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Eugenio Castellotti - the greatest lost talent?


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#1 Paul Hartshorne

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Posted 29 April 2000 - 01:14

One of the fiercest debates amongst F1 fans has always been who was the greatest lost talent, the one who died too soon?

Obviously, any driver who died of anything other than old age did die too soon, but at least Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Ronnie Peterson and countless others did have time to score some great and memorable wins, but who was the greatest lost talent? Tony Brise, Stefan Bellof, Chris Bristow and many others all have their supporters, but how about Eugenio Castellotti?

Best remembered for his outstanding victory in the rain-soaked 1956 Mille Miglia, he was actually leading Stirling Moss the previous year before suffering tyre trouble.

He finished 2nd in the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix (the only year it was held for sportscars) on his first visit to the Principality, aged only 21, and the following year finished 3rd in the gruelling Carrera Panamericana.

Eugenio crashed out of his World Championship debut in the scorching Buenos Aires heat, but came home 2nd in his second WC start, the 1955 Monaco GP. Days later his teamleader was killed in an accident at Monza, but Eugenio put this behind him to put his Lancia on pole for the very next WC round at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps road course. After being absorbed into the works Ferrari team, he scored two more points finishes and ended up 3rd in the World Driver's Championship in his debut season.

He continued his success in sportscar racing the following season, including a win in the Sebring 12-Hours, but was unlucky in the World Championship, his Ferrari often failing him.

Eugenio began 1957 with yet more sportscar success, a win in the Buenos Aires 1000km. Tragically, only weeks later he was killed testing his Ferrari Grand Prix car in the wet at Modena. He was only 26 years old.

The greatest lost talent?

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#2 Roger Clark

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Posted 29 April 2000 - 01:25

I've often thought that his pole at Spa in 55 was one of the all-time great single laps. THe team, and Castelloti were devestated by the death of Ascari, and Lancia had already announced their withdrawal due to financial problems. all this, and the fact that the D50 was much more suited to slow circuits than to Spa.

#3 Ray Bell

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Posted 29 April 2000 - 05:02

Sounds an awful lot like the history of an older Ricardo Rodgrguez...

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#4 KzKiwi

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Posted 30 April 2000 - 03:12

Paul,

As you have not specifically confined your query to 'Formula 1' drivers why not consider Guy Moll, who started GP racing in 1932 only to be killed at Pescara in 1934 at the age of 24. At the time he had only started 9 GPs but had won 2 of them. Enzo Ferrari considered him to be the equal of Nuvolari.

And then there are always people such as Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard Seaman and Frank Lockhart to consider!

#5 Ray Bell

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Posted 30 April 2000 - 04:43

So who's Frank Lockhart? I don't recall that name...

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#6 karlcars

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Posted 30 April 2000 - 18:09

Having just finished writing about Ascari, I would like to put in a further word for Castellotti. I agree that his pole at Spa was an amazing achievement -- although an eyewitness said that ten minutes after returning to the pits he was still shaking from the effort.

Castellotti was taken under Ascari's wing much as Viloresi had befriended Ascari. That's why he joined the Lancia strength in 1954, even though Ferrari was eager to sign him. Ferrari ultimately got him anyway as a result of taking over the Lancia team in mid-1955.

Noteworthy too: Castellotti's battle with Fangio and Hawthorn in the early laps of Le Mans 1955. Awesome!

Frank Lockhart of course was the hugely skilled driver-engineer who raced Millers. He won a rain-shortened Indy '400' in 1926. He was killed seeking a Land Speed Record in the Stutz Black Hawk he designed. This was in 1928 when Lockhart was only 26. He was indeed a great lost talent.

#7 Ray Bell

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Posted 30 April 2000 - 07:53

Yes, I have heard a little about him. One of the engines from that LSR car came to Australia, as I understand it. It was fitted to the Kirby Deering Special, which became the Kleinig Hudson later on. Movie I have from 1938 shows it at Penrith's classic one-mile speedway, bouncing around the track, but I think it may have been powered by Hudson by then... or maybe not.
They found the Miller most unsuitable for racing here.. the chassis was MG Magna, the car had a Mathis front axle, don't know what the rear end was, but probably MG at that time. It was funded by Gus McIntyre, a cinema owner (see 1936 AGP story in AGP in former years thread for a bit more), and Kleinig took it over when Gus got very sick and was told to sell his racing cars to ease the strain on his heart.
With the 8-cyl Hudson it became a real monster, nearly matching the Alfa Monza of Alf Barrett in racing, becoming unbeatable in hillclimbs. Barrett reckoned that Kleinig was at his best in this type of event, requiring short bursts of uncompromised concentration.
When trying to win the Australian title just after the war at Rob Roy, Kleinig told mechanic Clive Gibson that he was losing time on the run to the line having to change gear. Gibson told him to hold the lower gear and let it rev, swearing that it did over 6000 rpm! It won.
I don't know what happened to the Miller engine, but what happens to most blown up orphan engines, anyway? (it was an orphan here)

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#8 Don Capps

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Posted 01 May 2000 - 11:15

Being only 8 years old, I didn't fathom the true significance of Castellotti being on the pole at Spa. I was still smarting from Ascari's death and still learning. Later on it sunk in and I wished I had been able really appreciate seeing him race at Spa and realize what a great feat that was. As it was, I remember rooting for the Lancia, but not too hard since I wanted a Mercedes to win...but, if the Mercedes ran into trouble like they did at Monte Carlo, well, better Castellotti than Ferrari! I was a Maserati Maniac and Lancia Lunatic...even at that age!

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#9 Roger Clark

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Posted 01 May 2000 - 14:11

The pressure on Castellotti and Luigi Musso following te death of Ascari must have been intolerable. Ascari was the last of a line of Italian champions stretching back beyond his own father to Bordino, Nazarro and Lancia. Since Ascari's death, the hasn't been a single Italian of true championship class.

Denis Jenkinson's classic story of the 1955 Mille Miglia contains an account of a dice with Castellotti, who was clearly prepared to push harder at that stage than Moss.

Castellotti's name returned briefly to the tracks in 1960 with the Scuderia Eugenio CAstellotti which raced a Cooper with a 4 cylinder Ferarri engine from 1954/55. THe car was known as the Cooper-Castellotti and the word Eugenio was cast into the cam covers. some said thet the project wsa a ruse by Ferarri to learn about rear engined cars, but if so they can't have learned much as it was pretty hopeless