1. Piero Taruffi was an Italian racing driver, motorcycle road racer, motorsport executive and engineer, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956.
39 Facts About Piero Taruffi
1. 2.
In endurance racing, Taruffi won the Mille Miglia in 1957, with Ferrari.
3.
In Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Piero Taruffi won the 1932 European Championship in the premier 500cc class with Norton.
4.
Piero Taruffi competed in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes, Maserati and Vanwall, winning the Swiss Grand Prix in 1952 with Ferrari and finishing third in the World Drivers' Championship that season.
5.
Outside of Formula One, Piero Taruffi competed extensively in sportscar racing, winning the final edition of the Mille Miglia with Ferrari, driving the 315 S and retiring upon his victory.
6.
Piero Taruffi managed the Gilera motorcycle team throughout his career, designing the record-breaking Cisitalia Tarf and Gilera Rondine.
7.
Piero Taruffi drove a newly introduced 2-litre, 4-cylinder Ferrari in the 1951 Bari Grand Prix, finishing third behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Froilan Gonzalez.
8.
In November 1951 Piero Taruffi participated in the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico.
9.
Piero Taruffi finished first in the opening leg from Mexico City to Leon, Guanajuato, a 267-mile leg.
10.
Piero Taruffi led second-placed Troy Ruttman by more than four minutes.
11.
Piero Taruffi trimmed a further 15 minutes on the Mexico City-Leon leg and another 21 minutes between Leon and Durango.
12.
Piero Taruffi set a world record for 50 miles in an auto of 22 cubic centimetre displacement in January 1952.
13.
Piero Taruffi attempted a 100-mile record but his motor failed after 98 miles.
14.
Piero Taruffi was in a two-litre Ferrari for the running of the third Grand Prix de France, in Paris in May 1952.
15.
Piero Taruffi captured first place with a time of three hours over a distance of 285 miles.
16.
Piero Taruffi placed second to Fangio in the 1953 Carrera Panamericana, with a time of 18:18:51 in a Lancia D24.
17.
Piero Taruffi's time was better than the previous year when he was victorious.
18.
In March 1954, Piero Taruffi lost the 12 hours of Sebring with an hour to go, after having led the first three hours, when his Lancia stopped.
19.
Piero Taruffi pushed it to the pits and team mechanics began working on it with diligence.
20.
Piero Taruffi had averaged 81.1 miles per hour before he retired.
21.
Piero Taruffi won the 1,080-kilometre Giro di Sicilia in April 1954.
22.
Piero Taruffi averaged 64.4 miles per hour in a Lancia D24.
23.
Piero Taruffi claimed first place in a Ferrari, at the 1955 Tour of Sicily, with an overall time of 10 hours 11 minutes 19.4 seconds, with an average speed of 105.998 kilometres per hour.
24.
Piero Taruffi dropped out of the 1955 Mille Miglia, when he suffered a broken oil pump on the course north of Rome.
25.
Piero Taruffi spun his car into a straw bale at the edge of the track on the first lap.
26.
Piero Taruffi was uninjured, though his car was damaged, and he was forced to retire from the race.
27.
Jean Behra and Piero Taruffi teamed to secure a fifth-place finish in a Maserati at the 1956 Sebring 12 hours.
28.
Piero Taruffi established a world record for Class E cars in June 1956.
29.
Piero Taruffi raced 100 miles in 46 minutes 27.2 seconds, an average of 129.9 miles per hour.
30.
Also at Monza, Piero Taruffi broke the one-hour mark of 212.543 kilometres per hour.
31.
Piero Taruffi touched the wall in Gioiosa Marea but continued in his Maserati.
32.
Piero Taruffi participated in 18 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 3 September 1950.
33.
Piero Taruffi drove a Ferrari to victory in the May 1952 Swiss Grand Prix.
34.
Piero Taruffi led from the start, with the Ferrari of Rudolf Fischer coming in second.
35.
Piero Taruffi drove a Ford stock car owned by Floyd Clymer of Los Angeles in the 2,000-mile Pan-American race held in November 1954.
36.
In 1959 Piero Taruffi authored the book The Technique of Motor Racing.
37.
In November 1957 the Saturday Evening Post published Piero Taruffi's article, Stop us before we kill again, where he discussed the 1955 Le Mans and 1957 Mille Miglia races where drivers and numerous spectators lost their lives.
38.
Piero Taruffi commented on the low wind resistance and low centre of gravity of his design.
39.
The Piero Taruffi Museum is located in Bagnoregio, a small town between Viterbo and Orvieto in Central Italy.