Luigi Villoresi

Former F1 driver
Name = Luigi Villoresi
Nationality = flagicon|Italy Italian
Years = F1|1950 - F1|1956
Team(s) = Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Scuderia Centro Sud
Races = 34 (31 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 8
Points = 46 (49)Up until F1|1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of pointscoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.]
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 1
First race = 1950 Monaco Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 1956 Italian Grand Prix

Luigi Villoresi (May 16, 1909 - August 24, 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception.

Biography

Born in Milan, Lombardy, 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 1100 cc 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 Ferrari debuting in Formula One on May 21, 1950.

1949

Villoresi finished 2nd in the 1949 Buenos Aires Grand Prix-President Juan Peron Grand Prix. Alberto Ascariwas the winner with a time of 1 hour, 30 minutes, 23.9 seconds, for anaverage speed of convert|70.6|mph|km/h|1. ["Peron Race To Italian Driver", New York Times, January 31, 1949, Page 25.] Villoresiwon the first Grand Prix de Bruxelles, beating Alexander Orley of the
United States. The winning time was convert|85|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on over convert|188|mi|km|0|sing=on distance. Orley was six seconds behind. ["Villoresi Beats Orley In Brussels Auto Race", New York Times, May 22, 1949, Page S10.]
Louis Rosier was victorious in a blue Talbot, in a convert|500|km|mi|0|sing=onGrand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, in June 1949. He took the lead following 23 laps and came across the finish line in front of Villoresi. ["Rosier Captures Auto Race", New York Times, June 20, 1949, Page 24.] Villoresi was 3rd in a convert|60|mi|km|0|sing=on international race at Silverstone in September 1949. Italian drivers made a clean sweep of the first three positions with Ascari 1st and Giuseppe Farina 2nd. 100,000 fans looked on. English driver St. John Horsfall died when his car crashed at a turn. ["Italians WinAuto Race; British Pilot Is Killed", New York Times, August 21, 1949, Page S3.]

1950 "-" 1951

Villoresi skidded on oil, penetrated a barrier, and killed three spectators at the Grand Prix des Nations race in Geneva (Switzerland). Nino Farina impacted Villoresi's car at high speed but was uninjured. Villoresi broke his left leg and suffered head injuries which were treated at a hospital. The Grand Prix of 272 kilometres was won by Juan Manuel Fangio. ["3 Auto Race Fans Killed", New York Times, July 31, 1950, Page 23.] The 1951 British Grand Prix was taken by Jose Froilan Gonzalez of Argentina. Villoresi finished two laps behind the winner, with an average speed of convert|95.39|mph|km/h|2. Villoresi completed 88 laps, 2 behind Gonzalez. ["Gonzales Home First", New York Times, July 15, 1951, Page S3.]

1952

In July 1952 Villoresi won the 6th Grand Prix de France, at Les Sables d'Olonne, driving a Ferrari. He captured the three hour, convert|208|mi|km|0|sing=on race, with anaverage speed of convert|69.3|mph|km/h|1. ["Italian Cops Grand Prix", Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1952, Page C14.] Ferrariachieved a 1,2,3 sweep at the Grand Prix d'France in La Baule, in August 1952. Alberto Ascari was 1st, followed by Villoresi and Rosier. Ascari had already clinched the Formula One World Championship before this event. ["Ascari Triumphs in Final Grand Prix", Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1952, Page C2.] Villoresidrove a Ferrari to capture the 1952 Grand Prix of Modena in 1:5:21 over a distance of 100 laps, convert|230.6|km|mi|0|sing=on . His average speed was Auto km/h|124.236|3 ["Villoresi Captures Grand Prix of Modena", Los Angeles Times, September 15, 1952, Page C4.]

1953 "-" 1954

Villoresi displayed his agility as a driver in the 1953 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Giuseppe Farina made contact with the Maserati driven by Onofre Marimon as he was approaching the finish line. Villoresi made a brilliant maneouvre while racing at convert|100|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on The crowd came to its feet to witness his quick thinking in pulling his car of the track at great speed. Villoresi then finished 3rd after winner Fangio and Farina, who was two seconds behind at the end. The race marked the first time a Ferrari did not win an event in races counting toward the Formula One World Championship. Fangio drove a Maserati to an average speed of convert|110|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on over the convert|313|mi|km|0|sing=on grand prix. ["Fangio Captures Italian Auto Race", New York Times, September 14, 1953, Page 33.]

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.

Villoresi was critically injured while testing a Lancia Aurelia near Rimini, Italy in April 1954. He was riding with his mechanic when he skidded while attempting to avoid a Fiat driving in the opposite direction. Both Villoresi and his mechanic were pinned beneath the Lancia. A group of farmers came to their aid, using oxen to lift the car. Both men remained conscious. Villoresi sustained a number of deep head wounds, facial lacerations, and bruises all over his body. He was listed in serious, but not critical condition. ["Racing Driver Injured", New York Times, April 21, 1954, Page 37.]

1955 "-" 1958

Villoresi was 3rd after Ascari and Luigi Musso in the May 1955 Naples Grand Prix, a convert|153.5|mi|km|1 event. Villoresi was in a Lancia. ["Naples Race To Ascari", May 9, 1955, Page 30.]

He wrecked his car in the 1956 Grand Prix of Rome, a 2-Litre sports car event.The race was won by Jean Behra in a Maserati. ["Frenchman Wins Rome Grand Prix", Los Angeles Times, October 22, 1956, Page C5.]

Villoresi was one of 9 drivers, from a starting field of 303, in a January 1958 Monte Carlo auto rally, who completed the first leg of the rigorous touring car event, without incurring a penalty. The convert|1900|mi|km|-1|sing=on endurance event featured cars from 8 different European starting locales. 72 survivors crossed the finish line but 13 were disqualified because of lateness. The 59 who remained from the opening round faced a convert|655|mi|km|0|sing=on, 22 hour portion, extending from Monte Carlo through the maritime Alps. Villoresi drove a Lancia. ["Nine Drivers Avoid Penalties In Rally", New York Times, January 25, 1958, Page 23.]

Villoresi retired from Grand Prix racing in 1957 after 31 Formula One championship starts without a victory but made it to the podium eight 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 victories

*Alsace Grand Prix 1947
*British Grand Prix 1948
*Coppa Acerbo 1938
*Coppa Edda Ciano 1938
*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
*Buenos Aires Grand Prix-General Juan Perón Grand Prix 1947, 1948
*Buenos Aires Grand Prix-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 World Championship results

() (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)

References