Scuderia Milano

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The Scuderia Automobilistica Milano , Lombardy Scuderia Automobilistica Milan , was an Italian automobile racing team from the 1950s.

Racing history

In 1949, shortly after the Second World War , modern racing vehicles were still rare in car races and the starting fields were small. The organizers of the Italian Grand Prix 1949 guaranteed an extra bonus to all competitors who started two vehicles. The Ruggeri brothers - they ran Scuderia Milano - therefore brought two Maserati 4 CLT / 48 to the start and registered the vehicles under the type designation Milano. The wheelbase of the two Grand Prix cars was shortened and the body adapted accordingly. Mario Speluzzi, a specialist in marine engines, was commissioned to extract 30 HP more from the engine.

Both vehicles, now referred to as Milano-Speluzzi, took part in the race and provided the extra bonus. At the wheel were the two top pilots Giuseppe Farina and Piero Taruffi . Only the plant - Ferrari by Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi were faster in training. In the race, Farina simply gave up after 18 laps with the argument that he could not keep up with the Ferrari. Taruffi was at least third. The Ruggeri brothers wanted to get into Grand Prix racing in 1950 and designed a new vehicle. There should be two cars. Both cars had a tubular frame with triangular wishbones and torsion bars at the front, but one had a De Dion rear axle with transverse spring leaf and the second had a rear axle with double trailing arms. The Scuderia's limited resources and the unusual idea of ​​building two different chassis delayed the completion considerably. In the end, only the De Dion variant was finished.

In the meantime, the Scuderia continued to use the Maserati as Milano. Felice Bonetto was seen at the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix . In Switzerland he finished sixth, in France he was eliminated. The De-Dion-Milano made its debut at the Grand Prix of Nations , raced at the Circuit des Nations in Geneva in 1950 (the race was not part of the World Championship ). Gianfranco Comotti was at the wheel . He dropped out after eight laps, while Bonetto finished eighth in the Milano-Maserati.

For the Freiburg hill climb in 1950, the Scuderia was able to sign the German Paul Pietsch . Pietsch did not want to drive the De-Dion-Milano and therefore sat in the Milano-Maserati from 1949 during the race. He won with the fastest time. The lack of clarity as to which car concept should now be pursued was, in addition to the lack of funds, a reason for the end of the Scuderia.

The Ruggeri brothers continued to rely on the new building, but had to recognize the limits of their actions at the 1950 Pescara Grand Prix . The car simply suffered from a lack of performance. Bonetto reached a top speed of 150 mph on the straight, but was almost 50 mph slower than the fastest Alfa Romeo , driven by Juan Manuel Fangio . At the Italian Grand Prix , the Scuderia competed again with Comotti and the De Dion car. Speluzzi designed cylinder heads with two plugs each for the race to increase performance. The engine, which now supposedly had 320 hp, did not meet the requirements. Comotti retired on lap 16 with engine failure and the Scuderia stopped racing. The second, never used chassis was later sold and served as the basis for the Arzani-Volpini car from 1955 .

Literature and Sources

  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A to Z after 1945 Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, p. 191, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .