52 BAL HARBOUR
MAY 2023 SPECIAL EDITION
It wasn't until 1983 that Miami once a gain became a major
auto-racing player. The single-seater spor ts car event known as
The Gra nd Pr i x of Mia mi wa s t he bra inchild of Cuba n-bor n
Operation Peter Pan refugee Ralph Sanchez. It debuted on the
streets of downtown Miami, along a 1.85-mile track that began in
Maurice A. Ferré Park, then known as Bicentennial Park—where
the Kaseya Center now sits—and extended for a stretch out onto
Biscayne Boulevard. Though a torrential thunderstorm halted the
initial running with only 27 laps completed, Sanchez stepped for-
ward to pay the entire $1 million-plus purse.
"As a young boy, my father loved the very concept of the Cuban
Grand Prix," says Sanchez's daughter Patricia. "He loved racing,
and he came to love Miami. The idea of bringing the attention of the
whole world to this city was his way of giving something back. He
wanted to turn Miami into Monaco." As for her father's insistence
t h at t he f u l l pr i ze money be pa id , she wa s not su r pr i sed .
"
HE LOVED RACING, AND HE CAME TO LOVE
MIAMI. THE IDEA OF BRINGING
THE ATTENTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD
TO THIS CITY WAS HIS WAY OF
GIVING SOMETHING BACK. HE WANTED TO
TURN MIAMI INTO MONACO.
—Patricia Sanchez
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