Luigi Villoresi
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.
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.
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.
Major career wins:
- Alsace Grand Prix 1947
- British Grand Prix 1948
- Coppa Acerbo 1938
- Coppa Edda Ciano 1938
- Czechoslovakian Grand Prix 1937
- Dutch Grand Prix 1949
- Grand Prix d'Albigeois 1938, 1948
- Grand Prix de Bruxelles 1949
- Grand Prix du Comminges 1948
- Grand Prix de Marseilles 1950, 1951
- Gran Premio de Modena 1952
- Grand Prix de Nice 1946, 1947
- Grand Prix de Nîmes 1947
- Grand Prix de Pau 1951
- Grand Prix of Naples 1948
- Gran Premio del Valentino 1952
- Interlagos Grand Prix 1949
- Lausanne Grand Prix 1947
- Mille Miglia 1951
- Penya Rhin Grand Prix 1948
- General Juan Perón Grand Prix 1947, 1948
- Eva Duarte Perón Grand Prix 1947, 1948
- Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix 1949
- Giro de Sicilia 1953
- Syracuse Grand Prix 1951
- South African Grand Prix 1939
- Targa Florio 1939, 1940
- Tripoli Grand Prix 1937
- Zandvoort Grand Prix 1949
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 |