LAPS OF THE GODS

The Daytona SP3 takes its inspiration from the great sportsracers of the '60s. We look back at a tumultous era that saw some of Ferrari's greatest triumphs but also some of its darkest days

-  ADAM TOWLER

WHILE FERRARI REMAINS A GIANT IN THE worlds of both high-performance road cars and motorsport, in the early 1960s it was arguably even more of a dominant presence. Consider that it won the 1958, 1961, and 1964 F1 drivers' titles and that at Le Mans, the race where its name had really been put on the map when it won the first 24 Hours to take place after the Second World War in 1949, it would win seven times between 1958 and 1965. Its road cars had the performance and the glamour, and much of that was bequeathed from the marque's successes on the racing circuits of the world.

The story of Ferrari in sportscar racing in the 1960s is one of triumph and tragedy, and of a superpower in slow, albeit often glorious, decline. When the flat-12s fell silent at the end of the 1973 season it truly marked the end of an era, for Ferrari would never again compete at the top level of endurance racing. Sure, there were Daytonas and Boxers subsequently in the GT class, Ferrari-engined Lancias in the Group C era of the 1980s, and in more recent years class successes with the 550/575 and the V8 mid-engined cars, but never an outright factory assault for the overall race win. That is until 2023, potentially, when the firm's new Le Mans Hypercar contender is due to make its race debut.