Piero
Taruffi

Piero Taruffi was born on 12 October 1906 and came from Italy. He began his career on motorcycles, winning the 500cc European Championship on a Norton in 1932 and setting a motorcycle land speed record on a Gilera in 1937. He also managed the Gilera motorcycle team and designed record cars such as the Cisitalia Tarf and the Gilera Rondine.

Taruffi also took part in many sports car races. Together with Luigi Chinetti he won the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, and in 1953 he finished second in the same race behind Juan Manuel Fangio. He won the 1952 Grand Prix de France in Paris in a Ferrari, the 1954 Giro di Sicilia in a Lancia and the 1955 Tour of Sicily in a Ferrari. In 1956 he also set records at Monza.

Taruffi made his Formula One debut in 1950 with a single start for Alfa Romeo. In 1951 he contested five races for Ferrari and ended the season sixth in the World Championship. In 1952 he won the Swiss Grand Prix in a Ferrari and finished third in the standings, behind Giuseppe Farina and champion Alberto Ascari. He made one start for Ferrari in 1954. In 1955 he started three races for Ferrari and Mercedes and finished sixth in the championship. In 1956 he made two starts, driving for Maserati and Vanwall. In total he started 18 races, winning one and reaching the podium five times, without taking a pole position.

In 1957 Taruffi won the Mille Miglia in a Ferrari 315 S, the last time the race was run as a competition. He retired from racing afterwards, aged 50. In 1959 he published a book, The Technique of Motor Racing. Taruffi died in Rome on 12 January 1988. A museum in Bagnoregio displays cars and motorcycles from his racing career.

Source: Wikipedia, “Piero Taruffi”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.