Still during practice an Italian Mario Borniggia showed up and made some laps *). However speed was quite low compared to the Americans and he was silently requested to DNS (at least so I read).
Now in literature I find little on this Italian, he participated in the Targa, Mille Miglia and other main Italian race during the fifties up until the '58 MM.
-1- I found out it is not Bornigia as used so often on the net (including TNF, ahum), but Borniggia!
-2- Little to no mention of his attempt in any Ferrari book/mag I have seen so far (In contrast to the 1958 event). Likely due to the DNS. Even though he was entered, with Jean Lucas as possible reserve driver.
-3- I found his car to be a 275S with 340 engine mounted (V12 4.100 litre). To be exact the America Barchetta 0030MT, a 7 year old car in 1957 (!), a tired car with 4 Mille Miglias unders its belt as well as many a Giro, Hillclimb and one Monaco GP!
-4- He entered for the Scuderia Cotrone (not Cottione, another I-net error), likely as he came from this outer southern Italian village?
-5- He raced with other Borniggia's as co-driver and before the war other Borniggia's also raced. Was it all the same family and how are they related?
-6- The Scuderia Cotrone was also active with F3 from 1966-1970, same Scuderia?
-7- He played a part possibly in the demise of Musso **). He seemed to have made a 'joke' before the '58 French GP that Musso took quite serious. How correct was he?
Maybe some of you can enlighten/follow-up on 4-7?
*) As did Behra with two Maserati's. Thanks to Willem Oosthoek's and Michel Bollee's great book on the 450S.
**) DCN posted on the "Luigi Musso" thread: 'My friend Gianni Cancellieri recorded this reminiscence from 1958-61 team manager Romolo Tavoni: “Unfortunately. Luigi Musso lost his life at Reims, in that French G.P. he wanted to win at all costs, first because he was convinced that he could become world champion and, second, because that was the richest race of all: victory was worth 10 million, five times the normal finishing purse. And he had launched a commercial activity in Rome (importer of American cars, Plymouths) together with Mario Bornigia, heavily exposing himself financially. Just before the race he received a telegram from his partner, humorous but unsettling: ‘win, because the IOU comes due tomorrow’. At lap 10 he was second, a few yards behind his teammate Hawthorn. He entered the fast corner following the straight and couldn't hold the line. He lost control of the car, spun off the track at 250 km/h and goodbye.” '
In the same thread Alessandro Silva states: "...was not a paragon of correctness in business affairs..."
Edited by Arjan de Roos, 02 July 2013 - 12:31.
