www.QV500.com - Ferrari Dino Part 6: 246 GT & GTS Competition History

Two years after the NART experiment with a 206 GT at Sebring, a 2.4-litre Dino was entered by privateer Francesco Cosentino for the over two-litre GT class of 1971's Targa Florio road race. The only Ferrari entered for the epic Sicilian enduro that year, Cosentino shared his number 38 car with fellow Italian, Gianluigi Verna. Covering eight laps, they were 30th of the 41 finishers and took eighth in the over two-litre GT class. Just, a few weeks later, German drivers Joachim Komusin and Siegfried Mullers were entered in the International Racing Club's 246 for the Nurburgring 1000km. Wearing number 83, they finished a creditable 26th overall and fifth in class. Whether it was promising performances like these, slow sales or the persistance of Luigi Chinetti, something inspired the factory into a change of heart and by the end of 1971, an official 246 GT racer was in development. Built up on chassis 2678 to Group 4 regulations by the Servizio Assistenza Clienti department, it featured a host of modifications.

There was a lightweight aluminium body with flared wheelarches and wider Cromodora alloy wheels. Other details included a front lid with extra cooling vents, a quick fuel filler cap and wraparound chin spoiler. To save weight, the bumpers were removed. Mechanically, 2678 was pretty much standard, although hot camshafts did provide a little extra poke, this combined with the various weight-saving measures making it an extremely quick car. Testing was carried out at the Modena Autodrome during spring 1972, an entry in that years Le Mans 24 Hours following as part of NART's all-Ferrari line-up. However, Group 4 was realm of Corvette's, Pantera's and Daytona's, meaning victory would be all but impossible. After aborting running a Dino in 1970's Daytona 24 Hours, Chinetti's car arrived at la Sarthe sporting an extra set of driving lights and would be driven by Jean-Pierre Laffeach and Gilles Doncieux.

A single class meant Centrum International's 246 would have to compete directly against some formidable Porsche RSR's and a bunch of potent American muscle cars. In the opening round, Road Atlanta's 500km event, Bob Buchler and Jack Baldwin qualified the car 22nd of the 26 runners and eventually completed 103 laps to finish a reasonable 15th. At Lime Rock though, the same pair were forced out of the 500km event by a blown engine after 37 of the allocated 203 laps. Amazingly for such an under-developed model, this was the Dino's first retirement in almost 50 hours of racing and spoke volmes about its durability. However, Centrum were forced to miss the following round (the Watkins Glen 400kms) and next appeared at the Sanair 300km race for round four. Gregg Young qualified 26th on a 29-car grid and completed 98 laps of the California airfield track, this enough for 18th at the close of play. A week later, Frenchman Jacques Bienvenue found himself behind the wheel for the Watkins Glen 6 Hours, but after failing to qualify for what was the final round of 1973's World Manufacturers Championship, the Centrum International Dino was retired from high-pofile duty.

Another 18 months went by and just as it seemd the Dino's time had been and gone came a landmark achievement. The scene was 1975's Cannonball Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an epic non-stop race from downtown Manhatten to Redondo Beach in California. Chassis 5984, a mechanically standard US-spec GTS, was entered by its owner, Jack May, a successful property agent and sometime club racer. May was joined in the car by Rick Cline, a respected sports car driver and ace mechanic, the Dino itself being equipped with nothing more than an extra set of driving lights for the madcap New York to LA jaunt. Averaging an incredible 81mph, Cline and May completed the 3000-mile route in an amazing 35 hours and 53 minutes. In doing so, they not only won the 1975 event outright, but also established a new world record time by beating the previous best (set by Dan Gurney and Brock Yates with a Ferrrai Daytona in 1971) by a single minute!

The 1975 Giro d'Italia a few months later really did mark the end for the Dino, the team of De Gregori, Pasquini and Terni contesting the gruelling modern equivalent of Italy's Mille Miglia in a specially prepared privateer 246. Fitted with a matt black front lid, engine cover and boot, the car also received a bank of four rally-style light pods, essential for the many night-time stages. Exact details of the trio's performance is currently under investigation and more details will be published soon. The '75 Giro d'Italia brought the Dino's promising but under-funded racing career to a close, but the story itself remains incomplete. Six of the eight machines that contested these events are currently unaccounted for; the '71 Targa Florio and Nurburgring entries; Centrum International's Trans Am car; the '75 Giro d'Italia runner and NART's '69 Sebring finisher all remaining at large...