 Reigning World Champions, Ferrari had entered two of their Ferrari 246 SP and a 250 TRI 61 for their squad of drivers; Willy Mairesse, Ricardo Rodríguez, Wolfgang von Trips, Olivier Gendebien, Phil Hill and Richie Ginther.As like 1960, there was no other factory entrants in the S3.0 class, their main opposition would come from the works Porsche 718 RS 61s of Hans Herrmann, Edgar Barth, Jo Bonnier, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill and Stirling Moss, despite these were smaller engined cars and less powerful, the marque had won the last two Targa Florios.At the start, Moss would take an immediate lead, which would eventually build up to around 90 seconds, with his team-mate Bonnier in second place.