The ex-Patrick Tambay, 1983 San Marino Grand - Kidston

Private Portfolio No. 008
Brief History
The ex-Patrick Tambay, 1983 San Marino Grand Prix-winning
1983 Ferrari 126C2B Formula 1 Single-Seater
Chassis no. 065 Price E 420,000
• December 1982
Completed by factory
• 13 March 1983
GP Brazil Jacarepagua #27
Tambay placed 5th
• 27 March 1983
GP USA West Long Beach
Tambay #27 DNF
• 17 April 1983
GP France Le Castellet
Tambay #27 placed 4th
• 1 May 1983
GP San Marino Imola #27
Tambay placed 1st
• 15 May 1983
GP Monaco #27 Ta m b a y
placed 4th
• 22 May 1983
GP Belgium Spa-
Francorchamps #27 Ta m b a y
placed 2nd
• 5 June 1983
GP USA Detroit #27 Ta m b a y
D N F
• 12 June 1983
GP Canada Montreal Ta m b a y
#27 Ta m b a y, placed 3rd
• 16 July 1983
GP England Silverstone #27
Tambay spare car only
• 7 August 1983
GP Germany Hockenheim
#27 Tambay spare car only
• 14 August 1983
GP Austria Zeltweg #28
Arnoux spare car only
• 28 August 1983
GP Holland Zandvoort #27
Tambay spare car only
• 31 August 1983
Tested by Tambay at Brands
H a t c h
• 1987
Owned by Ta m b a y
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"I swear it wasn't me driving that car that day. It felt as if Gilles was there with me." Patrick Tambay
“Winning a Grand Prix can be an emotional affair at the best of times but never was the magic as strong as this
one. The crowd got exactly what they wanted, the victor was perhaps the most popular man in the paddock, and
the whole affair seemed to be guided by an unseen force.
Race day was one of those stunning Italian days with clear skies and bright sunshine, and 100,000 tifosi arrived
at the circuit with high hopes of a Ferrari victory. The Frenchman was starting third behind Arnoux and Piquet in
the same spot Villeneuve had started his last race. During the night fans had painted a maple leaf on the grid in
honour of Villeneuve, an act that moved Tambay to tears before the race began.
Piquet stalled on the grid leaving Patrese as the sole Brabham while Arnoux got away cleanly from the front with
Tambay close behind. The crowd went insane at the sight of the Ferraris in the lead. The Frenchman lost his place
to Patrese after just two laps and was forced to watch as the Brabham shot off in pursuit of his team-mate. Pa t r e s e
took the lead after six laps and looked as if he had the race sewn up before he made a disastrous pit-stop on lap
34. In his eagerness to get in and out quickly Riccardo overshot his pit. An overstretched air hammer lost its hose
and Patrese made it even worse by failing to keep his brakes on during the wheel change. By the time he rejoined
the race, Tambay had taken the lead and built up a comfortable ten second cushion.
Patrese chased hard and by lap 47 the gap was down to five seconds. Five laps later and Tambay's lead had been
slashed to just 1.5 seconds. The crowd were on tenterhooks. On lap 55 the Brabham got ahead as the pair
entered the Tosa hairpin. With just two corners to go it looked as if Ferrari would fall at the final hurdle, then Pa t r e s e
made another mistake and ran wide at Acque Minerali. He hit the 'marbles' and speared off into the tyre-wall. The
race belonged to Ta m b a y, Ferrari and the memory of Gilles Villeneuve.” So goes gpracing. n e t’s review of the
1983 San Marino Grand Pr i x …
Until the relatively recent Schumacher era, Ferrari had not won a Formula 1 World Championship title since its
b a c k- t o-back Constructors’ Cup laurels in 1982-83. This splendid, 1.5-litre turbocharged example of
Maranello’s finest is contemporary works driver Patrick Ta m b a y ’s victorious machine which he drove to victory in
that 1983 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
Patrick Ta m b a y ’s Formula 1 career spanned ten seasons from 1977-1986, during which he established a fine
reputation as not only an extremely capable racing driver but also a most popular and personable character. In
all he contested no fewer than 114 Grands Prix, amongst which he won two, started five times from pole position,

Private Portfolio No. 008
1983 Ferrari 126C2B Formula 1 Single-Seater
• May 1997
Sold at Brooks Europe
Monaco auction from Ta m b a y
to current owner
• Ocotber 2006
For sale by private treaty by
Kidston SA in Geneva
Information courtesy Marcel Massini
set two fastest race laps and amassed 103
World Championship points.
