Review: Ferrari 330 P3 - 1966 World Sportscar Championship
Background
Despite an upturn in speed and reliability, Ford had still been easily defeated by Ferrari during the 1965 season.
For 1966, a new regulatory framework came into effect which saw the de-facto World Sportscar Championship (dubbed the International Manufacturers Championship) revert to a contest for Prototype and Sports machinery as opposed to production-based Grand Tourers.
Out-and-out Prototype machinery was put into Group 6 where there was no minimum production requirement. Classes for cars with over and under two-litre engines were organised and the title would be decided by a manufacturer’s best four results from a possible seven races (eight in the case of the under two-litre class).
The seven races that comprised the premier over two-litre category of the 1966 International Manufacturers Championship were the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, Monza 1000km, Targa Florio, Spa 1000km, Nurburgring 1000km and Le Mans 24 Hours.
Running simultaneously at most events (and with several stand alone races for the smaller engined machinery) was the International Sports Car Championship for Group 4 cars. To qualify for Group 4, a manufacturer had to build 50 examples of the vehicle they wanted to race. The three Group 4 classes were for under 1300cc machinery, those with engines between 1301cc and 2000cc, and those displacing over 2000cc.
Group 3 Grand Touring cars were still permitted to run at most events, but were no longer eligible for championship points. Significantly, the minimum production requirement had been hiked from 100 to 500 vehicles.
To contest the over two-litre Group 6 category, Ferrari created the 330 P3 which would go head-to-head with Ford’s seven-litre Mk2 GT40s and the General Motors-backed Chaparral 2D.
Ferrari also came up with a new car to contest the under two-litre class of the Group 4 championship: the Dino 206 S. However, as a consequence of frequent labour strikes, the Dino never met the 50 car produciton requirement and had to run as a Group 6 machine instead.
Scuderia Ferrari’s driver roster for 1966 was exceptional. It comprised Mike Parkes, John Surtees, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Nino Vaccarella, Lorenzo Bandini, Jean Guichet, Pedro Rodriguez, Bob Bondurant and Mario Casoni.
Ford announced early on that they would officially target just three rounds of the International Manufacturers Championship: the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours.
By contrast, Ferrari would attend every race bar the season-opener at Daytona where the Fords finished first, second, third and fifth. The best-placed Ferrari had been NART’s 365 P2 which took fourth in the hands of Pedro Rodriguez and Mario Andretti.
1966 Sebring 12 Hours
Scuderia Ferrari entered two cars for the Sebring 12 Hours on March 26th: a P3 Spyder for Mike Parkes / Bob Bondurant (chassis 0846) and a Dino 206 S for Ludovico Scarfiotti / Lorenzo Bandini. The only other Group 6 Ferrari in the race was NART’s 365 P2 for Pedro Rodriguez and Mario Andretti.
The Ford challenge comprised four Mk2 GT40s from Shelby and Holman Moody while GM were represented in the top class by a pair of Chaparral 2Ds.
Pole position went to the Dan Gurney / Jerry Grant Mk2 GT40. Parkes / Bondurant lined up second in the P3 which had to undergo an engine change during practice when the original power unit blew.
The rest of the top ten comprised Graham Hill / Jackie Stewart (Alan Mann Mk1 GT40), Walt Hansgen / Mark Donohue (Mk2 GT40), Ken Miles / Lloyd Ruby (Mk2 GT40 Roadster), Hap Sharp / Jim Hall (Chaparral 2D), John Whitmore / Frank Gardner (Alan Mann Mk1 GT40), Jo Bonnier / Phil Hill (Chaparral 2D), Pedro Rodriguez / Mario Andretti (NART Ferrari 365 P2) and AJ Foyt / Ronnie Bucknum (Mk2 GT40).
The race got underway with a Le Mans-type start at 10am which saw Bandini’s works Dino shoot into an early lead. Graham Hill took over at the head of the field halfway round the opening lap; he and Parkes then crossed the line side-by-side at the end of lap two.
