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www.QV500.com - Ferrari F40 Part 14: F40 GTE - Le Mans 24 Hours 1994 - '96 |
 90001 in 1995 |
1994 was only the second year Ferrari's had entered Le Mans in recent times, almost a decade's absence having robbed race goers of the chance to see one of motorings greatest marques compete in this, the most important sports car race in the world. BPR regulars Luciano della Noce and Anders Olofsson were joined in 90001 by Sandro Angelastri, their GTE getting a special Michelotto engine with bigger turbos for the event. There were also suspension improvements for better balance and some subtle aero mods too. A variety of electronic glitches during qualifying couldn't stop 90001 posting the fastest time for a bona fide GT, only Jochen Dauer's controversial road-going Porsche 962 outpacing the Ferrari. Beginning the race from 14th overall, a frantic start saw the F40 spin worryingly at the Porsche curves before eventually settling down to a good pace. |
| Picking up positions here and there throughout the afternoon, 90001 was ninth after four hours racing but a turbo fire just before 8pm forced the Totip-liveried car to stop down the Mulsanne Straight. Having limped back to the pits, it officially retired around midnight after fruitless remedial work. 1995's running of the 24 Hour race saw Ferrari's attack bolstered by another GTE for della Noce's outfit and also an LM for the RFR squad (see part 6). Anders Olofsson and Tetsuya Ota were driving alongside della Noce in chassis 83405 (a new car put together from parts) while old faithful (90001) was back in the hands of Massimo Monti, Fabio Mancini and Gary Ayles. Running under the Ferrari Club Italia banner, the re-branded F40 GTE's in their distinctive red and green liveries qualified first and third in GT1, Mancini putting 90001 on class pole (sixth overall) while immediately behind was the RFR LM and 83405 in eighth - a Ferrari 1-2-3. After a couple of hours racing, 83405 was still eighth overall whilst 90001 had been forced to make an unscheduled stop for new spark plugs, dropping it to 13th. The old car was plagued with niggling problems and later required a new alternator, battery and gearbox, after which it rejoined around midnight in 39th. Then in the very early hours of Sunday morning, 83405, still well within the top ten overall and potentially set for a grand finish, stopped with a driveshaft failure. |
 90001 in 1995 |
Consoloation came in the form of Mancini, Monti and Ayles thereafter running reliably to the finish, 90001 eventually placing 18th overall and ninth in GT1, not too bad considering its early woes. For 1996, the GTE presence at Le Mans grew again, this time three cars being entered by Luciano della Noce's Ennea outfit (one under the Euroteam banner) while RFR's F40 LM (chassis 74045) was back in its distinctive French racing blue Pilot Aldix livery. 90001 was wheeled out for its third consecutive year, della Noce, Anders Olofsson and Carl Rosenblad driving the veteran machine. |
| Chassis 82404 was entered for regular BPR pilots Eric Bernard, Jean Marc Gounon and Paul Belmondo. Both 90001 and 82404 ran hot 3.6-litre engines whilst 88779, the GTE owned by Ennea and rented to the Euroteam, was less state of the art. Finished in red, it was driven by Robin Donovan, Tetsuya Ota and Piero Nappi and featured a regular 3.5-litre motor, no '96-spec carbon brakes or X-Trac gearbox. Qualifying saw the GTE's outclassed by Porsche's 993 GT1's and a selection of McLaren's, Bernard, Gounon and Belmondo doing well to start from 14th overall, sixth in GT1 while Olofsson, della Noce and Rosenblad were back in 20th. The Euroteam entry would begin the race from 31st. All three GTE's got away safely, but after just three hours, the first retired, Bernard, Gounon and Belmondo suffering an electronic gearbox failure in 82404. 90001 was next to go at around 10:00pm when, lying 16th overall, the della Noce, Olofsson and Rosenblad machine ground to a halt down the Mulsanne Straight. RFR Sport's F40 LM went out with a fire soon after midnight leaving just the Euroteam with their '95-spec GTE. In 32nd with little more than eleven hours gone, 88779 span, punctured a tyre, damaged its bodywork and was forced into another disappointing retirement. So all three GTE's were out even before the half way mark - an unsatisfying finale to a three-year Le Mans programme. |
| Le Mans | Drivers | Team | Result | GT1 | Chassis |
| 1994 | Olofsson / della Noce / Angelastri | Strandell | DNF | - | 90001 |
| 1995 | Mancini / Monti / Ayles | Ferrari Club Italia | 18th | 9th | 90001 |
| Olofsson / della Noce / Ota | Ferrari Club Italia | DNF | - | 83405 | |
| 1996 | Olofsson / della Noce / Rosenblad | Ennea | DNF | - | 90001 |
| Bernard / Gounon / Belmondo | Ennea | DNF | - | 82404 | |
| Donovan / Ota / Nappi | Ennea Euroteam | DNF | - | 88779 |