12 replies to this topic

[HistoryFan]

I'm very interested in racing drivers which are little-known. I did a little bit research on Sergio Mantovani. He was an Italian racing driver who, I think (after that what I've read) was very talented. He was a young business man who started his racing career in 1950, just for fun first, but then he noticed that he has a huge talent and three years later he drove his first WC race in F1, when he finished 7th at Italian GP with the same Maserati car that also Luigi Musso drove. He was entered at 7 WC races with Maserati and finished 5th two times. Even more he had good results with getting 3rd in the non championship Rome and Syracuse Grand Prix. Unfortunately he lost one leg at the Valentino Grand Prix 1955, another non championship race. He stayed in racing as member of the sporting commission of the Automobile Club of Italy. In 2001 he died in the age of 71.

Has anyone more details about this guy?
How talented was he? Had he the talent for winnig GP races? He was just in the mid-20s as he died with less experience.
What exactly happened at practice for Valentino Grand Prix 1955?

[D-Type]

Acording to Steve Small, "~ Sergio was involved in a practice crash at the Valentino GP in Turin in which he sustained serious leg injuries which resulted in the amputation of one limb above the knee"

[RStock]

Some stats and a short bio here, you'll have to translate.

http://www.statsf1.c...-mantovani.aspx

Edited by REDARMYSOJA, 22 December 2011 - 20:20.

[Doug Nye]

Mantovani was quite highly thought of amongst that generation of Italian rising stars, probably in the order Musso, Castellotti, Mantovani. Sadly his luck ran out when he struck that bridge abutment - I think - in Valentino Park. But he was then held in considerable esteem as he became a leading and respected presence behind the scenes in the RACI and FIA.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 22 December 2011 - 21:11.

[Bauble]

Sergio was a very promising young driver who I well remember from the early fifties, he finished 10th in the 1953 Mille Miglia, driving a Maserati A6G. and second in class. He drove an Alfa Romeo 1900 in the Nurburgring 1000kms alongside Marinoni finishing 24th overall.
In 54 he retired from the Mille Miglia and did not start at Le Mans, but took third place in the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod sharing a Maserati 250S with Luigi Musso, and went on to take 18th place in the Carrera Pan Americana once in an Alfa 1900TI.

Another promising Italian of the time was Cesare Perdisa , whom you may also like to look up.

[HistoryFan]

Thank you for the replies.

[sramoa]

I think later he was a priest an Italian village.I saw a documentary film and there he was.Somebody have any story or true this story?

[David McKinney]

I think we've already discussed this, and concluded the priest was a different Sergio Mantovani

[Tim Murray]

... as explained in this potted biography posted in the Elio de Angelis thread:

The Formula 3 Chevron in which Elio won at Monaco in 1978 is being offered for charity in the Bonhams Monaco auction Sale, May 15, 2004:

1977 Chevron -Toyota Novamotor B38 Formula 3 Racing Single-Seater
Chassis no. 38-77-01
"If you had to nominate two people whose names were synonymous with the word Modena, many would choose Enzo Ferrari and Don Sergio Mantovani…" Thus wrote Denis Jenkinson, an assiduous spectator at Modena, in his book "Jenks, a passion for motorsport", in the chapter dedicated to the famous padre and entitled "Don Sergio, A delightful man".

Don Sergio Mantovani is a modern parish priest (who carries the same name as the driver Sergio Mantovani, who recently passed away and drove in various Grand Prix races between 1953 and 1955), universally known as the "drivers’ chaplain". His pastoral tunic, worn over his black clergyman’s suit, was a customary sight in the paddocks of Grand Prix races in Monza and Imola, and occasionally also abroad.

A native of Modena, Don Sergio was ordained to the priesthood in 1953: it was at that time that he began to spend time with the Maserati racing team, and was welcomed with great cordiality by the workmen. He then began to follow the "Squadra Corse" on the circuits too, establishing friendly relations with Jean Behra, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. In 1959 he was appointed to the Santa Caterina parish, beyond the bridge over the Viale Ciro Menotti, just a few hundred metres from Maserati’s Modena base. From an idea shared by Behra and Don Sergio stemmed the concept of establishing a nursery school dedicated to deceased automobile drivers, which was inaugurated in 1961 in the presence of Fangio, Moss, Von Trips, Trintignant, Adolfo and Omer Orsi of Maserati and Count Volpi of the "Scuderia Serenissima". 1971 witnessed the inauguration of the Ara, a wing-shaped drivers monument which was the work of Modenese sculptor Marino Quartieri. Don Sergio Mantovani has worked tirelessly on behalf of his parishioners: in 1978 he built the new parish church, and in 1987 the "Casa della Gioia e del Sole", an ultra-modern old people’s home endowed with the most modern equipment which can house 87 pensioners who are no longer self-sufficient, with a particular concern for the most needy. The great "Gigi" Villoresi lived here for the last three years of his life.

Don Sergio has always succeeded in establishing a special relationship with all drivers, who have found in him comfort for their fears and nurture for their faith. He also created special ties with Elio De Angelis, the unforgettable Italian driver who died on 15th May 1986 during a private testing session on the Le Castellet circuit, 18 years ago to this day.

When attending Elio’s funeral, Don Sergio met his father, Giulio De Angelis, who visited him a year later and donated an extremely valuable painting to the Parish of Santa Caterina in memory of his son. Only 15 days later, Giulio De Angelis, while in his villa in Sardinia, was kidnapped by a gang of Sardinian bandits. Don Sergio offered to serve as an intermediary between the family and the kidnappers, and in this capacity drove on certain nights hundreds of kilometres along the winding Sardinian roads, stopping from time to time in various places, for exchanges of information. After five months, an agreement was finally reached regarding the amount of the ransom. It was then that, at the risk of his own life and demonstrating courage on a par with his great faith, Don Sergio offered to take the place of the kidnapped man in the hands of the bandits. When payment arrived three days later, Don Sergio was released.