Parkes took the lead on lap three and set about building a gap to the chasing pack. However, pole starter Gurney was setting even quicker times as he carved through the field following a slow start.
By lap 25, Gurney had passed Parkes who was clearly not prepared to push the P3 too hard at this early stage. By the end of the second hour, the P3 had dropped to third behind Gurney and Miles with only five cars still on the lead lap.
During the fourth hour, disaster struck when Bob McLean’s Comstock Racing Team Ford GT40 appeared to lock solid coming out of The Esses which caused the car to veer violently off to the right and hit a ditch which catapulted it into air. The GT40 rolled end over end and hit a telegraph pole which ruptured the passenger-side fuel tank and caused the car to explode in a ball of fire.
It took the Sebring fire marshals around half an hour to get blaze under control. Poor Bob McLean, the 1965 Canadian Sportscar Champion, was killed in the horrific accident.
As ever, the race continued and by the sixth hour Gurney led from Parkes with Miles a lap behind.
Two hours later, Miles had moved up to second and the P3 was lying third with all three cars still on the same lap.
As darkness approached, Parkes / Bondurant had regained second spot with Miles having stopped for fuel. Unfortunately though, just after 7pm Bondurant was left stranded out on track when the P3’s gearbox seized on lap 172.
Around an hour later, the NART P2 was involved in a disastrous incident that saw four spectators lose their lives. A locked wheel during Mario Andretti's stint saw the American driver collide with a Porsche 906 that subsequently careered off track into the crowd. Had the precise scale of the incident been known at the time, it seems unlikely that Luigi Chinetti's team would have continued. As it happened, the P2 was undergoing repair back in the pits when a fire started and the car was doused in extinguisher foam which led to its withdrawal from the race.
Fords went on to finish first (Miles / Ruby), second (Hansgen / Donohue) and third (Scott / Revson). The best placed Ferrari was the works Dino 206 S of Scarfiotti / Bandini which came home fifth (second in class).
1966 Monza 1000km
Ferrari made the unusual decision to skip the annual Le Mans Test weekend in early April; it was claimed they were happy to conduct their high speed running at Monza, but labour disputes may also have played a part.
A solitary P3 Berlinetta appeared for the Monza 1000km on April 25th (chassis 0844) which marked the return of John Surtees after a near fatal crash in the Canadian Grand Prix Can-Am race the previous September.
The P3 for Surtees / Parkes was joined by a pair of works Dinos for Bandini / Scarfiotti and Vaccarella / Bondurant (the latter of which was lost after a practice shunt). Also in support were a pair of semi-official entries from Scuderia Sant Ambroeus (a 250 LM and another Dino).
Monza was significant for the debut appearance of an updated customer Group 6 Ferrari: the 365 P2/3 entered by Ecurie Francorchamps. Ford decided to stay away in an official capacity (as did Chaparral) which left Ferrari to face off against a gaggle of privateer 4.7-litre Group 4 Mk1 GT40s.
Qualifying saw the P3 easily grab pole with a time ten seconds faster around the 10.1km circuit than that of the Essex Wire Corporation GT40 driven by Skip Scott / Peter Revson.
The rest of the top ten comprised Masten Gregory / John Whitmore (Essex Wire Corporation Mk1 GT40), Innes Ireland / Chris Amon (F. English Ltd. Mk1 GT40), Lorenzo Bandini / Ludovico Scarfiotti (works Dino 206 S), Lucien Bianchi / Jean Blaton (Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 365 P2/3), Herbert Muller / Willy Mairesse (Scuderia Filipinetti Mk1 GT40), Giampiero Biscaldi / Mario Casoni (Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Dino 206 S), Gerhard Mitter / Hans Herrman (works Porsche 906) and Carlo Facetti / Nino Vaccarella (Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Ferrari 250 LM).
