June 11-12, 1972
22 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans, France
Ferrari 365 GTB/4A Daytona Berlinetta – SN #15685
Result: 2nd in GT class
Sam Posey and I won second place in the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hour race’s important Grand Touring car category, while also placing sixth overall amongst a field dominated by much lighter, purely race-bred sports-prototype cars.
We ran the 1972 LeMans Ferrari #74 GTB 4 because of rules changes created to outlaw the big 917s and 512s so that one of the smaller French Matra prototypes with a F1-like engine might have a chance to win.
Consequently, most competitive drivers were driving GT cars. It was this drive to second in class that prompted John Wyer to give me the opportunity to drive his new Gulf-Wyer 3-liter Mirage Ford.
Our 365 GTB/4A Daytona Berlinetta (SN #15685) was actually the last of the batch of five 1972 Series II cars which were painstakingly prepared by the factory that year for World Championship of Makes competition. This machine was completed in June 1972 – just in time for its Le Mans 24-Hours race debut. It was liveried in Italian Rosso Corsa racing red plus the familiar white-and-blue stripes of Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team. Rules prohibited any rear deck spoiler lip.
Unlike the first batch of factory-built competition 365 GTB/4s, the five Series II cars were all bodied in steel, new FIA rules dictating that GT race cars be clothed in the same material as their road-going counterparts. Other changes included fender flares to cover wider wheels front and rear, quicker steering, an aluminum undertray and a higher compression ratio that boosted output to roughly 400 horsepower.
Adamowicz collection – Philippe Moriniere photo
Adamowicz collection – Eric della Faille photo
Ferrari 365 GTB/4 number 57 co-driven by Luigi Chinetti Jr. and Masten Gregory. Car number 74 co-driven by Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz. Car number 38, an aluminum-bodied Ferrari GTB/4 co-driven by Claude Buchet and Jean-Pierre Jarier.
Standing beside my car talking to a couple of journalists as the starting grid forms
Adamowicz collection – Barrie Smith photo
Adamowicz collection
The grid is formed – Tony’s Ferrari is at lower right corner.
Long Beach Independent Press Telegram
Long Beach Independent Press Telegram
Three GTB/4s in the pits – the #38 of Claude Buchet and Jean-Pierre Jarier, the #57 Ferrari of Masten Gregory and Luigi Chinetti, and Tony and Sam Posey’s Ferrari.
Adamowicz collection – David Castelhano photo
Adamowicz collection
A few hours before the start of the race, the senior Chinetti couldn’t find it (SN #15685) and it turned out his son had borrowed it to go see a girl friend who lived on the coast! When asked about the incident, Chinetti Jr. replies, “I didn’t see any problem, after all it was still basically a street car. In fact, it really didn’t draw that much attention, except for the gas station attendant who filled it up on the way back at about three in the morning.”
-Bill Oursler
The big Ferrari was fielded by the most legendary of all Ferrari’s wonderful concessionaire teams which were active from the 1950’s into the 1970’s: Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team (NART) which enjoyed a closer relationship with the factory than any of its rivals.
Adamowicz collection – Washington photo
Adamowicz collection
The GTS was where the action was that year. Claude Ballot-Léna was a master at Le Mans, and there was a lot of respect between us and them.
Adamowicz collection
This successful Le Mans outing resulted in considerable publicity, fully justifying Mr. Ferrari’s high regard for the importance of Le Mans and especially of its production-based Grand Tourismo Category. In fact, Mr. Ferrari often claimed that success within the category was of more importance to him than an outright win, and of more value to his company commercially “…than just another win in a Grand Prix”.
Tony smiles at renown motor racing photographer Bernard Cahier.
Adamowicz collection – photo courtesy of Bernard Cahier
Adamowicz collection – Michel Rudz photo
Our performance at Le Mans pushed me to the forefront, beating out F1 drivers like Jarrier and Derek Bell in similar Ferrari 365 GTBs. It was after the race that I was approached by John Wyer to test his Gulf 3-liter Mirage at the Osterichring and race it at Watkins Glen with Gijs van Lennep. Derek was his favorite driver and received the F1 qualifying engines.
Chinetti Jr. failed to finish in SN 14141 after its transmission failed while teammate Masten Gregory was behind the wheel. NART’s third 365 GTB/4, SN 13855 driven by Jean-Pierre Jarier and Claude Bouchet finished a distant fifth in class behind two other Daytonas. Posey and Adamowicz came within a lap of defeating the Group 4-winning, Charles Pozzi-entered Daytona.
