Words & Photos: Jathu Thillai
Thirty seven years after Gianpiero Moretti first began racing, he finally won the Daytona 24 Hours. It was the ambition he had chased for most of his life, and it came true through persistence and determination. His dream also pushed Ferrari to build one of its most successful sports prototypes.
Moretti started racing in 1961 in hill climbs. He quickly earned a reputation for his skill and was even offered a factory drive by Bizzarrini, which he declined. His passion was not just racing cars, but improving them. In the 1950s and 60s, cars often used large wooden steering wheels that were difficult to handle. Moretti designed a smaller wheel with better grips and called it MOMO, short for Moretti and Monza. The idea caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who commissioned a MOMO wheel for the 1964 Ferrari Formula 1 car. That season, John Surtees won the championship, and MOMO’s connection with Maranello was cemented. From then on, Ferrari cars—both road and race—used MOMO wheels. Moretti’s frequent visits to Maranello also led to a close friendship with Enzo’s son, Piero Ferrari.
By the late 1980s, Ferrari had withdrawn from sports car racing to focus on Formula 1, with little success. McLaren and Williams dominated the era, and after Enzo Ferrari’s death in 1988, the company was left in transition. Luca di Montezemolo became president in 1991, intent on focusing Ferrari solely on Formula 1 and the road car business. But when Moretti, a long-time Ferrari supplier and close friend of Piero, asked for a sports prototype, it was hard to ignore. Moretti wanted a car capable of racing in both America and Europe. Luca agreed, but only under the condition that Ferrari would supply the cars to private teams and not race them directly. Each car would cost around a million dollars.
That decision led to one of the most ambitious privateer projects Ferrari had ever backed. Piero Ferrari assembled a team of heavyweights: Tony Southgate of Jaguar XJR fame, Giampaolo Dallara, Mauro Rioli from Ferrari’s F1 department, and Giorgio Camaschella. They took the 3.5 liter V12 from Ferrari’s 1990 Formula 1 car and enlarged it to 4 liters, producing 640 horsepower at 11,000 rpm. The car was named 333 SP—333 for the capacity of each cylinder, SP for Sports Prototype. It debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in early 1994, and four cars were built for private teams: one for Moretti’s MOMO Corse, two for Euromotorsport, and one for Team Scandia (chassis 003 pictured here).
From Maranello’s drawing boards to Road Atlanta’s tarmac, the jump was immediate. The 333 SP made its race debut at Road Atlanta in 1994, the third round of the season. Road Atlanta is a demanding circuit with long straights, blind corners, and sharp elevation changes. It was also the first time the car was raced in anger. In qualifying, three 333 SPs took the front three grid positions, while Moretti and Eliseo Salazar started 14th. During the race, MOMO Corse carved through the field, climbing from 14th to second place. Jay Cochran won in the Euromotorsport entry, giving Ferrari a one-two finish in its very first outing. It was a remarkable debut, followed by a clean sweep at Lime Rock, where 333 SPs filled the podium with Moretti’s MOMO Corse on top. More wins followed, though the cars had missed the first two rounds and could not capture the championship.
The 1995 season began with disappointment at Daytona, where only one 333 SP finished the race, down in seventh. That low was quickly balanced by a high at Sebring. The Florida air was heavy, the old concrete runways rattled teeth and suspension alike, and Sebring remained one of endurance racing’s crown jewels. Four 333 SPs started near the front, their V12s cutting through the morning haze. A rainstorm swept in around noon, soaking the track and shaking the order. For a time the MOMO car led, grinding along in fourth gear after a gearbox failure, before fading back. The fight carried on into the night, headlights stabbing through steam rising off the damp pavement. In the end it was Team Scandia’s chassis 003, with Fermin Velez, Andy Evans, and Eric Van de Poele sharing the wheel, that surged across the line. Ferrari had not won at Sebring in 23 years. The paddock erupted, and the sound of that twelve cylinder carried the weight of history. With four more victories that year, Ferrari also secured the IMSA manufacturer’s title.
The high of Sebring was followed by harder years. The 1996 season proved difficult as Riley & Scott’s Mk III became the car to beat. By 1997 the 333 SP was showing its age, though at Sebring it still managed another historic win. Team Scandia’s chassis 003 repeated its 1995 success, becoming only the second Ferrari to win the same endurance race twice. Moretti, however, was still chasing the victory that mattered most to him: Daytona.
For 1998, Tony Southgate updated the car’s aerodynamics to keep it competitive. Moretti was 58 and nearing the end of his career, but he refused to quit without a Daytona win. He joked that he could have bought a drawer full of Rolex watches—the prize for winning—given the money he had already spent chasing it. Three 333 SPs qualified at the front, and for 24 hours they traded the lead. By morning, only Moretti’s MOMO car was left in contention. With Arie Luyendyk, Mauro Baldi, and Didier Theys sharing driving duties, Moretti climbed in for the final stint. The Florida sun was low, the grandstands buzzing, the Ferrari V12 echoing across the infield. Thirty seven years after he first strapped into a race car, he guided the red prototype across the line. Daytona was his at last, and Ferrari’s too—its first win there in 31 years, claimed not by the factory but by a privateer. Moretti and his car went on to win at Sebring and Watkins Glen the same year, securing two legs of endurance racing’s triple crown. Only Le Mans remained.
Team Moretti entered the 333 SP at Le Mans in 1997, sharing driving with Didier Theys and Max Papis. It was consistent and reliable, but slower than the Joest Porsche by nearly 20 km/h. The Ferrari ran hard through the night, its headlights cutting tunnels through the fog and drizzle, and finished sixth overall and third in class. In 1998, Moretti tried again, joined by Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys. This time they started from 21st and clawed their way forward, but the lack of straight line speed on the Mulsanne straight was clear every lap. They finished 14th overall, third in class. Moretti’s dream of winning Le Mans never materialized, but his conquest of American endurance racing was complete.
His failure at Le Mans weighed heavily, but the triumphs in America defined his career. Moretti retired later in 1998, stepping away from both racing and the MOMO business. He passed away in 2012, but his legacy is still felt. The Ferrari 333 SP is remembered as one of the company’s great prototypes, with 126 entries, 387 starts, 47 wins, and 12 major championships from 1994 to 2003. Forty cars were built in total—four by Ferrari, 11 by Dallara, and 26 by Michelotto. The car pictured here is chassis 003, raced by Team Scandia from its debut in 1994. It went on to win Sebring twice and even claimed a late victory in 2002 at Monza, before retiring in 2003.
With little factory support, the 333 SP became one of Ferrari’s most successful cars of the 1990s. And it all came from the determination of one man. Imagine if Gianpiero Moretti had given up on his dream.
