Page 24 - Ferrari in America

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I N F E R R A R I nor the GTO disappointed, finishing second, and winning the newly elevated GT class
that came with first-place prize money.
Chinetti had a good day, with Sterling Hamill and Fabrizio Serena’s 250 SWB (2725)
in fourth, second in the GT class. It was the same car that Arents and Hamill had used to
win at Pescara the previous year. Serena was an Alitalia Airlines executive, and the airline
was a major sponsor of the race. As another titled person driving a NART car, Serena was
a baron and his wife was a princess descended from the Borghese family.
at Bridgehampton, and then it was time for Le Mans.
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Chinetti provided Denise McCluggage with his OSCA Formula Junior for an SCCA race
The Rodríguez boys were in a factory Dino 246 SP (0796), so Chinetti’s entry was
somewhat limited. Grossman and Fireball Roberts were in the new GTO, the Sebring
winner Grossman bought from Chinetti in May. Peter Ryan and Buck Fulp had a 250 TRI/61
(0794). George Arents joined Sterling Hamill and José Behra in an OSCA 1600 GT (007).
The race was won by Hill and Gendebien in a Ferrari 330 TRI/LM (0808), an updated
4.0-liter version of the 250 TR. GT cars, with various displacements, continued their
ascendancy, taking 11 of the next 12 places. An ironic twist was that the NART GTO was
classified to run in the Experimental Class because its brakes did not match those on the
FIA specification sheet. It ended up sixth overall, and first in class. Had it remained in
the GT class, its placing would have been a class third. The other two NART entries did
not finish.
By the fall season, Chinetti had purchased the 330 TRI/LM that had won Le Mans that
year. Pedro drove it to victory at Bridgehampton, while Bob Grossman, in his GTO painted
NART blue, took second, and first in GT, followed by the Ed Hugus / Charlie Hayes GTO
(3223) in third. Its owner, Bill McKelvy, was a Chinetti customer. As is the case today, the
©2024 David Bull Publishin
Hamptons are extremely social, and many of Chinetti’s customers from neighboring states
were there for the festivities. The parties were almost equal to the racing.
After Ricardo Rodríguez’s F1 debut in 1961, Ferrari hired him as a team member for the
1962 season. Ricardo’s arrangements included a $1,000-per-month retainer, plus $1,200
for each grand prix he started and 40 percent of the prize money. The amounts for sports
cars were $600 starting money plus 25 percent of the prize money.
Although Ferrari won three grand prix that year, none counted toward the World
Grand Prix Championship. Still, Ricardo performed well, with a second, fourth, sixth, and
two retirements. However, he crashed at Zandvoort late in the race after having been
signaled from the pits to slow down. This brought about a call to Ferrari’s office, where
Il Commendatore gave him a dressing-down about his driving style, closing his remarks
with, “I’ll be frank with you, Ricardo—you’ll only be the great driver you want to be if you
learn control. If not, I’m not sure how much longer your ability for improvisation can
save you.” Ferrari, like Chinetti, thought that both the intra-brother rivalry and Don Pedro
pushing Ricardo too hard were negative factors, and wrote Don Pedro to that effect. His
letter was never answered.
©2024 David Bull PubJust as he had the year before, Ferrari declined to enter the season-ending races in
North America. This left Ricardo without a ride in his home grand prix at Mexico City,
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