Having been appointed to the Fe r r a r i
factory team in mid-season, 1982, as a
replacement for the late Gilles Villeneuve,
Patrick Ta m b a y’s perseverance in the face of
adversity yielded a superb rebound victory
in that year’s German Grand Prix at
Hockenheimring just 24 hours after teamleader
– and formerly Villeneuve’s teammate
– Didier Pironi had suffered careerending
injuries in a qualifying accident.
This disaster, following upon the heels of
Villeneuve’s death, could easily have broken
the resolve of a lesser team than Ferrari but
Ta m b a y’s reaction was the winning drive
which reduced Mr Ferrari himself to tears
and completely enraptured the otherwise
g r i e f -stricken Italian t i f o s i. Having thus won
the German GP for Ferrari, Tambay would
win again at Imola the following year.
This Imola-winning car is one of only two
aluminium-honeycomb hulled, interim
model 126C2B machines, built new for the
To p : Happy with his lot - Grand Pr i x-winning Ferrari factory team driver Patrick Tambay comfortably ensconced
within his beautifully-proportioned turbocharged Ferrari 126C2B.
B o t t o m : Leader of the pack - Patrick Tambay leads the cavalry charge into the final Variante at Imola during the
1983 San Marino Grand Prix in which he drove his works Ferrari 126C2B to resounding victory after leading for
27 of the total 60 race laps.
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Private Portfolio No. 008
1983 Ferrari 126C2B Formula 1 Single-Seater
1983 season. Their design was based upon that of the 1982 Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championshipwinning
‘C2 design modified to comply with the new ‘f l a t- b o t t o m’ regulations for ’83. While Ferrari’s chief chassis
engineer Dr Harvey Postlethwaite was finalizing an all-new moulded carbon-composite flat-bottomed ‘C3 design,
these ‘C2Bs proved extremely competitive during the first half of that season.
In fact chassis ‘065’ offered here was used at Rio (5th) and Long Beach (retired) by Patrick Ta m b a y, before being
adopted by him as his regular race car for the San Marino (1st), Monaco (4th), Belgian (2nd), Detroit (Rtd at start)
and Canadian (3rd) GPs. Once the team’s replacement ‘C3s became available, ‘065’ took over spare car duties
in Britain, Germany, Austria and Holland.
Its twin-turbocharged 120-degree quad-cam V6 engine delivered some 620bhp at 11,500rpm in race tune. Its
Works career over, Tambay asked to retain chassis ‘065’ and it remained in his ownership until sold at auction
by Brooks Europe in Monaco in May 1997, when it was acquired by the current owner, a well-known collector
on the Côte d’Azur and a personal friend of Ta m b a y. Since then the car has been used sparingly for occasional
track demonstrations and has been maintained by the owner’s own professional race team in pristine condition.
This two-owner ex-Works car is an extremely rare Formula 1 Ferrari from the ‘80s in having a record of seven
starts, one (very memorable) Grand Prix victory, a second place and a third. It has both the perfect provenance,
and perfect history, to claim true collectability.
Kidston SA
7 Avenue Pictet-de-Richemont,
1207 Genève, Switzerland
Tel +41 22 740 1939
Fax +41 22 740 1945
info@kidston.com
www.kidston.com
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