Piero Taruffi

The long motorsport career of this Italian, who was born in Albano Laziale not far from Rome, began in the early 1920s, initially on two wheels. In 1932 he won the European championship in the 500 cc class on a Norton, advanced to the position of test engineer and designer at the Italian brand Gilera in 1937 and subsequently set various records with machines of this make.

Although he had already made contact with motor racing in 1930 in a Bugatti during a Mille Miglia race, his actual four-wheeled career did not begin until 1950 – and at the highest level. He contested the Italian Grand Prix, a round of the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship, in an Alfa Romeo Type 158. The following year he was already in the Ferrari 375 F1, took part in five rounds of the drivers' world championship and finished sixth overall.

In the same year, Taruffi also proved his qualities in sports cars and won the Carrera Panamericana, also in a Ferrari. Other highlights of his career include victory in the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix and third place in the drivers' standings of that year's Formula One World Championship, as well as his victories in the 1954 Targa Florio in a Lancia and the following year in the Giro di Sicilia, again in a Ferrari.

in 1955, Mercedes-Benz relied on the experience and routine of the now white-haired Italian for two Grand Prix races. Taruffi finished fourth in the W 196 R at the British Grand Prix at Aintree, while at his home race in Monza he was placed second behind his brand colleague Juan Manuel Fangio. In 1956, he drove Maserati sports cars with great success. One year later he crowned and ended his grandiose career with a victory in a Ferrari at the last Mille Miglia to be held.