiber, active aerodynamics, and traction control. And finally, we know it’s probably going to be all sorts of awesome.

As for the renders you see – sadly they aren’t real or official. But they do come by way of industrial designer — and current employee of Italian styling house Pininfarina’s German subsidiary in Rüsselsheim — Constantin-Gabriel Radu.

Considering Radu’s work is simply a design exercise and nothing more, we can’t really speak to any performance related aspects. From an overall aesthetic perspective, though, we appreciate the uncomplicated curvature of his faux Ferrari F70 and find it more appetizing to our automotive palette than what’s found on the current Enzo. In fact, it’s no secret that our (and many others’) main gripe with the Enzo has always been its rather unattractive appearance. To be fair, the Enzo was always meant to act as an ultra-performance vehicle, not light up the racetrack with its stunning good looks.

True as that was, is, and always will be, Radu’s take on the Ferrari F70 manages to instill a visually impressive design reminiscent in some ways of the 458 Italia, while managing a nod and glance here and there to its predecessor in the process. This is especially evident when looking at rear design’s two-by two cylindrical taillamps. However, Radu’s work, while good, seems unfinished. Particularly when glancing over the models flat hood, which is devoid of any real aerodynamic shaping. And considering the Ferrari F70 will be one suped’ up hunk of metal and carbon fiber — estimates place the combined output of its 12 cylinder engine and electric motor above 900 horsepower — it’s going to need a lot more cooling vents than what’s currently displayed.

Still, while we don’t know what the final Enzo successor/Ferrari F70 will look like, Radu’s renderings — and connection to Pininfarina — may at least provide us with just enough clairvoyance, and plenty to talk about, until Ferrari official draws the curtain over its first green-machine next yea

by Amir Iliaifar
source: www.digitaltrends.com

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