Tony Adamowicz, 1981 Daytona, Ferrari 512BB/LM

Tony was lucky to escape alive - after getting taken out by the Porsche 935

When I flushed my eyes out at the medical station, they said I looked like a Black Face vaudeville character.

This was a terrible blow to the team, as we were the first to make a 512BB work at Daytona. In prior years, the factory crashed 2 out of 3 cars and withdrew from the race.

I was supposed to drive the car at Le Mans however I was passed over by supposedly French driver requirements to enter the car. As it turned out, Carson Baird drove the team's sister car, SN 38179 with Pierre Dieudonné and Jean-Paul Libert to sixth place behind five twin turbo Porsches.

Some were the same cars we'd bettered at Daytona. So it was a real disappointment not to run this car at Le Mans.

I'm sure we would have won easily in 24 hours, as the car was running flawlessly. Just as I put the car into 2nd place, Moretti in his 935 burst a Pirelli tire entering turn 3 of the banking. I took the high side thinking I would avoid him as he spun towards the bottom of the banking apron. He continued to spin towards turn 4 in the banking where he collected my car.

I was tapped into turn 4 wall in a spin, and the last thing I could see was a shower of sparks jetting away from the wall as I read the word DAYTONA on the wall.

I was concerned that I was going to crash into the concrete barrier backwards, however as soon as the car hit the grassy area, it dug into the ground, plowing to a stop before I hit the concrete. The dirt poured into the cockpit completely filling the inside of my full face helmet. When I took my helmet off, dirt was embedded into my sweaty face and eye area.

Porsche 935 tire marks on Tony's left front fender

Car owners Ron & Patti Spangler: simply jubilant over Moretti's

tire failure and how it ruined their car and a chance to win

The Culprit: Moretti's 750 h.p. Momo Porsche 935

Porsche had created a "silhouette" car based loosely on their 911, called the 935. It was basically a "funny car" for road racing, nicknamed Moby Dick for it's fantastic bodywork.

Twin turbo's gave it 750 horsepower and a 227 mph top speed at Daytona, but that was partly offset by high fuel consumption requiring many pit stops.

The highly stressed engine wasn't as reliable as the big normally aspirated Ferrari flat 12, so the Ferrari had a fighting chance. Unfortunately, the Porsche's Pirelli tires were overloaded on Daytona's high banking, which led to disaster...

Daytona 24 Hours

Feb 1, 1981 cont.

Here's a sight NASCAR drivers never encounter! It's easy to see how 24 hours leaves most cars battered and bruised. Mario Andretti once said of the high banks at night: "Sometimes you get away with it and sometime you don't."

You never know what will happen on Daytona's high bank - especially at 227 mph at night!

Tony Adamowicz, Gary Wheeler, Tony a2z, Tony Adamowics, a2zRacer, Gary Wheeler, Tony Adamowicz

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