Throwback Thursday: Ferrari at Daytona in 1972

Brian Redman climbed into the cockpit of the factory Ferrari 312PB at Daytona International Speedway in 1972, with an assist from co-driver Clay Regazzoni.

That year’s race was only six hours in duration. After six years racing at the 24-hour distance, the move by the FIA from the mighty five-liter formula to three liters, which made the popular Ford GT40, Ferrari 521 and Porsche 917 obsolete – coupled with FIA guidelines to reduce races other than Le Mans to a maximum six hours – led Bill France Sr. to shorten the race. Adding several support races allowed the promoters to retain the “24 Hours of Daytona” designation.

The bright red car carried only the number 4, though it would carry several sponsor decals and two white stripes on race day. The team’s sister car – the No. 2 of Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx – carried a single yellow stripe, while the team’s No. 6 of Ronnie Peterson and Tim Schenken had a blue stripe.

Andretti won the pole with a lap of 131.606 mph, but lost a cylinder early in the event. Fortunately, his Ferrari still had 11 working cylinders, but lost about 14 mph in top speed.

Regazzoni set the pace early in the event before cutting a tire at 185 mph near the pit entrance, losing several laps to repair bodywork. This set the tone for the race, with the team losing additional laps for another cut tire in addition to a pit fire while undergoing a brake change. Despite the problems, they went on to finish fourth.

The underpowered Ferrari of Andretti and Ickx eventually worked their way into the lead – although the track scoreboard showed the Peterson/Schenken car in front. Ignoring team orders, Ickx pushed the pace and passed Schenken with five laps remaining, though a scoring recount would prove that they won by two laps.

While the six-hour event produced exciting racing, the move to the shorter distance failed to increase attendance. Daytona returned to 24 hours in 1973 with a record crowd.

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