Ferrari 312PB
From Ferrari-Wiki
- This article is about the sportscar raced from 1971-1973. For the ealier 1969 car see Ferrari 312P.
The Ferrari 312PB was a sportcar prototype racing car. It was officially designated the 312P, but often known as the 312PB to avoid confusion with a previous car of the same name. It was part of the Ferrari P series of sports prototypes.
In 1970, a change in the regulations for sportscar racing for 1972 was announced. The loophole for the big 5L sports cars (such as the Ferrari 512) was closed, and the minimum weight of the 3L prototypes was raised to 650kg.
Porsche considered this too heavy as their Porsche 908/03 were 100kg lighter, and this advantage would have been lost. On the other hand, their aircooled two-valve engine was low on power with 370hp, and the development of a new engine would have been necessary. Thus, Porsche did not enter world championship sports car races after 1971 and sold the 908s to customers, who would have to add weight to them. Matra and Alfa Romeo were willing and able to compete, but only in selected seasons or events. Also, Ford's successful Formula 1 Cosworth-V8 engine was available for independent chassis builders, but vibrations made it unreliable for endurance racing.
After having been beaten by the Porsche 917s in 1970, Ferrari abandoned further development of the Ferrari 512M, leaving the 512 to customer teams like Penske, which had some success with their improved 512M in 1971, though. Penske, probably not very happy about the lack of support from the factory, joined Porsche for their CanAm effort with the turbocharged Porsche 917/10.
Instead, in 1971, Ferrari focused on a new 3l prototype based on the 180° flat-12 boxer from the 312B F1 car. Officially this design was known as 312P, the motorsports press appending the B to avoid confusion with the earlier 312P V12 cars. This design was similar to the traditional Porsche engine layout with its low center of gravity, but conventioanl water-cooling was used. The car was promising, but did not win, while the similar Alfa Romeo 33 scored two wins against Porsche's dominance.
In 1972, with only Alfa answering the challenge, the 312PB was very successful and won all races of the World Sportscar Championship in which it was entered. Ferrari skipped the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans, though, as the F1-based engine would not last 24 hours and spoil their perfect record.
As Matra also challenged for the championship in 1973 while Alfa was absent now, Ferrari needed also to enter in the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans, with an improved yet still doubtful engine. One car survived the 24 hours, finishing second behind a Matra. The championship saw the same order, with only two Italian wins compared to five French.
At the end of the 1973 season, Ferrari abandoned sports car racing to focus on F1 again, as the F1 team had even skipped GP races in 1973 due to lack of competitiveness.
