Piero Taruffi, a survivor

Piero Taruffi (1906-1988) was a racing car and motorcycle driver from Rome, in Italy. He participated between 1950 and 1956 in 18 Formula One Grand Prix for the Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Vanwall teams. The Roman won the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten in a works Ferrari 500, took  a total of 5 podiums and scored 41 Championship points.

Taruffi began his motorsport career racing motorcycles. He won the 1932 500cc European Championship on a Norton and in 1937 set the motorcycle land speed record at 279.503 km/h!

The Italian was also one of the best endurance drivers of his time, his last victory was at the 1957 Mille Miglia, the last competitive edition of the Italian race, where he won in a Ferrari 315S (picture below).

At the race, Spaniard Alfonso de Portago, his team mate, crashed his car into the crowd, killing himself and numerous spectators. Following this drama, Taruffi, who considered himself as a survivor and very much affected by his friends’ death, officially retired from competitive racing. He was 50 years of age.