Brambilla, Surtees and Beta

Vittorio Brambilla sits on the side-pod of his Surtees TS19-Ford, in the pit lane ahead of the 1977 United States Grand Prix West in the streets of Long Beach, California. The Italian did well to qualify in 11th position, but was involved in an accident at the start and retired.

Born and raised in Monza, Brambilla nicknamed “The Monza Gorilla” for his rough driving style, raced in Formula 1 for March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo. Specialist of rainy conditions, Vittorio won the curtailed 1975 Austrian Grand Prix, with a 27 seconds advantage on James Hunt, in just 29 laps!

In 1977, Brambilla always supported by his faithful sponsor Beta Utensili, joined the Surtees team, where he scored six points and finished eighth in the Monaco Grand Prix (picture-below, leading Jacques Laffite’s Ligier). At the same time, he drove for the works Alfa Romeo team in sports-prototypes, with great success.