Ferrari 333 SP

Chassis-Nummer: 003: «As its chassis number denotes, the F333 SP we’re honoured to be offering – 003 – was the third example produced and thus built by Ferrari in Maranello. Prior to delivery to its first private owner, Andy Evans of Scandia Motorsport in the United States, Ferrari took the opportunity to exhibit this F333 SP on its stand at the 1994 Geneva Motor Show, among its entire range of road-going models. Chassis 003’s first public appearance on European soil set the rumour mill swirling, for the motorsport world believed it signalled the Prancing Horse’s intentions to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In part, the rumours were true. Shortly after the Geneva salon, this F333 SP was sent across the pond where it was poised to contest select rounds of the 1994 IMSA GT Championship in the top-flight WSC category. Racing under the Scandia Motorsport banner, chassis 003 was raced primarily by the team owner and Wall Street banker Andy Evans, with guest drivers including Ross Bentley, Charles Morgan and Fermín Vélez. And it proved to be a successful campaign. Two podiums – in The New England Dodge Dealers Grand Prix at Lime Rock and the Indy Grand Prix at Indianapolis – were crowned by a stellar outright victory in the Monterey Sports Car Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Evans’ 169 points were good for fourth overall in the title standings.
The 1995 IMSA World Sports Car Championship beckoned for this Ferrari F333 SP, which was once again racing for Andy Evans’ Scandia Motorsport outfit. If the curtain-raising Daytona 24 Hours didn’t go the number-three crew’s way (the engine gave up the ghost) then the 12 Hours of Sebring which followed more than made up for it. Unusually for the Florida endurance classic, proceedings were plagued by inclement weather, so much so that the race had to be halted for an hour as darkness fell. Evans and his copilots Fermín Vélez and Eric van de Poele engaged in a race-long tussle with the Chevrolet-powered Spice of endurance veterans Derek Bell, Andy Wallace, Jan Lammers and Morris Shirazi. But when the chequered flag fell, it was the F333 SP of Scandia Motorsport which crossed the line first, claiming an emphatic victory. It was the first time a Ferrari had triumphed at Sebring since Messrs. Andretti and Ickx in 1972 – 23 years prior. The incredible result was nothing short of a fairy tale. Highlights for chassis 003 from the remainder of the 1995 season included podiums at Lime Rock and Sears Point and an excellent outright victory in the 2 Hours of Phoenix. After what had been a stellar year of racing, Fermín Vélez was crowned the IMSA Exxon World Sports Car Championship Drivers’ champion and Ferrari duly won the manufacturers’ gong.
While this F333 SP did contest the final three rounds of the following year’s IMSA World Sports Car Championship, chassis 003’s 1996 was predominantly preoccupied by the world’s greatest endurance motor race: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mounting an assault on the French endurance classic was a significant undertaking, necessitating an alliance from Evans’ Scandia Motorsport outfit. It teamed up with the fellow American team RocketSports Racing, which would enter chassis number 003 at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Ahead of Le Mans, Dallara had worked closely with acclaimed designer Tony Southgate to optimise the F333 SP’s bodywork for the Circuit de la Sarthe’s long straights – an update chassis 003 duly received. The package included smoother bodywork with a large side-mounted air intake, extra-thin low-drag splitter and front wing, lateral deflectors to reduce cockpit turbulence and new four-piston Brembo brake calipers. At the traditional Le Mans pre-qualifying session in April of 1996, the raw pace of the revised F333 SP quickly became apparent: chassis 003, driven by Paul Gentilozzi and Eric van de Poele, recorded a best lap time of 3min48.6sec – good enough for second overall behind the second Scandia Motorsport-entered F333 SP. Naturally it didn’t take long for the news to reach Maranello. Ferrari’s top brass was confident yet cautious and actually urged Evans to not risk the cars in Thursday’s subsequent sessions but instead focus on setting them up for the race itself. Naturally, Evans heeded the advice, even if it meant sacrificing pole position. Alas, come Saturday and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lady Luck was not smiling on the Scandia Motorsport team. Evans started in the number 18 – an eventful stint which culminated in a rather red-faced retirement when his F333 SP ran out of fuel around two hours into the race.
In the long competition career of this Ferrari F333 SP, its zenith was arguably reached at the beginning of the 1997 IMSA World Sports Car Championship. Evans, who by this point had acquired a controlling stake of the International Motor Sports Association, had two last dalliances with chassis number 003 ahead of him – and in the two most prestigious races on the calendar to boot: the Daytona 24 Hours and the 12 Hours of Sebring. A bumper field of 80 cars took to the start of the Daytona 24 Hours in 1997, 16 of which were vying for outright honours in the World Sports Car class. Andy Evans and Fermín Vélez were joined in chassis number 003 by the American brothers Charles and Rob Morgan for the twice-round-the-clock affair. And they got off to a great start on the world-famous banking, Fermín Vélez entering a lap of 1min40.5sec – pole position and almost half a second quicker than the Moretti Racing-entered Ferrari F333 SP. Despite narrowly missing out on victory in the race (the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott crossed the finish line a paltry lap ahead), a second-place trophy and the fastest race lap were very welcome spoils for Scandia Motorsport. The 1997 12 Hours of Sebring presented Scandia’s Andy Evans with a scenario never seen in top-flight motorsport before, nor we suspect since. Not only did he own the team running the car he was due to race, but he also owned the series in which he was racing and the Sebring International Raceway itself. The Daytona driver lineup may have been proven, but Evans couldn’t resist adding a little spice for this most special of occasions. The Swedish Formula 1 veteran Stefan Johansson and the French four-time Le Mans winner Yannick Dalmas were drafted in to support Evans and Vélez. The partnership would prove to be a fruitful one: for the second time in its career, chassis 003 triumphed in the classic Florida endurance race. To our knowledge, there is only one other Ferrari chassis to have won the 12 Hours of Sebring on two occasions and that’s the 250 TRI/61 chassis number 0792 TR».