STORY OF THE DAY: Fagioli Restores the P3 to Victory

Luigi Fagioli won the 1933 Coppa Acerbo at Pescara in Scuderia Ferrari’s number 62 Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 2600. He completed the 12 laps in 2 hours 9 minutes 9.6 seconds, defeating Tazio Nuvolari’s Maserati 8CM by 2 minutes 26 seconds; Piero Taruffi was third in another Maserati. The victory was especially significant because Alfa Romeo had released its previously withheld P3 monopostos to Scuderia Ferrari for the meeting.

The race became a direct test between the revived Alfa and the newer Maseratis. Nuvolari set the fastest lap while pursuing in his 8CM, but Fagioli sustained the stronger overall performance across Pescara’s long and hazardous public-road lap. His victory confirmed that the P3 remained highly competitive and gave Ferrari a major success after a difficult opening half of the 1933 season spent campaigning modified two-seat Monza cars.

Designed by Vittorio Jano, the Tipo B was a compact single-seater generally regarded as the P3. Its enlarged 2.6-litre supercharged straight-eight used two four-cylinder blocks and twin Roots-type superchargers. Power reached the rear through twin propeller shafts arranged in a triangular layout around the driver’s seat, helping both weight distribution and seating position. Low mass and strong acceleration made the car well suited to Pescara’s combination of straights, gradients and fast bends.

Luigi Fagioli was an Italian driver from Osimo whose forceful style had brought victories for Maserati before he joined Scuderia Ferrari. He was a leading Grand Prix competitor of the interwar period and later raced for Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union before returning successfully after the Second World War. At Pescara, his disciplined handling of the newly available P3 gave Ferrari the result it needed against Nuvolari, who had recently left the team for Maserati.