Luigi Fagioli

Luigi Fagioli

Nation:	Italy
Automobile world championship
First start:	Great Britain Grand Prix 1950
Last start:	1951 French Grand Prix
Constructors
1950–1951 Alfa Romeo
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup third ( 1950 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 7th 1 - -
World Cup points :	32
Podiums :	6th
Leadership laps :	8 over 49 km

Luigi Christiano Fagioli (born June 9, 1898 in Osimo (AN) , † June 20, 1952 in Monte Carlo ) was an Italian racing driver . Although he was born in the Marche region of northern Italy and was a cultured personality, the press nicknamed him "The Old Robber from Abruzzo ". Friends and relatives called him "Gigi". He was the youngest of the eleven children of his parents Sisinio and Maria Fagioli (née Zoppi). In 1931 he married Pia Coltilde Vercellone from Biella .

In 1952 he died in Monaco as a result of a training accident at the exit of the tunnel.

Career

The first years with Maserati and Alfa Romeo

Luigi Fagioli at the Targa Florio 1928

Statue of Fagiolis in Osimo

Before Luigi Fagioli began his automobile racing career in small Italian races in 1925, he had already competed in motorcycle races with two-wheelers of the Borgo and SAAR brands since the early 1920s. With a Salmson 1.1 liter acquired in 1925 , he then competed in mountain and road races. In 1927 he took part in the premiere of the Mille Miglia , but did not reach the goal. After his victory at the Circuito di Rimini in 1928, he switched to a private Maserati 1500. In this car he won several hill climbs. With his seventh place at the Targa Florio 1928 on a Maserati Tipo 26 , he drew the attention of the Maserati brothers. In 1930 he won the Coppa Principe di Piemonte in Avellino and the Coppa Ciano on the Circuito di Montenero near Livorno as the official works driver of Maserati, each ahead of competitors in Alfa Romeos from Scuderia Ferrari . In 1931 Luigi Fagioli fought a fierce duel with Louis Chiron in a Bugatti Type 51 at the Monaco Grand Prix , which he had to admit defeat by only three seconds. At the Grand Prix of Tunisia , he also remained second, again beaten by a Bugatti T51, this time driven by Achille Varzi . At the French Grand Prix in Montlhéry he set the fastest lap before the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on his Maserati before the likes Baconin Borzacchini , Achille Varzi and Tazio Nuvolari won.

In 1932 he drove the Maserati Tipo V5 , whose 16-cylinder engine had a displacement of 4.9 liters and was charged by a Roots blower . With this vehicle he won the Premio Reale di Roma and the Circuito di Senigallia . He also achieved four second places at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the Czechoslovak Grand Prix in Brno , the Gran Premio di Monza and the Circuito Lago di Bolsena.

Maserati 8CM

In 1933 he also started on a Maserati, this time on an 8CM . Except for a third place in a hill climb, he couldn't finish most of the races. When Tazio Nuvolari Enzo Ferrari left Scuderia Ferrari to found his own racing team with Maserati vehicles, Ferrari signed Luigi Fagioli. In his first race for the new team, the Nice Grand Prix, he finished fourth. He won several races with the Alfa Romeo , including the Italian Grand Prix , in which Tazio Nuvolari came second and the drivers Baconin Borzacchini, Giuseppe Campari and Stanisław Czaykowski were killed in an accident. Although both Tazio Nuvolari and Carlo Felice Trossi won as many races as Luigi Fagioli, he was declared Italian champion at the end of the season.

Factory drivers from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union

Through his success with Alfa Romeo in 1933, Mercedes noticed him and Alfred Neubauer signed the Italian for the 1934 season . Fagioli stayed with Mercedes for three years, although his relationship with the race director and teammates was difficult. His successes included the Italian Grand Prix in 1934 , in which he had taken over the racing car from Rudolf Caracciola , and the 1934 Spanish Grand Prix . In the 1934 Eifel race at the Nürburgring , he was in the lead when he had to pit and let Manfred von Brauchitsch pass by . On the final lap, his car misfired.

Mercedes W25

In 1935 Fagioli took second place at the German Grand Prix , won the Coppa Acerbo in Pescara , the Italian Grand Prix in Monza (together with Rudolf Caracciola ) and the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuito Lasarte . That year he also won the Monaco Grand Prix . It was the first time that this race saw a start-to-finish victory. He finished third at the Gran Premio di Tripoli and second at Spa-Francorchamps , Bremgarten and Lasarte. Luigi Fagioli was also able to win the AVUS race and the Gran Premio de Penya Rhin in 1935 . In the driver's European championship of the AIACR (Association Internationale des Automobiles Club Reconnus, forerunner of the FIA ) he finished second behind Rudolf Caracciola. In 1936 there were quarrels with Neubauer and Caracciola, mostly because of stable orders or a lack of equal treatment. He separated from Mercedes in 1936, which were mostly inferior to Auto Union that year . Before leaving Mercedes, he finished third in Tripoli, fifth at the Nürburgring and fourth in Bremgarten.

