Cavallino Magazine

Close racing, the largest field in the history of the series, and great weather combined to create an exciting start to the 2005 Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge season. Two races were run at Moroso Motorsports Park as part of the Cavallino Classic, a traditional Ferrari-oriented festival presented by Cavallino Magazine in Palm Beach, Florida.

In the first race, for earlier racers fitted with drum brakes, Peter Giddings took the lead from pole position in his Maserati 250 F, a car once driven by Sir Stirling Moss. Giddings, a former series Champion and Masters Award winner, appeared to have the race well in hand when a driveline failure left him coasting to a stop at the halfway mark. Carlos Monteverde in a 250 Testa Rossa assumed the lead over Ed Davies in a 375 MM Pinin Farina Spyder, and took the win by almost 30 seconds. Leslie Davies in another 250 Testa Rossa rounded out the overall podium. Monteverde and Ed Davies were class winners, as were Tom Price in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 and Chuck Wegner in a 625 LM.

The second race, for later disc-braked cars, provided much of the day’s excitement. Ed Davies’ 512 M started from pole, with Todd Morici’s 512 BBLM alongside. Both drivers are former Champions and former Masters Award winners. Davies led for the first eight laps, but Morici was able to use traffic to get inside and take the lead coming onto the front straight. The newer BBLM was able to withstand Davies for only two laps; once back in front, Davies led to the finish, with Morici still only a few feet back. The pair’s pace had them almost a minute and a half ahead of Kurt Schultz’s 512 BBLM in third. Schultz, who had mechanical problems in the morning practice session, had started from the rear of the grid. Carlos Monteverde had a strong third for 11 of the 14 laps, but a broken throttle cable on his 206 SP ended his race.


	Above, the Historic Challenge Awards were presented by Roberto Vaglietti (right), Head of Ferrari's Technical Services Department, and also Head of the Certification Program. Carlos Monteverde accepts the Trophy for his win in the Drum Brake Class in his beautiful 250 TR, above left, over local collector Ed Davies, left, in his aggressive 375 MM.

Both Davies and Morici took class wins; other class winners in the twenty car disc brake field included Charlie Arnott in a 365 GTB/4 Comp, Steve Dudley in a 308 GT/Michelotto, Gary Pearson in a 250 GT SWB, and Monteverde.


Above, Ed Davies on the right accepts the Trophy for his hard fought win in the Disc Brake race in his 512 M, above right, over Todd Morici in his 512 BBLM at right. They were within seconds of each other the entire race, with the lead changing several times to the delight of the crowd. 24 cylinders at speed makes a great noise.

The Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge is organized by Ferrari Maserati North America, and is sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The series is limited to authentic, original competition Ferraris and Maseratis built prior to 1980, OSCAs built by the Maserati brothers, and pre-war Alfa Romeos as raced by the Scuderia Ferrari. There will be five more races this year in the American series.

We wish to thank Mr. Maurizio Parlato, the President and CEO of Ferrari Maserati North America, for bringing the Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge to the Cavallino Classic. The FMHC is a world wide program which encourages owners of the older cars to bring them out and race them as in days of old. We also thank the Challenge Administrator Maria Homann-McNeil and the Coordinator David Seibert.