Ferrari and the Indy dream

Formula One fans are known to be the home of the Prancing Horse has always taken part in every single race of the Formula One Championship since its origins. What few know concerns a dream that Drake had: taking part in the competitions that still take place today in America under the name of IndyCar Series, then called Champ car.

He tried it for the first time 500 Miles of 1952, without particular reasons, at the express request of Alberto Ascari who brought a single "375 Indy" overseas, later renamed with the name special, deriving from the single-seater of the previous season. If the first tests carried out on the Monza oval circuit gave rise to hope, a sad fate befell the Ascari & Co company: in the new continent the name of Ferrari was still acquiring prestige as a manufacturer of luxury cars and could hold its own against the giants of place was impossible, so much so that only two sponsors were found (one of the two was Mobil). Also embarrassing was the difference in speed between the American single-seaters and the Italian one, which suffered above all from traction problems when exiting the curves of the oval, consequently affecting the top speed. Thanks to his experience, Ascari still managed to qualify, in fact managing a semi-miracle and surprising many of the technicians who had kindly advised our team to re-embark to return to Europe. Having started 19th, Ascari began to climb up to ninth position thanks to his consistency in lap times, however he had to retire due to a failure of one of the wheels, due to the fact that when running in one direction only the centripetal force converged almost entirely on a single one part of the car. Which was a source of embarrassment for Ferrari which, despite having tried to prevent the "expedition", could not stomach the fact of seeing one of its cars not being up to the task. But his sulking immediately passed as there was a Formula One championship to think about and maintaining honor in the old continent was much more important.

Years passed and the "American dream" became just a distant dot, an unhealthy and youthful attempt to land in a series so different from the European one. Or at least it was like that until the mid-80s, when that dream came knocking on the door of Enzo Ferrari's dreams again. How come?

The main cause was excessive innovation and the Federation's inability to intervene when the turbo engine project was still in its embryonic state. When FISA decided to suspend the 1985 regulation which provided for 1200 cm engines³ on which the Maranello company already had a four-cylinder engine ready, Enzo Ferrari went into a rage, even going so far as to say that he wanted to abandon the Circus for other championships. His exit would certainly have damaged the image of Formula One, but neither the Federation nor FISA seemed to give weight to those words born almost on a whim. Thus the Commander went from words to deeds.

He commissioned the Austrian designer Gustav Brunner, then already the designer of what would be the following year's single-seater for Formula One, to study a prototype to take overseas. The basis for the chassis came from the March 85C of Jim Trueman's team, which in 1985 had seen a fluctuating season in the CART series due to a lack of competitiveness at a motorsport level. After this was brought to Italy and tested by none other than Michele Alboreto to glean every precious information from it, the "Indy" project began which in about a year arrived at the finished product ready to plow the oval (and non-oval) asphalts of America. The high-performance 8-cylinder engine used successfully on the Lancia LC2 in the World Super Prototype Championship was adopted as the engine, which complied with the regulations of the American championship. That strange and ambitious project had taken a shape and the data spoke clearly: 690 horsepower at 12.000 rpm, 4420 mm long and 1990 wide, Magneti – Marelli electronics. All that remained was to turn it on and test it on the Fiorano circuit on a hot summer day, choosing the Truesport March - Cosworth as its "opponent". To the surprise of many present, the 637 driven by Alboreto prevailed over its American relative and this instilled confidence enough to decide to enter it for the race that would be held in October on the Laguna Seca circuit.

In the meantime, the rumors regarding Ferrari's probable participation in the CART championship had become rather insistent. Drake had in fact exploited the situation in his favor by artfully facilitating the "leak" of news and also photos which in a short time ended up in many motoring magazines. We were asked in search of answers that would arrive on 12 October, a day decided as the return - although it would be better to define it as the official "baptism" - of Ferrari in American competitions. When the project seems to have reached its climax, it is instead blocked. It is John Barnard himself who intervenes and blocks all negotiations between Ferrari and Truesport. Apparently at the last minute it had been decided to turn back to Formula One, all the efforts and resources would have been concentrated there, perhaps because Drake had seen a glimmer of light there due to the continuous battles between the Federation and FISA, perhaps because both they had succumbed to his pressure for fear of losing such an important team. Who knows, even today we are not able to give a certain answer and perhaps it is better for it to remain that way, fueled by an aura of mystery of who knows what origin. What therefore remained a prototype was sold a few years later to Alfa Romeo which in turn attempted to enter the Indy Series, among other things without particular success.

La unborn daughter It is still on display today in the Ferrari gallery alongside other single-seaters that wrote the history of the Modena team and the 4-cylinder engine that should have powered the 1985 Formula One. Cause and effect just a few meters from each other. And the demonstration that once again, despite his age and the evolution of the times, Drake had made his voice weigh on a Formula One that was changing its appearance, moving from the excessive use of electronics to television rights. Even today the Indy remains an unfinished project of the Italian team, who knows whether someone within it still harbors the dream.

Andrea Villa