Chico
Landi

Chico Landi was born in São Paulo on 14 July 1907. His family was of Italian origin, and he came into racing through his father, who ran a garage in the city. He left school at eleven to work as a mechanic. In 1934 he made his racing debut at the second Rio Grand Prix, where he led until eight laps from the finish before his engine failed. Together with Manuel de Teffé and Irineu Corrêa, he helped make motor racing known in Brazil in the mid-1930s. In 1938 he went abroad and finished eighth at Bern. In 1941 he won the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix.

In 1948 Landi won the Bari Grand Prix in a Ferrari, a race run to Formula Two regulations. In 1952 he finished second in a Ferrari 375 at the Albi Grand Prix, an event outside the World Championship.

He made his World Championship debut for Ferrari on 16 September 1951. In 1952 and 1953 he started two races each year for Maserati, and in 1956 he made one start in a Maserati. At the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix he finished fourth in a car shared with Gerino Gerini, which earned 1.5 points and 25th place in the championship. In total he made six starts. He was the first Brazilian to take part in a World Championship Grand Prix and the first to score points in one.

In 1960 Landi won the Mil Milhas Brasil with Christian "Bino" Heins in an Alfa Romeo JK 2000. It was the first time a Brazilian-built car had won the race. Landi died on 7 June 1989.

Source: Wikipedia, “Chico Landi”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.