and the many cars they entered, yet Porsche won every event except Sebring, where the victorious car and its drivers Ignazio Giunti / Nino Vaccarella / Mario Andretti had their origins in Italy. Ferrari decided to give up the 512 in 1971 in order to prepare the new 312 PB for the 1972 season, when only 3 litre class would be allowed. In addition to Porsche, the old national rival with its Alfa Romeo T33/3 also had won two races in 1971, and thus was ranked second in the World Championship, above Ferrari. 1969 – Fiat Early in 1969, Fiat S.p.A. took a 50% stake in Ferrari. An immediate result was an increase in available investment funds, and work started at once on a factory extension intended to transfer production from Fiat's Turin plant of the Ferrari engined Fiat Dino. New model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost. Less positive was the effect on industrial relations at Ferrari's Maranello plant. In June a visiting journalist witnessed a group of workers suddenly running out of a workshop in response to the blast of a whistle: this was part of an industrial stoppage originating at the main Fiat plant in Turin, and contrasted with the relatively smooth state of production that the writer had witnessed at nearby competitor plants run by Maserati, De Tomaso, and Lamborghini. While increased Fiat influence was quickly felt in the development, production and marketing of road cars, the racing department remained initially little touched by Fiat's new status within the company as chief investor. 1972–1973 – dominance, defeats and fare-well The 312 PB dominated the World Sportscar Championship in 1972 against a rival Alfa Romeo, as the Porsche factory did not compete after the rule changes, and Matra, as Equipe Matra Sports, focused on Le Mans only. In their home race, the French won, as Ferrari did not enter in 1972 due insufficient reliability over 24 hours, in order not to blemish their otherwise perfect record in that season. In 1973, though, the Matra team also challenged for the championship which Ferrari eventually lost with two wins, compared to Matra's five, while Alfa Romeo had not entered that year. In addition, Ferrari was now forced to race also at Le Mans, despite concerns that even the modified engine would not last. Yet, one car survived and scored an unexpected and honourable 2nd