After near perfect weather for the two practice days, the race took place in horrible wet and windy conditions.
Proceedings got underway with a rolling start from which Surtees led the field away chased by the two Essex Wire GT40s of Revson and Whitmore. Both of these had been passed by Ireland in his F. English machine by the start of lap two.
By lap five, Surtees already had a 32 sec lead over Ireland and thereafter continued to pull away at a steady rate. The gap was further increased when Ireland went out after an oil pipe broke on his GT40 during lap 13.
On lap 17, Revson had a moment which forced team-mate Whitmore to take evasive action which allowed Gerhard Mitter’s Porsche into second spot and Lucien Bianchi into fourth with the Francorchamps P2/3.
Having coming in on lap 20 for fuel and a driver change, the P3 was returned to the pits almost immediately with Parkes complaining of windscreen wiper failure. The problem could not be fixed so chassis 0844 ran the remainder of the 100 lap race without a functioning wiper.
Despite the delay, at the two hour mark Surtees / Parkes led the Whitmore / Gregory GT40 by 79 seconds.
At the 40 lap mark the P3 had lapped the entire field and by mid-distance it was obvious that, barring any mechanical gremlins, the P3 had the race in the bag.
Chassis 0844 ran like clockwork until the end and Surtees / Parkes took a dominant win from Whitmore / Gregory in the Essex Wire GT40. Muller / Mairesse claimed the final podium spot in their Filipinetti GT40.
1966 Targa Florio
As had been the case at Monza two weeks prior, there were no works Fords or Chaparrals at the Targa Florio on May 8th which meant Ferrari’s most likely opposition would come from the factory Porsche squad with their nimble 906 under two-litre Group 6 Prototypes.
Scuderia Ferrari entered their P3 Spyder (0846) for Vaccarella / Bandini plus a pair of works Dinos for Scarfiotti / Parkes and Guichet / Baghetti. There was also an experimental 250 LM with a four-litre engine which ran under a Scuderia Sant Ambroeus entry along with another Dino from the same equipe.
Saturday practice was one of the wettest days on record and washed inches of mud onto many sections of the track. More rain on race day resulted in conditions unequalled in recent memory.
Although no qualifying took place around the 72km Little Madonie circuit, Gunther Klass unofficially went quickest in the experimental eight cylinder Porsche 906 he shared with Colin Davis. Klass was 1.4 seconds faster than Vaccarella in the P3, after which came the Parkes / Scarfiotti Dino and the Mitter / Bonnier works 906.
The first car was flagged away soon after 8am on Sunday with some parts of the track dry and others wet.
At the end of lap one, Vaccarella led Mitter’s Porsche by 3.1 seconds. Scarfiotti’s works Dino was a further 33.9 seconds down the road, behind which were the works Porsches of Mairesse and Klass.
During lap two the rain began to fall and Mitter put in a storming lap to take the lead from Vaccarella. Klass moved up to third demoting Scarfiotti’s Dino to fourth.
It was raining even harder on lap three, by the end of which Vaccarella had re-taken the lead in the P3 and established a seven second gap to Mitter. Most of the top cars then came in for fuel and a driver change.
By the end of lap four the positions had changed again and in the horrible conditions Davis had established a two-and-a-half minute lead in the eight cylinder 906 over Bandini who was now behind the wheel of the P3.
At the end of lap five, Porsche called Davis in early to hand the 906 back to Klass who pushed hard to try and regain the lead which he did by the end of lap six when Bandini stopped for fuel at the Polizzi fork in the mountains. Bandini subsequently set off in pursuit of Klass, but shortly after Cerda he clipped a kerb and put the P3 off the road and that was the end of the P3’s race.
Later on the same lap (lap six of ten), Klass and Mitter had a coming together which caused Mitter to immediately crash out. Klass subsequently retired with damage sustained from the incident at the beginning of lap eight.
