A rare situation occurred this year with the pole car eventually winning the race. The Judd-powered Dallara of Didier Theys, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Fredy Lienhard, Switzerland; Max Papis, Miami Beach, Fla., Mauro Baldi, Monaco won the race, being only the 6th team in history to win from the pole.

Ferrari fans were once again disappointed. Only three prancing horses showed up for the race. Risi Competizione brought out one of the last 333 SP's made for this event. The driver lineup read like the ideal script: Eric van de Poele, Belgium; David Brabham, Great Britain; Stefan Johansson, Sweden, Ralf Kelleners, Germany. But just because it looks good on paper, doesn't mean success is in the bag.

Risi, owner of Ferrari of Dallas and Houston, hasn't had the backing to compete regularly at this level, so this could be seen as a weekend warrior effort. They started with mechanical problems, and ended with an accident in the night. The team ended up placing 8th in a class of 16 in SRP class and 36th out of 73 starters overall.

Ferrari of Washington entered a N-GT prepared 360 Challenge in the race. It was driven by: Cort Wagner, Los Angeles, Calif.; Constantino Bertuzzi, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, Calif., Derrike Cope, Huntersville, N.C. It finished this tough event in 25th overall and 14th in class (out of 30), even though a mechanical problem meant it had to pit for a long time after the sixteenth hour.

Mastercar entered the third Ferrari in the field, also a 360 Challenge. It ran well, and placed 27th overall and 16th in class. This car was driven by: Andrea Montermini, Italy; Sergey Zlobin, Russia; Franco Bertoli, Italy, Vincenzo Polli, Italy.

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The next Grand-Am event will be at Homestead, Florida on March 2.