Teodoro “Dorino” Serafini (22 July 1909 – 5 July 2000) was a motorcycle road racer and racing driver from Italy.
A native of Pesaro (Marche), he won the 1939 500cc European Championship on a Gilera. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix on 3 September 1950, when he finished second and scored 3 championship points, his points being halved as he shared the drive with Alberto Ascari. Serafini still holds the record for highest percentage of podium places per race, 1 podium in 1 race gives him a 100% score. He also competed in several non-Championship Formula One races. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Teodoro ‘Dorino’ Serafini was a successful motorcycle racer during the 1930s and he ended the decade as 1939 European Champion. He was first seen behind the wheel of a single seater in 1947 and in July that year raced a Cisitalia D46 and took part in the I Coupe de Petites Cylindrées at Reims and in the IX Grand Prix de l’Albigeois, though retired in both races.
Later in the year he was entered by Scuderia Milan in one of their Maseratis 4CL on the XIII GP de Comminges at St Gaudens. His performance was a blistering one as he led the race from the start, achieving the fastest lap of the race in the early stages. However all that came to a shocking end when both the steering wheel and the column came away in his hands! He hit a tree head-on and was very seriously injured, his ribs, arms and legs broken, while also suffering some burns.
He also competed in a Frazer-Nash and a four-seater Healey 2000, with which he and Count Johnny Lurani took second place in the Tour of Sicily in 1948, as well as an OSCA sports car.
In 1949 and 1950 he visited Argentina to participate in the Temporada series, driving for the Maserati and Ferrari factories. In 1950, he came second in the Gran Premio Maria Eva Duarte Peron in Buenos Aires at the wheel of one of Enzo Ferrari’s early single-seaters. .
1950 was a busy year for him, driving both sportscars and single seaters for Ferrari. He also drove at Le Mans, partnering Sommer. In sportscars, he won both the Giro di Calabria and the Giro di Toscana and his greatest result in a racing car was undoubtedly his second place in the 1950 Mille Miglia. It rained throughout the race and he got a 12-hour soaking in his little open Ferrari barchetta, finishing behind Giannino Marzotto in a closed Ferrari coupé.
By this time he was also making regular appearances in Ferrari’s F2 single-seaters, although his performances were overshadowed by those of his team mates, Ascari and Villoresi. He was already 41 years old when he got his opportunity in Formula One at Monza in 1950, and even then he had to sacrifice his own chances to Ascari’s benefit.
Unfortunately, he had a major accident during the 1951 Mille Miglia. While in the region of Abruzzo, the Ferrari had a brake fade and he had to make an emergency move to avoid hitting a house but car and driver disappeared into the bottom of a steep riverbank. Thankfully he survived but his signalled the end of his racing career, and he would have to suffer a lengthy and painful recovery process involving several operations over the years.
He did make a victorious return, though, winning the GT class of the 1954 Brescia-Rome-Brescia in a Lancia, finishing seventh overall.
Dorino Serafini – Benelli, MM, Bianchi, Gilera… Ferrari! – from 
Gallery F2