The race was ultimately won by the works / Scuderia Filipinetti 906 of Willy Mairesse / Herbert Muller which finished eight-and-a-half minutes ahead of the class-winning Dino driven by Guichet / Baghetti. Vincenzo Arena / Antonio Pucci rounded out the podium in their works 906.
1966 Spa 1000km
Following its dominant win at Monza, the P3 Berlinetta (chassis 0844) was trucked to Belgium for the Spa 1000km on May 22nd.
For this event, the P3 was allocated to Mike Parkes / Ludovico Scarfiotti; it was the only official works Ferrari in the race although a factory-owned Dino was entered by Maranello Concessionaires for Richard Attwood / Jean Guichet. These two cars were supported by the Ecurie Francorchamps P2/3 of Lucien Bianchi / Jean Blaton and the freshly uprated P2/3 of David Piper / Mike Salmon.
In preparation for Le Mans, Ford had sent a solitary Mk2 GT40 for the Alan Mann squad to ruace at Spa; the British team would be joining Shelby and Holman Moody in running works Mk2s at la Sarthe in four weeks time.
From the practice times it was clear the race was going to be a battle between Parkes / Scarfiotti in the P3 and John Whitmore / Frank Gardner in the Mk2 GT40. Ferrari ultimately secured pole with a time 3.3 seconds quicker than the Ford around the 14.1km track.
The rest of the top ten lined up as follows: Peter Revson / Skip Scott (Essex Wire Corporation Mk1 GT40), Lucien Bianchi / Jean Blaton (Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 365 P2/3), Chris Amon / Innes Ireland (F. English Ltd. Mk1 GT40), Herbert Muller / Willy Mairesse (Scuderia Filipinetti Mk1 GT40), Peter Sutcliffe / Brian Redman (Sutcliffe Mk1 GT40), David Hobbs / Jochen Neerpasch (Essex Wire Corporation Mk1 GT40), Hans Herrmann / Dieter Glemser (works Porsche 906) and David Piper / Mike Salmon (Piper Ferrari 365 P2/3).
Parkes made a tremendous start in the P3 to lead Revson, Whitmore, Bianchi and Amon down into Eau Rouge. On the second lap he set a new lap record and had established a 15 second lead over Whitmore who had passed Revson to take second in the seven-litre Mk2 GT40.
Parkes continued set a blistering pace and encountered the first backmarkers on lap four.
With a dozen laps gone the P3 had lapped all but the first five cars.
With 15 of the 71 laps down the order was Parkes (P3), Whitmore (Mk2 GT40), Revson (Essex Wire Mk1 GT40), Bianchi (Francorchamps P2/3), Sutcliffe’s privateer Mk1 GT40 and Piper in his privateer P2/3 which was struggling with gearbox trouble and a down-on-power engine.
Soon afterwards, the pits became a hive of activity as the lead cars came in for their scheduled stops. Scarfiotti rejoined with the P3 still holding a very healthy lead; by the end of lap 30 the Ferrari had lapped third place man Scott and Gardner was two minutes down the road in the second placed Mk2 GT40.
Together, Parkes and Scarfiotti continued to steadily increase the gap until the end. They scored a dominant and promising victory over the seven-litre Ford which bode well for Le Mans in four weeks time. Revson / Scott took the final podium position in their Group 4 Essex Wire GT40.
1966 Nurburgring 1000km
The penultimate International Manufacturers Championship event of 1966 was the Nurburgring 1000km on June 5th. Ferrari took both their P3 Spyder (0846) and Berlinetta (0844) to Germany, but having tried both cars in practice, Surtees and Parkes opted to race the open top variant.
Scuderia Ferrari also had a pair of Dinos on hand for Scarfiotti / Bandini and Rodriguez / Ginther – much was expected from the little cars owing to the tight and twisty nature of the 22.8km Eifel mountain circuit.
Although no factory Fords were on hand, the Chaparral squad chose this event to make their European debut; the solitary 2D in attendance for Jo Bonnier / Phil Hill was running a two-speed automatic transmission.
