In 1967, the Daytona 24 Hours marked the first round of the World Sports Prototype Championship. Mauro Forghieri had designed the new 330 P4, while some P3s had been updated to become the 330 P3/P4. The car boasted sophisticated aerodynamics, developed in the wind tunnels of Pininfarina and Stuttgart Polytechnic, in Germany, the city of Mercedes and Porsche.
The P4 offered less air resistance, more downforce and a nose that grazed the asphalt. Its V12 engine was that of the Formula 1 car in which Ludovico Scarfiotti won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, with twin camshafts and three valves per cylinder, a displacement of four liters, and 450 horsepower. It also had a new gearbox, made in-house by Ferrari, and a new suspension.
Moreover, despite the high cost of the entire trip, Scuderia Ferrari decided to carry out a preparatory day of testing at Daytona in December 1966. The results were excellent. Enzo Ferrari appointed journalist Franco Lini, a competent and courteous person with an in-depth knowledge of the international regulations, as sporting director.
All went well in the race. The Ferraris dominated, and then Lini had a stroke of genius: he ordered the drivers of the Ferraris in the first three places to cross the finish line (on the raised stretch) in a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade. The photo, one of the most famous in motoring history, was released by US press agencies and traveled around the globe. The triumphant finish ended up on the front pages of the most prestigious newspapers and marked Ferrari’s revenge over its American rivals.
The final result saw the 330 P3/P4 (P3 chassis and P4 engine) crewed by Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon, ahead of the 330 P4 driven by Mike Parkes and Scarfiotti and the 412 P of Luigi Chinetti’s NART driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Jean Guichet. Bandini and Amon then repeated the feat at Monza in the 1000 km and at the end of the season, Ferrari claimed the Constructor Championship.
Original article from the Ferrari Magazine
