Ferrari’s Corse Clienti program visited California’s storied Laguna Seca circuit last weekend, tied to the Ferrari Challenge North America race. The event drew some uncommon Ferrari models, such as the 333 SP seen in the video above.
Released in early 1994, the Ferrari 333 SP heralded the automaker’s return to sports car racing after a two-decade absence. Powered by a 600-horsepower, 4.0-liter V-12 derived from the 1992 Ferrari F92A Formula One car, the 333 SP was campaigned on both sides of the Atlantic, remaining competitive in certain series as late as 2001.
As fast as the 333 SP may have been, Autoblog.nl points out that it was no match for the ex-Rubens Barichello Ferrari F2003 GA Formula One car, which managed to set an unofficial Laguna Seca lap record of 1:05.78 at the hands of driver Marc Gene.
As the lap was set during practice and not during a sanctioned event, it was not officially recorded or acknowledged. Still, that’s a tenth of a second faster than the “official” lap record, set by Sebastian Bourdais in a Panoz DP01 Champ Car back in 2007.
We don’t have video of Gene’s record lap, but the video below (of driver Bud Moeller) gives you a good idea of what it’s like to lap Laguna Seca in a retired F1 car.