Momo, Arie and me
The 1998 24 Hours of Daytona were held on the Daytona International Speedway road course. Victory overall went to the No.30 Doran-Moretti Racing Ferrari 333 SP driven by Giampiero Moretti, Arie Luyendyk, Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys.
Picture above: Giampiero Moretti, in his Momo-livered Ferrari 333 SP, takes the checkered flag as the winner, after 24 hours of intense racing.
Didier Theys, exclusively for The Human Side of Racing, tells the story: “For me, a priori, this victory at Daytona had the same saviour as a victory at Lime Rock or Mid-Ohio, for example. It’s only later, that I realised the impact of this race and the importance of winning it.”
DT: “You later realise that you’ve won this great race, that you wrote history, and that people will remember the winner of Daytona rather than the one of Lime Rock. I also noticed that people look at you, at your achievements, differently after such a success.”
“This victory”, Theys continues, “and I couldn’t imagine it at the time, opened the doors for me at Ferrari, for which I work for the last 12 years.”
Theys remembers Moretti: “A passionate person first, who was a good and fast driver, after all. He was not a driver that you needed for qualifying, that was not expected of him, but he did solid stints and was good in traffic. He was also a very nice person: laid back, the cigar, the glass of red wine in the evening… With him, these were week-ends where we also had some fun. Racing might not be as fun nowadays.”
Didier continues: “Arie (Luyendyk), is a buddy of mine for a long time. We have the same back-round. We both come from a modest up-bringing in Holland and in Belgium, we understand each other well.”
“In the race, he did a super thing: on Sunday in the early morning, thanks to his experience on ovals, he felt a slight vibration while on the banking. The brake pedal was getting soft, he didn’t hesitate, without asking any question, came into the pits and said to Kevin Doran, the team-manager, that he thought a wheel bearing was loose.”
“When it happens”, explains Theys, “the disc vibrates and pushes the brake pad to the outside of the calliper, and… you have less brakes! He did well: we only lost one lap repairing the hub-carrier, anyhow we had a healthy lead at the time, and we continued, relax, till the finish.”
“It was a great moment. It’s a victory at Daytona, in a Ferrari, and I am still the last driver to have won (overall) at Daytona to this day, and that’s cool”, Didier Theys concludes with a large smile.
