To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Abu Dhabi event, 30
November 2019.
Estimate:
$2,000,000 - $2,500,000
- The sole surviving original 126 C2 of seven examples
produced
- Driven to victory in the 1982 German Grand Prix by Patrick
Tambay
- Piloted by Mario Andretti to pole position and 3rd place in the
Italian Grand Prix
- Also driven by Tambay to 3rd place in the British Grand Prix
and 4th in France and Austria
- Subsequently owned by prominent Ferrari collectors Jacques
Setton and Michael Willms
Unquestionably, the 1970s had been good to Ferrari, the second half
of the decade particularly so. Three World Drivers' Championships
and four Constructors' titles in five years had brought success to
Maranello on a scale unseen since the glory days of Ascari in the
early 1950s. However, the new decade provided a serious reality
check. If 1979 had been a triumph�with Jody Scheckter crowned World
Champion and the Scuderia securing a resounding victory in the
Constructors' standings�then the paltry eight World Championship
points scored the following season were an unmitigated
disaster.
For 1981, Ferrari embraced the emerging turbo technology with the
design of a new car powered by a ferociously powerful 1.5-litre V-6
turbocharged engine, the 126CK. With a chassis derived from the
previous year's flat 12-cylinder 312 T5, the narrower V-6 engine
permitted the area of ground effects to be exploited more
comprehensively than had previously been the case. However, it soon
became apparent that the car's surface aerodynamics were rather
less efficient, and a noticeable lack of downforce combined with
the new engine's sudden power delivery made the 126CK far from
driver-friendly. Nevertheless, lead driver Gilles Villeneuve took
victories in Monaco and Spain en route to 5th place in the
Constructors' championship, thereby ensuring that Ferrari were at
least spared humiliation for a second consecutive season.
For 1982, the team recruited highly rated ex-Hesketh and Wolf
designer Harvey Postlethwaite to carry out an immediate redesign of
the 126CK, centring around the replacement of the T5-derived
chassis with a new structure constructed exclusively from aluminium
honeycomb. Further improvements were also made to the engine�both
in terms of power delivery and reliability�and to the aerodynamics,
with mid-corner stability being a particular area of focus.
From the outset, Villeneuve and teammate Didier Pironi noted that
the new car, dubbed 126 C2, was a considerable step forward from
its unwieldly predecessor. Indeed, Villeneuve crossed the line in
Long Beach�only the car's third race�in 3rd place, only to be
disqualified for an illegal rear wing. In the next race at Imola,
the 126 C2 scored its first win, albeit in the most controversial
of circumstances when Pironi disobeyed team orders to pass
Villeneuve on the final lap. At Zolder, two weeks later, the air of
acrimony in the team would be displaced by one of devastation when
Villeneuve�still incensed by Pironi's behaviour in San
Marino�perished in a horrific accident in qualifying.
Still reeling from the popular Canadian's death, the Scuderia
recruited debonair Frenchman Patrick Tambay as his replacement from
the Dutch Grand Prix onwards. In only his second race with the
team, Tambay used this particular chassis�061�to take a fine 3rd
place in the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch behind teammate
Pironi and race winner Niki Lauda's McLaren. Only a week later, 061
was in action again in the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, Tambay
finishing a creditable 4th in a French 1-2-3-4 behind Arnoux,
Prost, and Pironi. The German Grand Prix weekend started
traumatically for Ferrari, with Pironi suffering a horrendous
qualifying crash in which he sustained career-ending multiple leg
fractures. Tambay meanwhile�driving 061 again�had qualified in 5th
place and proceeded to take advantage of Pironi's absence to record
his maiden Grand Prix victory after a measured drive in difficult
circumstances.
Following Tambay's 4th place in 061 at the Austrian Grand Prix, the
car was driven by Ferrari returnee (and tifosi favourite) Mario
Andretti at Monza, where the popular Italian-born Pennsylvanian
rewarded the crowd with a supreme pole position which belied his 42
years. In the race, however, Andretti made a poor start and
suffered from a sticking throttle throughout, which relegated him
to 3rd place at the finish behind race winner Rene Arnoux's Renault
and Tambay's sister Ferrari.
Andretti was retained to drive 061 in the final round of the 1982
World Championship at the Caesar's Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas,
his 128th and final Grand Prix. The weekend would prove to be a
tough one for the team, Andretti qualifying only 7th before
retiring with suspension failure on lap 26, and Tambay failing to
even take the start, having suffered a recurrence of a
long-standing back injury after qualifying 8th.
However, having gone into the race with a three-way battle for
Constructor's championship honours with McLaren and Renault,
Ferrari secured the title by virtue of Niki Lauda's failure to
finish and Prost's relatively lowly 4th-place finish for Renault.
After the tragedy of Zolder and the trauma of Hockenheim, few would
have begrudged the Scuderia the accolade. Meanwhile, a surprised
Keke Rosberg took the Drivers' crown, having won only one race all
season but displaying remarkable consistency. Significantly, Pironi
would finish 2nd in the Drivers' standings despite having competed
in only 11 of the 16 Championship rounds, whilst Tambay's 7th place
in the championship�having only started six races�marked him as
someone to watch in future years.
Following its career as a Works car, 061 was sold to Jacques Setton
in 2000, joining numerous other Formula One and Sports Prototype
Ferraris in his collection at Chateau de Wideville, near Paris.
From Setton, 061 passed to a Dutch Ferrari collector before being
sold again to German enthusiast Michael Willms. During the latter's
ownership roughly fifteen years ago, the car was fully restored by
Uwe Meissner's Modena Motorsport operation and ran in official
Ferrari F1 Corse Clienti events.
The significance of the 126 C2 in Ferrari history is difficult to
overstate. After the solid foundations laid by the 126CK, the C2's
Constructors' title in 1982 started a remarkable sequence which
remains intact to this day, Ferrari having finished no lower than
4th in the standings since. Significantly, 061 remains the only
surviving 126 C2. That it is the car in which Mario Andretti scored
his final pole position, podium finish, and World Championship
points in Formula One merely adds to its historical significance.
Immaculately prepared, 061 is ready for immediate enjoyment by its
fortunate new owner and would assuredly be a welcome and highly
significant addition to any single-seater or competition-focused
car collection.To view this car and others currently consigned to
this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/ad19.