Few privateer Mk1 GT40s made the trip to Germany as these Group 4 cars were deemed too big and cumbersome.
Surtees / Parkes took pole in the P3 with a best lap 3.5 seconds quicker than the Chaparral.
The rest of the top ten lined up as follows: Jochen Rindt / Nino Vaccarella (works Porsche 906/8), Ludovico Scarfiotti / Lorenzo Bandini (works Dino 206 S), Hans Herrmann / Dieter Glemser (works Porsche 906), Udo Schutz / Gunther Klass (works Porsche 906), Bob Bondurant / Paul Hawkins (works Porsche 906), Jo Siffert / Charles Vogele (Vogele privateer 906), Pedro Rodriguez / Richie Ginther (works Dino 206 S) and John Whitmore / Jochen Neerpasch (Essex Wire Corporation Mk1 GT40).
The 44 lap race got underway with a Le Mans-type start which saw Scarfiotti’s Dino first away ahead of Schutz (906), Herrmann (906) and Whitmore (GT40).
Both Surtees in the P3 and Bonnier’s Chaparral were slow to move off in fifth and seventh respectively. However, by the time the field reached Adenau Crossing, Surtees had moved to the head of the field and as the cars flashed by at the end of lap one, the Englishman led from Scarfiotti (Dino), Bonnier (Chaparral), Schutz (906), Herrmann (906), Attwood (Maranello Concessionaires Dino) and Rodriguez (works Dino).
By the end of lap two Bonnier had moved the Chaparral into second but Surtees continued to extend his advantage and with five laps gone the gap had grown to 90 seconds.
Just before the end of the first hour, Surtees unexpectedly brought the P3 into the pits where a rear shock absorber was changed. It rejoined down in 22nd place with Parkes now at the wheel and the Dinos of Scarfiotti and Rodriguez continuing to harry Bonnier’s Chaparral at the head of the field.
Parkes had got the P3 up to seventh by the time he handed it back on lap 18, but Surtees did just one lap before the suspension collapsed again. After a very long stop, Parkes went back out, but any hope of a recovery were dashed on lap 35 when chassis 0846 retired with clutch failure.
Jo Bonnier and Phil Hill went on to secure a famous win for the Chaparral which finished just 42 seconds ahead of the Scarfiotti / Bandini Dino. Another 33 seconds down the road was the sister car of Rodriguez / Ginther as the Dinos caused a major upset on Porsche’s home soil.
1966 Le Mans 24 Hours
With two wins apiece for Ford and Ferrari in the 1966 International Manufacturers Championship, everything came down to the Le Mans 24 Hours which took place over the weekend of June 18th and 19th.
The Scuderia Ferrari contingent comprised a trio of P3s: the existing Berlinetta (0844) for Guichet / Bandini, a brand new Berlinetta (0848) for Parkes / Surtees) and the Spyder (0846) for Rodriguez / Ginther which ran under a Luigi Chinetti / North American Racing Team entry (NART).
The P3s were supported by four P2/3s from Maranello Concessionaires, Ecurie Francorchamps, Scuderia Filipinetti and NART.
There was also a solitary Chaparral on hand, but the big threat came from Ford which had no less than eight Mk2 GT40s in attendance plus a mass of privateer Mk1s in support.
Having beaten the Alan Mann-entered 7-litre GT40 at Spa, Ferrari may have been optimistic about securing victory at Le Mans. However, things quickly turned sour when John Surtees walked out following a disagreement with divisive team manager, Eugenio Dragoni. Surtees spot alongside Parkes was taken by reserve driver Ludovico Scarfiotti.
Ford dominated qualifying to take the first four grid slots. Pole went to Dan Gurney / Jerry Grant followed by Ken Miles / Denny Hulme, John Whitmore / Frank Gardner and Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon.
