Cavallino Classic Historics

Giddings’ Maserati 250F, a Grand Prix car driven by almost every Maserati factory driver of the era, faced a varied and interesting Drum Brake Group. Jon Shirley, 2008 Drum Brake Champion, was also in a single-seater, but his was from before the War, an Alfa Romeo Tipo B from the Scuderia Ferrari.

Most of the group consisted of sports cars: Carlos Monteverde, based in the U.K. and an occasional visitor to Cavallino, brought three cars, one a Ferrari 750 Monza famed for its ice racing career. Ed Davies, the 1999 Shell Historics Champion, drove a Ferrari 250 TR against a pair of Maseratis, the 300 S of Erick Shirley and the 200 SI of Chuck Wegner, who won championships in 2004 and 2007. Two drivers joined the series for the first time at Cavallino, both in closed cars: Jack Thomas in his 250 GT Boano and Martin Gruss in a very early 250 GT Tour de France.

Giddings, the 2009 Drum Brake Champion, opened his defense of the title by qualifying on pole. Monteverde would start alongside in the front row, only .25 second back. Wegner, Erick Shirley (his first race in the car), Davies, Jon Shirley, Thomas, and Gruss completed the grid.

The Disc Brake entry was headed by two – perhaps three — 512 BB/LMs. Morici had his championship-winning car; he would be joined by Jim Fuchs, who had shared the 2006 Disc championship in his BB/LM. Chuck Wegner brought his ex-NART BB/LM with an interesting LeMans history, but had a newly acquired 275 GTB/C as an alternate choice. Steve Dudley and his 308 GTB/Michelotto are an interesting combination: in 2003 Dudley won the Drum championship; his car was the Disc champion that same year, then owned by Bill Noon.

The Disc Berlinetta classes are always competitive. Carlos Monteverde brought a Competition Daytona to race against Lorne Leibel’s newly acquired Sebring Daytona, and John Romano, Bob Bodin, and Nick Colonna, all racing 250 SWB Berlinettas, would compete against Ed Davies 250 GTO and Wegner’s 275 GTB/C.

Then a last-minute entry really shook things up. In 2009 F40LMs were added to the eligibility list for the Historics, but none had appeared. Mike Schein changed all that, entering his F40 LM -– one of the cars Jean Sage brought over in 1990 for the IMSA series -– just before qualifying. And then took pole position for the Disc race, 1/10 second quicker than Morici!

The Drum Brake Race was up first on Friday, and as expected, Giddings took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Monteverde stuck right with the Maserati, though, and when Giddings slowed slightly on the tenth lap Monteverde took over the lead. That lead lasted only one lap, as Giddings regained his pace and the lead, and three laps later, took the victory by three seconds.

Monteverde’s second place overall gave him the win in the sports car class, over Wegner and Davies. Jon Shirley won the pre-war class, and Jack Thomas was victorious among the closed cars.

Then the newer cars rolled out, for what was expected to be the race of the day. Morici has almost never been beaten, but a young driver, in a newer and faster car, was on pole.

As the field came around for the green, Morici played the start perfectly, while the turbos on Schein’s F40LM may not have been in their optimum range. Morici was first into Turn One, and then ran every lap as a qualifying lap – his fastest race lap was quick than his best lap during the qualifying session. Schein improved too – his best race lap was a full second faster than his pole lap, but it didn’t matter. Morici never put a wheel wrong and steadily pulled away from Schein, lapping every driver other than Schein en route to a stunning victory.

Schein still took a trophy for a class win, as did Monteverde (Daytona), Dudley (308 GT/M) and Davies (250 GTO).

Trophies were presented to the top class finishers on Friday night at the Cavallino Classic’s Yacht Hop, and “Dave’s Tie,” the series’ award for the spirit of the series, was presented to Chuck Wegner. Peter Giddings and Todd Morici were each presented the Tropheo di Florida by Alicia and John Barnes, hosts for the event.

The Historics races are organized by Ferrari North America, and sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association. Further information on the series and future events can be found at www.ferrarichallenge.com.