Eugenio Dragoni

Eugenio Dragoni (* 1909 , † 1974 ) was racing director at Scuderia Ferrari from 1962 to 1966 .

Eugenio Dragoni was a lifelong friend of Enzo Ferrari and had close ties with the Agnelli family. In addition to his involvement in motorsport, he was the owner of a cosmetics factory in northern Italy.

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Dragoni was race director at Scuderia Sant 'Ambroeus . At the Scuderia in 1961, the young Italian Giancarlo Baghetti drove , who won the Gran Premio di Siracusa and the French Grand Prix that same year . However, the Ferrari 156 was officially used by FISA , the Scuderia Sant Ambroeus prepared the 156 as a semi-works car from Ferrari for the races.

After the resignation of Romolo Tavoni , Dragoni took over the position of race director at Scuderia Ferrari at the end of 1961. Dragoni brought a long necessary professionalism to the team, but his bossy manner and his constant arguments with the Italian press made working with the technicians and pilots in the team difficult. Nevertheless, there were great successes in motorsport under his direction. Until his departure at the end of the 1966 season, Scuderia celebrated a driver and constructor world championship in Formula 1 . John Surtees won the championship in 1964 . The Scuderia also triumphed four times in the sports car world championship and won the Le Mans 24 Hours three times in a row with Dragoni as race director .

Dragoni always saw the Scuderia as an Italian racing team and had a tendency to prefer the local drivers. After the departure of Phil Hill , who often publicly complained about Dragoni, this attitude led to a constant conflict with John Surtees, who left the team in anger in 1966. Years later, it became known that Enzo Ferrari was stirring up the argument between the two because Surtees had become too powerful for him. Dragoni saw through this game earlier and also resigned in 1966. This did not affect his friendship with the “Commendatore” Ferrari.

Literature and Sources

• Antony Pritchard: Scarlet Passion - Ferrari's famed sports prototype and competition cars 1962 - 1973 Haynes, 2005, ISBN 1-85960-872-8 .

Web links

• Image: Eugenio Dragoni (right) with John Surtees