The name Dallara needs no introduction in the world of motorsport nowadays. Started by Giampaolo Dallara in 1972 in Italy’s Motor Valley region near Parma, Dallara chassis and designs quickly gained traction in paddocks around the world, first finding success in Formula 3 and IndyCar, to the point that Dallara became sole chassis providers for both series and still are to this day. Dallara first stepped foot in endurance racing in the early Group C era, developing the extremely fast Lancia LC1 and LC2. It was in the 1990s though that Dallara’s involvement in endurance prototypes truly kicked off, being called upon by the likes of Ferrari, Toyota and Audi for their 333SP, GT-One and R8 LMP programs respectively, adding to an already impressive CV.

In 2001, the company embarked on the design of their own LMP900 car to supply to customer teams to go against the so-far all-conquering Audi R8 LMPs. The cars were built in conjunction with Hugues de Chaunac’s ORECA racing team, who had just encountered huge success in the famous ORECA Chrysler Vipers. Very quickly, and perhaps not so coincidentally, Dallara were approached by Chrysler mid-way through the development of the new SP1 to field three cars for the 2001 season. The Mopar V8-powered Chrysler LMPs, as they became to be known, were met with mitigated success, a 4th place finish for one of the three team cars at Le Mans would be the best result of the year. As such, Chrysler decided to discontinue their LMP program at the end of 2001, leaving ORECA and Dallara with a decision to make: throw in the towel, or run the car under their own name from then on.

A deal was struck and the SP1 lived on for another season under the Dallara-ORECA team banner, still wearing the iconic PlayStation livery. Using ORECA’s impressive experience and Dallara’s knowledge of the Audis after working on their development, the team was hopeful of taking the fight to the German works team. 3 new chassis were built, including chassis DO-004, and the car presented here, DO-006, which would have the sole goal of dislodging Audi from the top of the podium at Le Mans that year. With reworked aerodynamics and Judd’s reliable and thunderous 4-litre V10 fitted, the two cars were sent to the Le Mans test, where 006 ended up 2nd fastest overall, sending a threatening message back to Ingolstadt. In June, the overall win just eluded the two Dallaras which were “best of the rest”, with the all-French driver line-up of Stéphane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Nicolas Minassian finishing a highly commendable 6th overall in DO-006, behind the four works Audi-backed R8 LMPs and Bentley Speed 8, and the sister SP1.

006 was left dormant for the remainder of 2002 and 2003 before being purchased by Martin Short’s modest but mighty Rollcentre Racing apparel alongside chassis 004 in view of taking part in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series. In Martin’s words “the ACO laughed when we asked if we could join, as we’d only driven TVRs in the GT class before”. The smile was wiped off their face when the team ran in 3rd place at Sebring for most of the race, and managed a historic 5th place finish. With participation granted, chassis DO-006 was fielded for the second part of the season at the Nürburgring, Silverstone, and Spa rounds of the championship, achieving a best result of 6th overall in Germany.

For 2005, the decision was taken to field both cars together for the LMES. 006, driven season-long by Martin Short, Vanina Ickx and Rob Barff/Joao Barbosa, finished in the points at every race it contested, including 3 podiums in a row at Spa, Monza and Silverstone, keeping Rollcentre in the title race right up to the closing stages of the championship. At Le Mans, the now ageing Dallaras still put on a good show, with 006 even going into the lead on the Saturday evening! “I could see all the helicopters around me and wondered what was going on” remembered Martin, “little did I know I was in the lead of the race and had inadvertently just let Ortelli in the R8 go past thinking I was a backmarker”! 006 eventually encountered power steering pump issues which forced the car to come in for an unscheduled pit-stop, eventually crossing the line a commendable 7th in class.

For 2006, Rollcentre switched to an LMP2 Radical SR9, rendering the Dallara obsolete. The car was nonetheless kept by Martin Short, and put back into service by Martin at the Goodwood Members Meeting in 2019 and at the Endurance Racing Legends Le Mans support race in 2021. Following those two excursions, the car was acquired by her current owner in 2022 who has since campaigned the car at numerous historic racing events with great success, including a 4th place overall at Le Mans Classic 2023, 3rd in class at Silverstone Festival 2023 and 2nd in 2024, as well as 3rd overall at Mugello Classic 2024.

In 2025, the decision was taken to put the car back to her iconic 2002 PlayStation ORECA livery. This Dallara SP1, Chassis DO-006, is a true example of a great underdog story, one of many that attempted to dethrone the almighty Audi R8s and very nearly got there, the Judd V10-powered David that nearly beat Goliath. 006 is one of just 6 SP1s built, and an incredible opportunity to acquire a front-running LMP car for the ever-popular Endurance Racing Legends grid and Le Mans Classic.

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles

Fiskens Historic Automobiles