4 replies to this topic

[cabianca]

Before the Modena Grand Prix in 1961, there was a “Ferrari Demonstration Race”. In it, Phil Hill finished first and Ricardo Rodriguez was second. Does anyone have any details re this race. I believe it was held on 3 Sept., the same day as the GP. There were no Ferrari entries in the Modena GP itself. The GP seems a little strange in that 28 cars attempted to qualify, but the officials only allowed 14 starters, which had to include 3 Italians, no matter what their qualifying times. Were there any other cars in the demonstration race besides P. Hill and Rodriguez? How long was the event. Obviously, part of the plan must have been to give Ricardo some time in a GP car before his GP debut at Monza later that month. He was in a 65 degree 156.

 

[nexfast]

The only additional information about this exhibition race in the bio of the Brothers Rodriguez  by Carlos Jaliffe is that it run for 30 laps. There is a picture of Ricardo's Ferrari there in page 222 of the book.

[Roger Clark]

I have to say that this sounds extremely unlikely. Motor Sport and Autosport both reported the Grand Prix and they would surely have mentioned another race featuring Ferraris. Equally, it seems probable that Ferrari would have done some pre-Monza testing at Modena. Does the picture in the Rodriguez book offer any clues as to whether it was taken on the day of the Modena Grand Prix?

[nexfast]

Roger, the book says that Enzo Ferrari during a dinner on September 2nd told Ricardo "there was a Ferrari-only demonstration race set for the next day as part of the Grand Prix of Modena". It goes on saying that the next day Ricardo "busied himself arranging the seat of the old muletto  with the 65 -degree V6 engine assigned to him for the 30-lap exhibition before the GP. The fans enthusiastically applauded as they watched P. Hil start and move into first place while Ricardo found his pace and followed him."
 

 

The caption of the photo - in the same page as the latter quote above - is "MODENA Ricardo's time surprised everyone when he climbed into an F1 car for the first time", so one could realistically think the all thing did take place. Since it was an exhibition, though, I wonder if it was competitive which might explain the lack of interest by the Motor Sport and Autosport scribes.

 

I will be happy to scan and send you the photo if you PM me with a mail address.

[Roger Clark]

Nexfast has been good enough to send me a scan of the photo he refers to. I appreciate that the following won't mean much to anybody who can't see the photo but I don't think I should post it here.

First, the car has the 120-degree, not the 65-degree engine. You can see the two gauze covers over the carburettors and the engine side panels are removed, revealing the lower cam covers.

Second, I wonder whether the photo was really taken in 1961. The 1962 Sharknoses had a wider track than the 1961 cars. This was fitted to Hill's car at Zandvoort and to the other cars from Monaco. It looks to me as though this car has that wider track. The other visual difference between the '61 and '62 cars, the way the bodywork was raised immediately in front of the windscreen is not clear in the photograph.

I am very much less sure about the second point than the first and I apologise for posting comments on a photograph that most people can't see but I would welcome comments from those who can.