Close racing, the largest field in the history of the series and great weather combined to create an exciting start to the 2005 Shell Ferrari/Maserati Historic Challenge season. Two races were run at Moroso Motorsports Park as part of the Cavallino Classic, a traditional Ferrari-oriented festival held in Palm Beach, Florida each year in January.
In the first race, for earlier racers fitted with drum brakes, Peter Giddings took the lead from pole position in his Maserati 250F, a car once driven by Sir Stirling Moss. Giddings, a former series champion and Masters Award winner, appeared to have the race well in hand when a driveline failure left him coasting to a stop at the halfway mark. Carlos Monteverde, in a 250 Testa Rossa, assumed the lead over Ed Davies (375 MM Pinin Farina Spyder), and took the win by almost 30 seconds. Leslie Davies, in another 250 Testa Rossa, rounded out the overall podium.
The second race, for later disc-braked cars, provided much of the day’s excitement. Ed Davies’ 512 M started from pole, with Todd Morici’s 512 BB/LM alongside. Davies led for the first eight laps, but Morici was able to use traffic to get inside and take the lead coming onto the front straight. The newer BB/LM was able to withstand Davies for only two laps; once back in front, Davies led to the finish, with Morici still only a few feet back. The pair’s pace had them almost a minute and a half ahead of Kurt Schultz’s 512 BB/LM in 3rd.
