Right Place, Wrong Time

Although the F40 became a revered road car, says James Page, circumstances conspired against it for competition success

- James Page

During the second half of the 1980s, GT racing was very much in the doldrums, international events having become the domain of Group C prototypes. The upshot was that Ferrari had a brand-new car that should have been ideally suited to motorsport, but there were few series in which it could participate. Undeterred, folk soon began to enquire about a competition-spec F40, with Daniel Marin – from renowned Ferrari dealer Charles Pozzi – persuading the company to let Michelotto build it for use in the American IMSA GTO series.