Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (born July 17, 1901 in Jerago con Orago , † August 17, 1994 ) was an American racing driver of Italian origin. His athletic career began in the 1930s and ended in the early 1950s.
Career
At the beginning of the 1930s in France, living as a car salesman and racing driver, he established his reputation as the winner of the Le Mans 24-hour race in an Alfa Romeo in 1932 . This victory was followed by two more in this endurance race in 1934 and 1949.
During the Second World War, Chinetti emigrated to the United States, where he was naturalized in 1946. He subsequently won other long-distance races, for example the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps , and in 1949 achieved the first victory of a Ferrari sports car at Le Mans. In 1951 he won the Carrera Panamericana as Piero Taruffi's co-driver . Chinetti took part in all Le Mans races between 1932 and 1953 on various makes and was the second racing driver to win this race three times by 1949.
Chinetti capitalized on his success with Ferrari when he became the first and for a long time only American Ferrari dealer in the 1950s. In this function, Chinetti then founded the NART racing team, which was successful up to the 1970s, with official support from Ferrari .
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1932 | Raymond Summers | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 LM | Raymond Summers | Overall victory | |
1933 | Soc. On. Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM-LM | Philippe de Gunzburg | Rank 2 | |
1934 | Luigi Chinetti | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 | Philippe Étancelin | Overall victory | |
1935 | Luigi Chinetti | Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 | Jacques Gastaud | failure | Engine failure |
1937 | Luigi Chinetti | Talbot T150C | Louis Chiron | failure | Engine failure |
1938 | Luigi Chinetti | Talbot T1500 SS Coupe | Philippe Étancelin | failure | Engine failure |
1939 | Luigi Chinetti | Talbot T26 | TASO Mathieson | failure | accident |
1949 | Lord Selsdon | Ferrari 166MM | Peter Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baron Selsdon | Overall victory | |
1950 | Luigi Chinetti | Ferrari 195 Sport | Pierre Louis-Dreyfus | failure | Power transmission |
1951 | Luigi Chinetti | Ferrari 340 America | Jean Lucas | Rank 8 | |
1952 | Luigi Chinetti | Ferrari 340 America | Jean Lucas | failure | Disqualified |
1953 | Luigi Chinetti | Ferrari 340MM Spider | Tom Cole | failure | Fatal accident involving Cole |
Individual results in the sports car world championship
season | team | race car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1953 | Luigi Chinetti Scuderia Gustalla |
Ferrari 340MM Ferrari 375MM |
SEB | MIM | LEM | SPA | ONLY | RTT | CAP |
DNF | DNF | ||||||||
1954 | John Shakespeare | Ferrari 375MM | BUA | SEB | MIM | LEM | RTT | CAP | |
6th |
Web links
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Chinetti, Luigi |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian-American racing driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 17, 1901 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerago con Orago |
DATE OF DEATH | 17th August 1994 |