In the pantheon of great Ferraris to have contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans through the decades, there is one 12-cylinder car that counts a record five editions of the world’s greatest endurance motor race on its résumé: the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive, chassis number CRD03. To honour its five outings at La Sarthe, we created a unique patchwork livery...
Ferrari and Le Mans. A match made in automotive heaven. From the first post-War edition of the world’s greatest endurance motor race in 1949 to the present day, Ferrari has battled – and won – at the Circuit de la Sarthe. And the list of cars with which the Prancing Horse has vied for victory in France can justifiably be described as a pantheon of all-time greats. 166 MM. 375 Plus. 250 Testa Rossa. 250 GT SWB. 250 GTO. 250 LM. 512 S. 312 P/B. 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’. BB/LM. F333 SP. 499P. It’s one helluva roll call. Then again it’s one helluva race: for decades the absolute pinnacle for any manufacturer of sports-racing cars and the greatest stamp of approval.
Did you know the 12-cylinder Ferrari that has contested Le Mans more than any other – and ranks especially strongly in our aforementioned list as a result – is the 550 Maranello Prodrive we’re fortunate enough to call our own? As its Ferrari Classiche certification attests, chassis number CRD03 has five editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its competition résumé. In order to nod to this Ferrari’s unrivalled Le Mans provenance, we created a unique patchwork livery comprising elements of its five outings at La Sarthe for the car’s appearance at Salon Rétromobile in Paris earlier this year.
With Le Mans looming on the horizon and Ferrari looking to make it a hattrick of victories in this, the 60th anniversary of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory’s triumph in 1965, we thought it apt to dive into this 550 Maranello Prodrive’s record five stories from La Sarthe.
Chassis number CRD03 was the very first Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive to turn a lap at the Circuit de la Sarthe – the beginning of a remarkable five-year relationship between this particular car and the world’s greatest motor race. Alain Menu, Rickard Rydell and Tomáš Enge were earmarked to drive under the Prodrive banner.
The 550’s minimalistic maiden livery was not the result of a lack of sponsorship. It was a conscious decision made by Prodrive’s David Richards and the competition car’s esteemed designer Peter Stevens, as the latter recalled to us during an interview we conducted with him for the book.
“Everybody agreed that we wanted to create a car that was aesthetically pleasing,” he explained. “If Ferrari takes a car racing, the purpose is to sell Ferraris. But here the aim was to sell Prodrive’s ability to develop a track focused GT competition car. In that respect, it was important that it looked convincing, professional and, most importantly, beautiful.
“Look at the minimalistic liveries in which the 550s ran – they were mostly all red, which sent a great message and worked in Prodrive’s favour from an image point of view. We were able to let the fundamental design of the 550 do the talking – in line with the spirit of GT racing.”
Qualifying pro Tomáš Enge had indicated the raw pace of the ‘Italo-Anglo Ferrari’ at the traditional Le Mans test day a month prior, lapping nearly four seconds quicker than the next fastest GTS entry. Needless to say, all eyes were on the Czech driver come the race week proper. The rigorous testing undertaken by Prodrive before Le Mans paid off when Enge promptly snatched the GTS class pole position – almost a second quicker than the second-placed Chevrolet Corvette.
“The rigorous testing undertaken before Le Mans paid off when Enge promptly snatched the GTS class pole position – almost a second quicker than the second-placed Corvette.”
In the race the number-58 Ferrari edged further and further away from the battles raging behind it, running rapidly and strongly to build up a lead of over two laps by half distance, when it was running thirteenth overall. Chassis number CRD03 led the GTS class for the first 12 hours. Agonisingly, a small oil leak ultimately put a premature end to Prodrive’s race. It wasn’t the result the Banbury outfit had yearned for, but eyebrows were firmly raised in the paddock after the 550’s maiden Le Mans appearance.
Chassis number CRD03 was one of three Ferrari 550 Maranellos with which Care Racing Development returned to Le Mans in 2003 – the legendary endurance race’s 80th anniversary. Unlike chassis numbers CRD05 and CRD06, which were entered by Veloqx Prodrive Racing, this 550 contested Le Mans under the Luc Alphand Adventures banner and, as a result, was given a particularly striking blue livery depicting an alpine mountain range.
