1988 saw Caffi switch to the new Scuderia Italia team. Early season form was thin. Their challenger for the season, the Dallara built and Ford-Cosworth powered F188 was not ready for the first race in Brazil, so to fulfil the championship's requirements of entering every race, a modified Formula 3000 car, the 3087, was used as a stop-gap. Not surprisingly, Caffi failed to pre-qualify.