The Thrill and Pride of Driving a Ferrari at the Limit at Le Mans - RoadandTrack.com (blog)
The Ferrari 512M that I drove for Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) in 1971. The year before, we had run a 512S, finishing fourth at Le Mans, the highest-placed Ferrari. The M was a refinement of the S, and word filtered back to us that in testing it was a lot faster—really, a whole new car. Le Mans was NART's big race. He and Enzo were friends, and NART enjoyed a privileged status at Ferrari—it was a sort of unofficial works team. One question that arose during planning for the 1971 season was whether I would fit in the new car. When I arrived at the factory, I was led to a small courtyard, where our new car was rolled out for me to see. The moment had a touch of formality—the introduction of the car to its driver—and I could feel the pride the men had in their creation. Beauty, of course, means different things to different people. Most racing cars. Its chiseled nose suggested slicing through the air, and its aggressive stance gave it the look of a car ready for battle. The M was tighter than the cramp-inducing S, but I was already in love with the car and determined to drive it no matter what. NART hired Tony Adamowicz as my co-driver. Chinetti and his team manager, Dick Fritz, weren't looking for speed—the Porsches and some of the works Ferraris were too fast for us to race head-on, and our best chance was to be around at the finish. Source: www.roadandtrack.com