His ties with the De Angelis family had become very close and, thanks to the contribution of the family, Don Sergio began building a multi-purpose gymnasium that could be used either by parishioners, or by guests of the Casa del Sole. The new modern gym hall, inaugurated on 22nd November 1997, was dedicated to the memory of Elio De Angelis.

The De Angelis family gave Don Sergio the single-seater Chevron with which Elio had entered the international scene, winning the Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix in 1978: this prestigious victory had been achieved in his year-old car, Elio having reverted to Formula 3 to recoup his stature following a poor early showing in the Formula 2 Chevron-Ferraris he was running that new season. His victory opened the doors of Formula 1 motor-racing to the gifted Roman driver, who subsequently won two Grand Prix races with Lotus, the Austrian in 1982 and at Imola in 1985.

Don Sergio is grateful for the free and unselfish cooperation of Adolfo Orsi and Historica Selecta, the Circola della Biella, Fiorenzo Fantuzzi, the Giuliani car repair shop in Modena, Sandro Bacchi (who took the photos), Cars Europe (for the transport) and Bonhams Europe.

The entire proceeds of the sale will go to the Casa della Gioia e del Sole.

Estimate: €20,000 to 30,000

DCN

[Doug Nye]

This thread on Sergio Mantovani, suggesting that he did stop racing after his accident at the Valentino, has got it wrong...well, not quite right.

My friend Franco Lombardi in Italy has asked me to point out that - following Mantovani's loss of a leg in the Turin accident - while the Italian racing authorities never again allowed him to race, foreign authorities quite often let him race with his prosthesis.

Franco explains that "A recent long interview with Olinto Morolli discusses the point, explaining how the young Riminese driver ended up on the 250TR prototype at the 1957 Nurburgring.
A short excerpt from my Appendix One (The Related Types - this is in Franco's forthcoming book on the 4-cylinder Ferraris, co-written with Antoine Prunet):

'…But in the evening, Tavoni was able to enrol Olinto Morolli, a good second-line journeyman whose competition record included a fifth place and victory in the 1100 class in the Giro di Calabria the previous year, plus a few other appearances in local races under his belt driving an OSCA 1100 or 950. Perhaps not enough to handle a Ferrari prototype of three times the power he was used to on its debut at the Nürburgring.[1]
How did you up there? “You see, I was close friend with Sergio Mantovani and quite a few times I ended up using his OSCA, mostly after his accident at Valentino, in Turin, where he lost a leg. On Friday we went together at the Nürburgring where the Maserati brothers had enlisted him with De Tomaso and I was a support driver in case the Germans would have not granted him permission to race. You see, while in Italy he had difficulties, abroad most of the time he was allowed to race with his prosthesis. This is what happened and I was happy for him. Period. Then on Saturday, after von Trips’s accident, I met Gino Rancati around the circuit and Gino casually asked ‘Do you have a first-degree licence, do you?’ Yes, the International licence, I answered.”

Franco remembers Sergio Mantovani fondly as an excellent driver indeed and a very nice gentleman, who did indeed race a few times more after his most unfortunate Turin accident.

DCN (with thanks to Franco Lombardi)

[D-Type]

Do we know which leg he lost? I would guess his left as it would be easier to operate the clutch with a prosthetic leg than the accelerator and brake.

[HistoryFan]

@Doug Nye: Thank you! Never heard this before...

[ERault]

This thread on Sergio Mantovani, suggesting that he did stop racing after his accident at the Valentino, has got it wrong...well, not quite right.

My friend Franco Lombardi in Italy has asked me to point out that - following Mantovani's loss of a leg in the Turin accident - while the Italian racing authorities never again allowed him to race, foreign authorities quite often let him race with his prosthesis.

Franco explains that "A recent long interview with Olinto Morolli discusses the point, explaining how the young Riminese driver ended up on the 250TR prototype at the 1957 Nurburgring.
A short excerpt from my Appendix One (The Related Types - this is in Franco's forthcoming book on the 4-cylinder Ferraris, co-written with Antoine Prunet):

'…But in the evening, Tavoni was able to enrol Olinto Morolli, a good second-line journeyman whose competition record included a fifth place and victory in the 1100 class in the Giro di Calabria the previous year, plus a few other appearances in local races under his belt driving an OSCA 1100 or 950. Perhaps not enough to handle a Ferrari prototype of three times the power he was used to on its debut at the Nürburgring.[1]
How did you up there? “You see, I was close friend with Sergio Mantovani and quite a few times I ended up using his OSCA, mostly after his accident at Valentino, in Turin, where he lost a leg. On Friday we went together at the Nürburgring where the Maserati brothers had enlisted him with De Tomaso and I was a support driver in case the Germans would have not granted him permission to race. You see, while in Italy he had difficulties, abroad most of the time he was allowed to race with his prosthesis. This is what happened and I was happy for him. Period. Then on Saturday, after von Trips’s accident, I met Gino Rancati around the circuit and Gino casually asked ‘Do you have a first-degree licence, do you?’ Yes, the International licence, I answered.”

Franco remembers Sergio Mantovani fondly as an excellent driver indeed and a very nice gentleman, who did indeed race a few times more after his most unfortunate Turin accident.

DCN (with thanks to Franco Lombardi)

The "regular" OSCA driver, apart from this Nurburgring episode, was Luciano Mantovani, not Sergio. He first had a private MT4 1100, then raced for the works mostly with a TN 1500. The OSCA Morolli raced was Luciano's MT4 according to the Orsini / Zagari OSCA book. So probably Luciano and Sergio were related, hence Morolli describing the OSCA as Sergio's ?