Best of the Ferraris was the fifth placed P3 Spyder of Pedro Rodriguez / Richie Ginther, after which came Graham Hill / Brian Muir (Mk2 GT40), Mike Parkes / Ludovico Scarfiotti (P3 Berlinetta), Jean Guichet / Lorenzo Bandini (P3 Berlinetta), Ronnie Bucknum / Dick Hutcherson (Mk2 GT40) and Jo Bonnier / Phil Hill (Chaparral 2D).
The P2/3s lined up in 15th (Willy Mairesse / Herbert Muller – Scuderia Filipinetti), 16th (Bob Bondurant / Masten Gregory - NART long tail), 18th (Pierre Dumay / Jean Blaton – Ecurie Francorchamps) and 21st (Richard Attwood / David Piper – Maranello Concessionaires).
The race got underway at 4pm on Saturday. While Rodriguez was nearly the last away in the NART P3, Graham Hill stormed into early lead with his Alan Mann Mk2 GT40.
By the end of lap two the positions had settled down somewhat with the Mk2 GT40s of Gurney, Hill and Bucknum leading the P3s of Parkes and Guichet in fourth and fifth respectively.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez came storming back into the picture and by lap five the Mexican was lying fourth ahead of his Ferrari team-mates.
At the one hour mark, some of the slow-starting Fords had worked their way through the field. At this stage the top ten was as follows: Gurney, Hill, Bucknum (all Mk2 GT40), Rodriguez (P3), Miles (Mk2 GT40), Parkes (P3), Bonnier (Chaparral), McLaren (Mk2 GT40), Amon (Mk2 GT40), Guichet (P3) and Bianchi (Mk2 GT40).
Soon afterwards, the fast recovering Miles who had been setting multiple lap records passed Rodriguez to give the Fords first through fourth.
The race was being run at a tremendous pace and, with four hours gone, the top ten comprised: Miles / Hulme (GT40 Mk2), Gurney / Grant (Mk2 GT40), Rodriguez / Ginther (P3), McLaren / Amon (Mk2 GT40), Bandini / Guichet (P3), Hill / Muir (Mk2 GT40), Bucknum / Hutcherson (Mk2 GT40), Parkes / Scarfiotti (P3), Bianchi / Andretti (Mk2 GT40) and Scott / Revson (Mk1 GT40).
Around 11pm rain began to fall and an hour later things began to go wrong for the Ferraris when both the Guichet / Bandini and Rodriguz / Ginther P3s started to overheat.
At 12:30am the Ferrari challenge was dealt a further blow when Scarfiotti smashed into the back of Jo Schlesser’s near stationary Matra which had been reversing back onto the track at Tertre Rouge having been forced to avoid Georges Heligoin’s CD SP66 accident. 0848’s front end was severely pummelled in the crash and Scarfiotti was taken to hospital with minor bruising.
Two-and-a-half hours later the fourth-placed Rodriguez / Ginther P3 was also out owing to a broken gearbox.
At mid-distance, Ford held the top six positions and the best-placed Ferrari was the P3 of Bandini / Guichet which was limping around in twelfth. It soldiered on for just over four more hours at which time the persistent overheating issues resulted in a blown head gasket.
By this time, all the P2/3s were also out of the race.
Meanwhile, the Mk2 GT40s of McLaren / Amon, Miles / Hulme and Bucknum / Hutcherson came home in first, second and third to take Ford’s first win at Le Mans.
With it, Ford won the 1966 International Manufacturers Championship by 38 points to Ferrari’s 36.
Close Season
During the winter of 1966-1967 all three P3s were rebuilt.
Chassis 0844 was converted into a 412 P and sold to NART.
Chassis 0846 was converted into a 330 P3/4 and retained by Scuderia Ferrari.
Chassis 0848 was converted into a 412 P and sold to Scuderia Filipinetti.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ferrari - https://www.ferrari.com & The Henry Ford Museum - https://www.thehenryford.org/
