Luigi Villoresi

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Luigi Villoresi, born May 16, 1909 - died August 23, 1997, was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception.

Luigi Villoresi

Born in Milan, Italy, and nicknamed "Gigi," he was the older brother of race car driver Emilio Villoresi who co-piloted with him in several races at the beginning of their careers. From a prosperous family, Villoresi could afford to buy a car and began competing in local rallies at the age of twenty-two with a Lancia Lambda and a few years later acquired a Fiat Balilla with which he and his brother Emilio competed in the Mille Miglia. In 1935, he raced in the Coppa Ciano, finishing third and went on to capture the Italian driving championship in the 1100cc sports car class. The following year he and his brother purchased a Maserati which they drove individually in different races. Emilio was so successful that he was signed to drive an Alfa Romeo for Scuderia Ferrari in the 1937 season. Unfortunately, Emilio died while testing an Alfa Romeo factory racer at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

In 1938, Luigi Villoresi became part of the Maserati team, driving the 8CTF model that Maserati had designed to compete with the dominant German Silver Arrows. In 1939 he won the South African Grand Prix but the onset of World War II interrupted his racing career. At war's end, he returned to race for Maserati until 1949 when he signed again with Scuderia Ferrari debuting in Formula One with an Alfa Romeo on May 21, 1950.

Villoresi drove his Ferrari at 1950 Monaco Grand Prix

Already 41 years old, Villoresi served as an elder statesman for the F1 team, notably as Alberto Ascari's mentor who became his closest friend. In 1954, he and Ascari joined the new Lancia racing team but Ascari's death in the spring of the following year profoundly affected Villoresi and his career went into steep decline. He retired from Grand Prix racing in 1957 after 32 Formula 1 championship starts without a victory but made it to the podium 8 times while scoring a total of 49 championship points. Villoresi continued rally racing and won the Acropolis Rally in Greece in 1958 before retiring to a home in Modena.

Luigi Villoresi died in 1997 at the age of eighty-eight.





Luigi Villoresi (1909-1997) Called "Gigi"

Major career wins:

Complete Formula One results

(Note: grands prix in bold denote points scoring races.)

Yr Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Team
1950 Ferr GBR MON IND SWI BEL FRA ITA     Ferr
1951 Ferr SWI IND BEL FRA GBR DEU ITA SPA   Ferr
1952 Ferr SWI IND BEL FRA GBR DEU DUT ITA   Ferr
1953 Ferr ARG IND DUT BEL FRA GBR DEU SWI ITA Ferr
1954 Mase ARG IND BEL FRA GBR DEU SWI ITA SPA Lanc
1955 Lanc ARG MON IND BEL DUT GBR ITA     Ferr
1956 Mase ARG MON IND BEL FRA GBR DEU ITA   Mase

External Links

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