The 49° Targa Florio took place on 9 May 1965, on the

Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 a ...

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(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). pp. 58-9

Race

The

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

team returned after a year of voluntary absence, deploying 3 of the new prototype-class, 3.3L 275 P2.

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

responded with the

904 __NOTOC__ Year 904 (Roman numerals, CMIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * July 29 – Sack of Thessalonica (904), Sack of Thessalo ...

in its various iterations including the experimental 904 ''Bergspyder'', an open, lightweight,

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

prototype based on the 8-cylinder 904/8.

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

replaced the under-performing Cobras of the previous year with a single GT40 roadster.
The race was ultimately dominated by the Ferrari 275 P2 driven by Vaccarella and Bandini, while the ''Bergspyder'' achieved the second place. The heavy and overpowered Ford GT40 struggled in the tortuous track but managed to complete most of the race, crashing during the 9th lap.

Official results

References

{{sportscar-autoracing-stub Targa Florio

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...