Jenks on...

Ferrari, 1972

My practical knowledge of motor racing only goes back to1932, but the name of Enzo Ferrari and his Scuderia Ferrari was well in the news then, and still Is today. In 1932 Ferrari was running a team of those beautiful monoposto Alfa Romeos, each with a Ferrari emblem on the bonnet, meaning it was a factory car. There was a great outcry when Alfa Romeo withdrew the monopostos, leaving Enzo Ferrari and his drivers nothing to race.

Now there is another outcry from Italy. Having swept the board in prototype sportscar racing, and then getting first and second places in the German Grand Prix, Enzo Ferrari made a great pronouncement, to say that the whole business of motor racing was getting too costly and he would have to withdraw the team in1973. People who are not used to this sort of thing threw up their hands in horror, but many more said “What? Again Ferrari withdraws!” Of course, one day old uncle Enzo will give up racing and no-one will believe him because he has “cried wolf” too many times, but the recent announcement has already been watered down to suggest that his racing engineers will have new models well under way for 1973, but the team’s activities will not be on such a large scale as this year. When Ferrari withdrew his entries for Le Mans this year, nobody really took it seriously, assuming the wily old Italian was manoeuvring for something, and it was not until Le Mans was all over that people began to realise there were no works Ferraris. It is just possible that at the end of the1973 season we shall look back and think “By golly, there were no works Ferraris running this season”. Possible, but not very probable, though If we hear an announcement from Lotus that they have signed Ickx for their 1973 team, we shall have to think again. At the moment he says he has signed a 1973 contract with Ferrari. Yours, DSJ

Denis Jenkinson was our famous cotinental correspondent for more than 40 years.