Gaetano Starrabba

Prince Gaetano Starrabba di Giardinelli (born 3 December 1932 in Palermo, Sicily) is a former racing driver from Italy.
He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, racing a Lotus-Maserati at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix on September 10, 1961. He scored no championship points. He also competed in several non-Championship Formula One races.

The title Prince di Giardelli was his as a member of the Italian nobility. Info from Wiki

Before Formula One

Italian Gaetano Starrabba was born a nobleman of the House of Giardinelli based in Palermo in Sicily, hence his full title, Prince Gaetano Starrabba di Giardinelli. His family line had stretched back several centuries, so much so that in 1760 one of his ancestors, also called Gaetano Starrabba, founded the town of Pachino with the permission of King Ferdinand IV. European royalty has always had a habit of playing around with fast cars, and Starrabba was no exception, enjoying a lengthy career in competition, but mainly in Italy. As a 22 year old, he first appeared on the scene to race a Maserati A6GCS in the 1955 Targa Florio, an event in which he would become something of a regular. Sharing the car with Salvatore La Pira, the young prince came home in 10th, which was no mean effort.

Looking for something more exotic, in 1956 he took delivery of a Ferrari 500 Testa Rossa Spyder Scaglietti in March, and used the car for ten races throughout the year before trading the car in. He took 2nd at Casserta in Naples, and 3rds at the Giro di Sicilia and at Sassari. He also raced in the Sardegra International Trophy, the Bari, Pescara and Roma GPs, plus races at Calabria and Messina. He also shared the car with Giorgio Meyer at the Grand Prix Supercortemaggiore, coming 7th overall. As a sideline, after Starrabba sold the car it had a rather interesting history. It was taken up by Scandinavian pair Askolin and Curt Lincoln and used for the Helsinki GP in 1957, held on public roads. The following year it was used in the same event by Fred Geitel, who lost control and crashed after encountering brewing grain which had been spilt by a truck. Using bodywork from another 500 TR, the car was repaired and passed through several other owners, and is still going around in historic races today.

While we have no record of Starrabba racing during 1957, we do know he acquired another Ferrari 500 TR for 1958. He came 7th in the Targa Florio, having shared the car with Franco Cortese, and otherwise competed in other events throughout the Italian racing scene, for example at Monza and Sassari. He then took the same car to the 1959 Targa Florio, teaming up this time with Domenico Lo Coco, but the car retired early. 1960 saw him move away from Ferraris and sample other machinery. He joined the Scuderia Serenissima team for the Targa Florio, to drive their OSCA MT4 with Giovanni Giordano, but once again he was forced into retirement. However he did come 2nd at Caserta in a Porsche. Then for 1961 he linked up with Segesta to drive a Porsche 718 in the Targa Florio with Gaspare Cavaliere, yet this time Starrabba didn’t even take the start!

Formula One

However, by 1961 the prince was also trying out the single-seater scene. The 1.5 litre Formula One regulations made racing relatively cheap, and there were plenty of races to whet the appetite. Thus Starrabba purchased a Lotus 18, a competitive car if not always the class of the field, and attached a Maserati four-cylinder engine to it. Having tried the car out in various non-championship events that year, he then privately entered the World Championship round at Monza. His Lotus/Maserati would be the only example of such a combination ever to grace the World Championship, but apart from that he really made very little impact. Out of the massive 33 entries, only Andre Pilette was refused permission to start after practice. Of the remaining 32, Starrabba was 30th quickest, lapping the 10km track in 3:07.9, some 21.6 seconds slower than Wolfgang von Trips on pole.

Indeed, the front of the grid was a sight to behold, with the four works Ferraris of Von Trips, Ricardo Rodriguez, Richie Ginther and Phil Hill filling the first two rows, all within a second of each other. By comparison, Graham Hill’s BRM was the first non-Ferrari in 5th, but some 2.4s slower than Von Trips. With Von Trips on the verge of sealing the World Championship, the organisers cleverly decided to use a two-by-two grid to stop non-Ferraris from spoiling the German aristocrat’s party. However, in the race it all went wrong, and tragically so. Von Trips made a slow start, and come the second lap he was being pressured by a young Jim Clark in a Lotus. Clark moved to pass him just as he also moved across to block the Scot. The Ferrari was launched into the air, and Von Trips flung out of the car. The German, along with 14 spectators, lost their lives. And Deutschlanders had to wait 33 years before one of their own finally did take the world title.

Being so far back, Starrabba avoided the drama, but his race didn’t last all that much longer. A high rate of attrition had seen the nobleman move his Lotus into the top 15, but his race ended on lap 19 of 43 when his engine blew. Although he would continue racing his Lotus/Maserati in non-championship races for a few more years, this would prove to be his one and only start in the World Championship. Meanwhile, at the front, Phil Hill’s Ferrari turned out to be the only one standing at the end of the event, taking the win ahead of fellow American Dan Gurney’s Porsche and Bruce McLaren’s Cooper/Climax. As a result, Hill took advantage of Von Trip’s misfortune to seal the 1961 crown.

After Formula One

As we said, Starrabba continued to race his Lotus/Maserati for a few more years, eventually honing it into a moderately competitive machine. By 1963 he was able to take 6th at Syracuse and 5th in the Rome GP with the car. But otherwise he was also back in sports car racing, entering a Ferrari 250 GT SWB for the 1962 Targa Florio, shared with Alberico Cacciari, and then an Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ for the 1963 event. Ever-changing, in 1964 he tried his hand in a Giannini-Brabham F3 car without a great deal of success, such that by 1965 he was back in local sports car races. Joining the Pegaso team to drive their Ferrari 250 GTOs, he came 12th in the Targa Florio with Clemente Ravetto but 1st in class, but with the same co-driver he retired at Mugello. In 1966, he remained with Pegaso to drive their 250 LM in the Targa Florio, but he and Ravetto only came 16th and 2nd in class.

Starrabba then left the team in 1967 to race a Ferrari Dino 206S, although Ravetto remained by his side. However, it would be an unsuccessful venture, failing to show for the Targa Florio, and retiring in the Monza 1000km race with engine problems. 1968 saw Starrabba change to Scuderia Brescia Corse to drive a Porsche Carrera 906, where he was classified 21st in the Monza 1000km with Everardo Ostini, despite having stopped, again with engine problems. He then double-entered himself for the Targa Florio in Ostini’s 906, and in Corrado Ferlaino’s Porsche 911S. The 906 retired, but the 911S came 16th and 3rd in class. In 1969, Starrabba was meant to drive Ostini’s 911T in the Targa Florio, but instead Ostini found Gianpiero Moretti and together they came 10th and won their class. After this, Starrabba had had enough of racing, and walked away presumably to enjoy his princely lifestyle.

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