Ferrari Wins Sebring!

Sebring, March 22, 1998

Already for the second time in a row, the Moretti Racing Team did win the famous 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida/USA in a Ferrari 333 SP s/n 019. Team boss Gianpiero Moretti and his partners Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys took the win followed in a save distance of about one lap by the Panoz GT1 of David Brabham, Andy Wallace and Doc Bundy.

The 333 SP had been the third car on the grid, and the fastest time in qualifying had also been set by a Ferrari 333 SP s/n 017: Wayne Taylor, pilot for the Doyle-Risi Racing Team, absolved his best lap on the former airfield in just 1:55,052, establishing a new overall qualifying record. Setting a time of 1:55,396, the 333 SP of Moretti had only been slower by about 0,2 seconds.

The Ferrari of the Doyle-Risi Team was piloted by Wayne Taylor, Fermin Velez and Eric van de Poele and eventually came in on 6th position, missing 21 laps on Moretti's winning car.

Since the team of Moretti, Theys and Baldi (Arie Luyendyk was the fourth driver) had already been successful in January when they won the 24 Hours of Daytona, their win at Sebring did fortify their lead in the overall ranking of the PSRC (Professional Sportscar Racing), the championship formerly known as IMSA.

Weather Conditions: Dry, windy
Average Speed : 98.322 mph
Margin of Victory : 1 lap, 31.98 sec
Fastest Lap : 1:57.527 #30 (Theys, Moretti, Baldi) lap 34

The Momo Ferrari 333 SP s/n 019 was offered after the win in the Daytona race for $1.3k, will now John McCaw add this car to most important Ferrari collection in the world.