www.QV500.com - Iso A3/C & Bizzarrini 5300 Part 6: Bizzarrini 5300 GT Corsa - 1966 & '67

It was present a little later in the month though for the Monza 1000kms where Berney was joined by Antonio Nieri, an unfortunate retirement late on meaning they missed final classification and got the season off to a bad start. May was time for the Targa Florio road race held annually in Sicily and Bizzarrini entered BA4 0106 once again for Berney, this time with Beppe Nieri co-driving. Head gasket problems inside of two laps forced another disappointing retirement and the factory weren't tempted back out until until June's Le Mans 24 Hours. They were preparing for an all-out assault on the French classic as Giotto had been focusing his attention on a crack prototype, the P538. Berney joined Andre Wicky in the sports car while the works 5300 was taken over by Sam Posey and Massimo Natili who were eventually disqualified for a pit lane infringement. That was that for 1966 but Bizzarrini would be back again with the same car for 1967 and, having fitted it with a seven-litre engine during the close-season, BA4 0106 was entered for its second Monza 1000kms. Berney and de Mortemart failed to finish in Italy and continued the 5300 GT's bad run of luck, but things were to get even more frustrating. Entered for 1967's Le Mans 24 Hours, BA4 0106 was deemed illegal by the ACO scrutineers and excluded from the weekends proceedings. Giotto subsequently decided to end any works involvement with the 5300 and began focusing instead on ensuring Bizzarrini Prototipo's survival which was hanging very much in the balance.