Prodrive engaged the French engineering outfit Solution F to run chassis number CRD03 for the French World Cup alpine skier turned racing driver Luc Alphand (the new livery was a nod to Alphand’s sporting past). Alphand was joined on driving duties by Jérôme Policand and the brainchild of the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive project himself, Frédéric Dor.
After splitting the Works Corvettes to secure fourth place in qualifying, the blue Ferrari enjoyed a stellar first half of the race, holding third position throughout the night and into the morning summer sunshine. Despite a small number of unforced errors from the admittedly less experienced lineup of drivers in the latter stages, the trio of pilots drove a mature and, crucially, consistent race, completing 298 laps to finish fifth in the LM GTS category.
They greeted the chequered flag and crossed the finish line in formation with the number-88 Veloqx Prodrive Racing 550 of Tomáš Enge, Peter Kox and Jamie Davies, which, crucially, won the LM GTS class. So Ferrari had scored a 21st-century victory at Le Mans, 22 years after the marque’s last GT class win with the 512 BB/LM in 1981. More importantly, the 550 Maranello Prodrive became the final 12-cylinder Ferrari to win at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
There was only one thing on everybody’s lips ahead of the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans: the 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRae racing a Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive – more specifically, chassis number CRD03. Our very car. “What I make from this weekend will barely pay for the helicopter fuel used to get here, but I’m not here for the money,” the late, great McRae was quoted as saying by Top Gear magazine. “Le Mans is one of the great races of the world. With no WRC, I wanted to do a few of these different things this year. It’s the one race that every driver would love to have a go at.”
McRae took preparations for Le Mans seriously, undertaking several 24-hour simulation tests at Paul Ricard with his Prodrive Racing teammates Darren Turner and Rickard Rydell. But the gravity of what lay ahead come race week was not lost on the spectacular Scot. “It’s a massive challenge,” he explained, “to adapt from rallying to racing. It’s the hardest time I’ve ever had behind the wheel of a car.”
At La Sarthe, it quickly became clear that the Corvettes had squeezed the gap to the Ferraris. Defending its class crown was going to be a tall order for Prodrive. What played out was an almighty battle between the two teams, studded with highs and lows on both sides. McRae’s inexperience came to the fore when he killed the clutch of his 550 while trying to escape a gravel trap he’d slid into late on Saturday evening. Subsequent gearbox niggles necessitated more time in the pit garage. But the number-65 Ferrari was by no means the only car afflicted by issues. After 24 hours of racing, McRae, Turner and Rydell crossed the finish line third in the LM GTS class. Chassis number CRD03 was the highest-placed Ferrari. It also recorded the fastest lap.
For its fourth consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans outing, this Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive was entrusted by Care Racing Development to Rob Schirle’s Cirtek Motorsport outfit. Lead sponsorship was from Russian Age Racing and, with it, a new striking blue livery was given to chassis number CRD03. Note the Hawaiian Tropic sponsorship on the bonnet.
For Le Mans, Le Mans winner Christophe Bouchut, Alexei Vasilyev and Nicolai Fomenko helmed this Ferrari, which was poised to go toe-to-toe with the Corvettes and the new Aston Martin DBR9s. In what was a clear demonstration of the fundamental pace of the ‘Italo-Anglo Ferrari’, four years after its introduction, chassis number CRD03 qualified fourth in the LM GTS class. And the trio of drivers enjoyed a largely stress-free 24 hours, lapping consistently and at a mature pace to finish fifth in the GT1 class.
A fitting footnote for the 12-cylinder Ferrari to have raced at Le Mans more than any other was that its final competitive outing came at the Circuit de la Sarthe in 2006. Chassis number CRD03 was back in red for its fifth 24 Hours, though still under the Cirtek Motorsport/Russian Age Racing banners. The all-English trio of drivers comprised GT specialists Christian Vann, Tim Sugden and Nigel Smith.
With the round-the-clock reliability of 2005 no doubt echoing in the ears of all at Cirtek, this Ferrari set about its duties, the drivers focused on one thing and one thing only: consistency. Alas, a fairytale ending was not on the cards for chassis CRD03’s competition career. The bonnet flew off at around two o’clock in the morning while Vann was at the wheel, dislodging the radiator, rupturing coolant lines and, in the process, ending the 550’s race. Regardless, this 550 Maranello Prodrive’s story is interwoven with the world’s greatest endurance motor race: five 24 Hours of Le Mans races.
Photos: Girardo & Co. Archive / Tom Shaxson / Motorsport Images
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