Alberto Rodriguez Larreta (14 January 1934 – 11 March 1977) was a racing driver from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He participated in one World Championship Formula One Grand Prix, the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix on 7 February 1960. Driving a Lotus 16 for Team Lotus, he qualified 15th and finished in ninth place.
Larreta was reportedly offered a drive by Colin Chapman, but turned it down and continued competing in a wide variety of other motorsports until 1970. He died from a heart attack in 1977. Info from Wiki
Alberto Larreta was one of the most versatile Argentinian drivers. He drove single seaters, sports and Turismo Carretera cars and is best remembered in his native Argentina for his performance with the Torino in the 1969 Marathon de la Route, an 84 hour endurance race at the Nurburgring where he finished 4th driving with Eduardo Copello and Oscar Mauricio Franco.
Also known as El Mosca, he was a versatile Argentine racing driver who drove a wide range of cars. He first came to notice driving a Cisitalia in 1953, after which he raced a Ferrari 250MM in 1954 and 1955, when he won the Rafaela 500 classic.
In 1957 he won his class in the Gran Premio Standard, a race similar to the Carrera Panamericana but for stock road cars, at the wheel of a Peugeot 403.
In 1958 he drove an OSCA in the Buenos Aires 1000km but retired. He raced Fangio’s 308 GP Alfa in 1959.
In 1960 he contested his home Grand Prix at the the Autodromo de Buenos Aires, driving a Team Lotus 16 to ninth place from fifteenth on the grid. A few days later, in Cordoba, he qualified 8th but did not start. Apparently after those two races, Colin Chapman offered him a three year contract but he declined.
In 1961 he drove Gonzalez’s Ferrari Corvette finishing second in the Rafaela 500 and another second sandwiched between two other Ferrari-Corvettes, in a race at Buenos Aires.
He took outright victory in the 500 Millas Standard at Buenos Aires in 1962 driving a 3.8 litre Jaguar.
In 1963 he competed in the ‘Gran Premio’, a race similar to the Carrera Panamericana but for stock road cars, in an Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti.
In 1964 driving for Scuderia Grand Prix in a Lotus Ford and a Stanguellini, he competed in the Formula Junior Championship in Argentina but failed to score any points.
He was a class winner in the 1967 Turismo Nejoreda championship driving a Peugeot 404.
He joined the Torino team and in 1969 he competed in the Nürburgring 84 hour race (that really is 84 hours!). Driving with Eduardo Copello and Oscar Mauricio Franco in a IKA Torino they finished 4th overall. It seems that this event was big news in Argentina with live radio broadcasts throughout the race.
Still with the Totino team he won the National Turismo Standard Championship in 1970, and was a winner in class A in the Turismo Carretera Championship the following year.
After 1971 he virtually retired and sadly died from a heart attack at the age of 43.
