Piero Taruffi

Piero Taruffi
Nationality	Italian
Years	1950 - 1956
Team(s)	Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Vanwall
Races	19 (18 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	5
Points	41
Poles	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	1950 Italian Grand Prix
First win
Last win
Last race	1956 Italian Grand Prix

Pierino 'Piero' Taruffi (born in Rome, October 12, 1906 - died January 12, 1988), was a racing driver from Italy, and also the father of lady racer Prisca Taruffi.

Sports car career

Taruffi began his motorsport career racing motorcycles. He won the 1932 500cc European Championship on a Norton. He participated in numerous non-championship Formula One races. He won the 1957 Mille Miglia, the last competitive edition of the famous Italian race. Following this tragic race he pledged to his wife, Isabella, that he would never race again. He was 50 years of age. 14 peoplewere killed in the thousand mile auto race of May 12. Alfonso de Portago crashed into a crowd of spectators at Guidizzolo near Mantua. Portago died along with co-driver, Edmund Nelson, an amateur driver, and 11 race fans.

Taruffi drove a newly introduced 2-liter, 4 cylinder Ferrari, which placed 3rd in the 360 kilometer race Grand Prix de Bari at Bari, Italy,in September 1951. He finished behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Froilan Gonzales with a time of 2 hours, 58 minutes, 40 3/5 seconds. Taruffi and Alberto Ascari participated in the Pan-American auto race in the mountains of Mexico in November 1951. They held 1st and 3rd places, respectively, over the course from Mexico City to Leon, Guanajuato, a 267 mile leg. Taruffi led Troy Ruttman of Lynwood, California, who was in 2nd, by more than four minutes. Taruffi trimmed 15 minutes off the distance from Mexico City to Leon and another 21 minutes off the Leon to Durango record. In the process he climbed from 12th to 3rd position.

Taruffi won the race on November 25th, with a time of 21:57:52 over mountains and plains of the southeastern tip of Mexico. He had an average speed of 87.6 miles per hour. Taruffi set a world record for 50 miles in an auto of 22 cubic centimeter cylinder displacement in January 1952. He attempted a 100 mile record but his motor burned out after 98 miles. Taruffi was in a 2 liter Ferrari for the running of the 3rd Grand Prix de France, in Paris, France, in May 1952. He captured 1st place with a time of 3 hours over a distance of 285 miles. His average speed was 95 m.p.h. Taruffi placed 2nd after Fangio in the 1953 Pan-American auto race. Taruffi finished with a time of 18:18:51 in a Lancia. His time was better than the previous year when he was victorious. In March 1954 Taruffi lost the Florida International Grand Prix in March 1954 after having led the race by 88.4 miles with an hour to go. The his powerful red Lancia stopped. He pushed his car to the pits after leading the first three hours. The mechanics began working on it with diligence. Taruffi was still exhausted and seated in a chair when the Osca driven by Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd crossed the finish line. Taruffi had averaged 81.1 miles per hour before he retired. Taruffi won the Tour of Sicily, 1080 kilometer race, in April 1954. His time of 10 hours, 24 minutes, 37 seconds, established a record for an event which opened Italy's sports car racing season. It was 14 years old at the time. He averaged 64.4 miles per hour in a Lancia 3,300.

Taruffi and Harry Schell placed 5th overall in the 1955 Florida Grand Prix, driving a Ferrari. Taruffi claimed first place in a Ferrari, at the 1955 Tour of Sicily, with an overall time of 10 hours, 11 minutes, 19.4 seconds, with an average speed of 105.998 kilometers per hour. Taruffi dropped out of the 1955 Mille Miglia, when he encountered a broken oil pump on the course north of Rome. He and eventual winner, Stirling Moss, were vying for the lead in the early stages of the race. Casare Perdisa won by 22 seconds in the 1955 Grand Prix of Imola, driving a Maserati 2,000. Taruffi spun his car into a straw bale at the edge of the track on the first lap. He was uninjured, though his car was damaged, and he was forced to retire from the race. Jean Behra and Taruffi teamed to secure a 5th place finish in a Maserati at the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring. Taruffi established a world record for Class E cars in June 1956. He raced 100 miles in 46 minutes 27.2 seconds, for an average of 129.9 miles per hour. Also on the Monza track Taruffi broke the one hour mark of 212.543 kilometers per hour. A 3rd record he performed was for 200 kilometers. His time was 53 minutes, 14.5 seconds. In the 17th running of the Tour of Sicily, in 1957, Taruffi had a small crash while in pursuit of leader Olivier Gendebien. He made contact with a wall in Gioiosa Marea but continued on in his Maserati. Gendebien won in a Ferrari. The event was marred by the death of J. Olivari who was burned to death when his Maserati collided with a wall in one of the course's 11,000 curves.

Author and patent holder

Taruffi was the author of the seminal book, The Technique of Motor Racing. In November 1957 the Saturday Evening Post published Taruffi's article, Stop us before we kill again. The former racer discussed the 1955 Le Mans and 1957 Mille Miglia races in which drivers and numerous spectators died.

In August 1952 Taruffi protected a racing car design under patent 2,608, 264. The patent had three torpedo-shaped parallel bodies joined together. Independent twin motors and wheels were in the two larger bodies, at left and right. The driver and the passengers sit in the car's central part. The central portion is both higher and smaller than the others. Taruffi commented on the low wind resistance and low center of gravity of his design.

Formula One

He participated in 18 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on September 3 1950. He won 1 race and scored a total of 41 championship points.

Taruffi drove a Ferrari to victory in the May 1952 Swiss Grand Prix. He led from the start, with the Ferrari of Rudolf Fischer coming in 2nd.

Stock cars

Taruffi drove a Ford stock car owned by Floyd Clymer of Los Angeles in the 2,000 mile Pan-American race held in November 1954.

Complete World Championship Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Points
1950	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo Straight-8	GBR	MON	500	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA Ret *			-	0
1951	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375 F1	Ferrari V12	SUI 2	500	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR	GER 5	ITA 5	ESP Ret		6th	10
1952	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Straight-4	SUI 1	500	BEL Ret	FRA 3	GBR 2	GER 4	NED	ITA 7		3rd	22
1954	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 625	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER 6	SUI	ITA	ESP	-	0
1955	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 555	Ferrari Straight-4	ARG	MON 8 †	500	BEL DNS	NED					6th	9
	Daimler Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz W196	Mercedes-Benz Straight-8						GBR 4	ITA 2
1956	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 250F	Maserati Straight-6	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA Ret	GBR	GER			-	0
	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4								ITA Ret

* Indicates shared drive with Juan Manuel Fangio

† Indicates shared drive with Paul Frère