Mairesse crashes twice

Strong of two consecutive victories in 1961 and 1962, the Scuderia Ferrari entered its new 250P prototype, which had earlier won the 12 Hours of Sebring, for the 1963 Targa Florio.

Picture above: The #190 works Ferrari Dino 196SP of Bandini -Scarfiotti-Mairesse (2nd), chases the #108 Scuderia Centro Sud Ferrari 250 GTO of Bordeu-Scarlatti (6th) in the 1963 Targa Florio.

After an early dominance, the two 250P driven by John Surtees and Willy Mairesse respectively, crashed, so the Ferrari 196SP driven by Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti then took the lead, pursued by the Porsche 718 GTR of Jo Bonnier and Carlo Maria Abate (picture below).

Belgian Mairesse was asked to drive the last stint in the leading 196SP, but another driving error cost him the lead, and the Porsche 718 won by just 11 seconds! An incredible and surprising victory for Porsche in Ferrari’s backyard.