For the 1937 season, Luigi Fagioli moved to the superior Auto Union team. He had to sit out most of the season due to major back problems, but finished fifth at the wheel of the Auto Union Type C in Tripoli and fourth at the Coppa Acerbo. At the end of this season, his rivalry with Rudolf Caracciola in Tripoli broke out violently: because he felt held back by Caracciola, he attacked the German with a hammer, but was held back by a mechanic. Due to his back problem, Fagioli retired from racing in late 1937 and with the outbreak of World War II it seemed as if his racing career was over.

New beginning after the war

However, Fagioli returned to Cisitalia and Maserati in 1947 in improved health . In 1949 he finished ninth in the Mille Miglia together with Pino Leopardi in the Fiat 1100 S Berlinetta . He then moved back to the Maserati brothers, who had just founded the Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili (OSCA) . With the Osca MT4 1100 he was second in its class and seventh overall in the 1950s edition of the thousand miles.

In the same year , Fagioli came back to Grand Prix racing in the superior Alfa Romeo team and took part in the Formula 1 World Championship . With Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio he formed the "team of the three F's". However, his performance did not come close to that of his teammates, although with four second places and one third place as a model of consistency, he was third in the 1950 season. At the Pescara Grand Prix, which was not part of the World Championship , he led until one lap before the end of the race before falling back to third place with tire problems. After Fagioli had to give his car to Fangio at the French Grand Prix in 1951 , he resigned from Alfa Romeo. After all, with this success he became the oldest driver who could ever achieve a Grand Prix victory.

As a result, Luigi Fagioli focused on sports car racing . At the 1951 Mille Miglia he was class winner with his OSCA. In 1952 Lancia signed him. At the wheel of a Lancia Aurelia B20 , he finished third in the Mille Miglia. Only Giovanni Bracco and Karl Kling in much more powerful cars ( Ferrari 250 S Berlinetta and Mercedes 300 SL ) could beat him. He left his much younger teammates and Rudolf Caracciola's 300 SL behind.

Fagioli had a serious accident at the wheel of a Lancia Aurelia B20 while training for a sports car race in Monaco. As a result of a defect, he hit the boundary at the exit of the tunnel and was seriously injured. He died of his injuries three weeks later.

statistics

Grand Prix victories before 1950

See also : History of the Grand Prix before 1950

• 1933 - Italian Grand Prix ( Monza ) 
• 1934 - Italian Grand Prix (Monza) 
• 1934 - Spanish Grand Prix ( Circuito Lasarte ) 
• 1935 - Monaco Grand Prix ( Monte Carlo ) 

Pre-war Grand Prix results

season	team	dare	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	Points	position
1931	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati 26M								22nd	26th
				DNF
1932	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati V5								18th	7th
			2
1933	private / Maserati / Scuderia Ferrari	Maserati 8C-3000 / Maserati 8CM / Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3								-
			DNF	DNS		1	2
1934	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz W 25								-
				DNF	2	DNS	DNF / 1 1	1
1935	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz W 25								22nd	2.
			1	4th	2 2	6th	2	DNF	2
1936	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz W 25 short								26th	14th
			DNF	5 3	DNF / 4 4
1937	Auto Union AG	Auto Union Type C								36	20th
			DNS	DNS		7 5

Legend
colour	meaning		EM points
gold	victory		1
silver	2nd place		2
bronze	3rd place		3
green	Classified, covered more than 75% of the race distance		4th
blue	not entitled to points, covered between 50% and 75% of the race distance		5
violet	not eligible for points, covered between 25% and 50% of the race distance		6th
red	not eligible for points, covered less than 25% of the race distance		7th
colour	abbreviation	meaning	EM points
black	DSQ	disqualified	8th
White	DNS	did not start
	DNA	did not arrive
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)

¹Fagioli retired with his car on lap 14 and took over Caracciola's car around half-time and drove it to victory.

²handed his car over to von Brauchitsch after about half the distance , who drove him to second place.

³handed his car over to Caracciola after 17 laps. This drove him to 5th place.

^4thFagioli retired with his car on lap 6, and took over Lang's car around half-time and drove it to fourth place.

⁵ handed his car over to Nuvolari after 22 laps, who drove him to 7th place.

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

• 1951:  France  ( Reims )

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1950	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158/50	Alfa Romeo L8C	6th	-	4th	1	-	-	24 (28)	3.
1951	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159	Alfa Romeo L8C	1	1	-	-	-	-	4th	11.
total				7th	1	4th	1	-	-	32

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th
1950
	2	DNF		2	2	2	(3)
1951
				1/11 1

¹ Fagioli handed over the car with number 8, which crossed the finish line in first place, to Juan Manuel Fangio during the race . Fagioli took over the vehicle with the number 4, which finished in eleventh place, from Fangio.

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Web links

Commons : Luigi Fagioli  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official homepage (Italian / English)
• Fagioli's biography at motorsportmemorial.org (English)
• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: Luigi Fagioli (I). www.kolumbus.fi, September 12, 2014, accessed on September 13, 2014 (English). 
• Luigi Fagioli. www.grandprixhistory.org, accessed on September 13, 2014 . 
• Luigi Fagioli in the Internet Movie Database (English)