Eugenio Castellotti (10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was a Formula One driver from Italy. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Eugenio Castelletti would be Hollywood’s version of a race driver from that era, dashing, handsome and dating a famous Italian actress. Even his nickname was fitting, ‘Il Bello’ – The Beautiful and Stirling Moss said he was “everyone’s idea of a racing driver-dramatic good looks, like a bullfighter or something.”
He grew up in Lodi, Italy, and after his father died when he was young he was left an inheritance. When he was 20 he bought a Ferrari sportscar and determined to race it, going on to compete in the gruelling Tour of Sicily, (though he did not finish) but in the Mille Miglia he was sixth in class and 50th from the 322 starters. Of his performance in the Giro di Sicilia, he later said “After going off the road six times, I had to retire-I had no racing experience”. Often racing as Scuderia Guastalla, 1951 saw him contest several events, including the Mille Miglia (with Giuseppe Rota) and in the following year he began winning, taking victory at Porto and Syracuse, a class win in that year’s Giro di Sicilia plus a second place finish in the Monaco GP (run that year for sports cars) and third at the GP Bari. At Monaco, a number of cars ploughed into Reg Parnell’s broken Aston Martin and following the pile-up Eugenio inherited the lead from Vittorio Marzotto but after a pit stop, the lead went back to eventual winner Marzotto. Shortly after Monaco he suffered a huge accident at Vila Real and later related “I was leading but missed a gear going into a corner, and hit a tree. I was lying in the road, but couldn’t get up-my leg and pelvis were broken-and I thought I’d had it. Then two lads carried me to the side of the track and cars went over where I’d been lying…” He was racing again five weeks later.
In 1953’s Mille Miglia, although he didn’t finish he had been running second at one point. His performances led to the offer of a drive with the Lancia sports car team for the Carrera Panamericana where, in a Lancia 1-2-3 finish, he and Carlo Luoni came home third in their D23. During the year he had victory in the Troeo Sardo, the 10 Hours of Messina and also won his first Italian hill climb championship (he won this again the following year). Ferrari drives that year included a 340 Mexico, a 225S and 250MM while other Lancia drives (in a D20, D23 and an Aurelia) included the 1000km Nurburgring (with Bracco), the Coppa Inter Europa (Monza) and the Supercotemaggiore at Merano.
1954 saw him race alongside JM.Fangio, P.Taruffi, A.Ascari and L.Villoresi at Lancia and he contested a number of sportscar events. Although he retired from the Sebring 12 hours, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio, he won at San Bernado and Firenze-Siena and had podiums in the Tourist Trophy (with R.Manzon) and at Porto.
He eventually raced one of Lancia’s F1 cars at the start of 1955 but it was at the Argentine GP, which unfortunately saw extreme temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius. When Villoresi’s Lancia retired on lap 2, Eugenio’s race was cut short when his car was commandeered on lap 20 though at Pau he finished second ahead of Villoresi and Ascari. Then came the Monaco Grand Prix, where he qualified an impressive fourth and after battling in the race with Moss, Ascari and Behra he finished second. During the race his close friend and mentor Ascari went off the road and into the harbour where he was rescued by frogmen. He fortunately only sustained a broken nose and, relieved that he was not seriously injured, Eugenio and Ascari returned to Milan. Four days later he was testing a Ferrari 750 Monza at Monza before the Supercortemaggiore race when Ascari turned up to watch and later took the car out for a few laps. Eugenio loaned him his helmet but a few laps later he was thrown out and killed and Eugenio was one of the first at the scene. He was distraught at the loss and at his funeral in Milan he was one of the pall bearers who carried the coffin. Arriving at Spa for the Belgian GP, where he had never been before, on the first day of practice his lap time was half a second better than Fangio’s and a full second ahead of Moss. The second day’s practice was rained out which meant that Eugenio, in just his third Grand Prix, following the recent death of his mentor and close friend, after the withdrawal of his team and entering the race by himself, was on pole.
After Lancia withdrew from F1, its cars were transferred to Ferrari and Eugenio’s first GP drive for them came at the Dutch Grand Prix where he finished fifth. In the following races, he retired at Aintree but an unwell Hawthorn handed over his car to him and he had a sixth place finish, followed by a third place podium for Ferrari in their home race at Monza. In sports cars he had podiums at Dolomiti, the GP Sverige and Targa Florio plus a victory with M.Trintignant in the 10 Hour Messina.
Ferrari retained him for 1956, now using their ‘Lancia Ferrari’ D50 plus they paired him with Fangio for major endurance races. There was a victory in the 12 hours of Sebring plus second and third place in the 1000km Nurburgring and Supercortemaggiore. At Sebring, they were leading when Castellotti came in for the last pit stop and driver change. Fangio was waiting but, after jumping out of the car, Eugenio pleaded with him to let him take the car out to take the flag. Fangio worried he might be exhausted after his driving so asked him how he felt, and in response Castellotti did a dance in front of him to prove he still had energy. He removed his gloves and helmet and Eugenio took the car back out to take the checkered flag. However, he contested the Mille Miglia alone, without a navigator and the race suffered heavy rain and ferocious winds. Few would have bet on him to finish, let alone win, but after averaging 85mph for eleven and a half hours and apart from a short stint to refuel, through each control point on the course, he never lost the lead for the full 1000 miles. His drive was described by Johnny Lurani as “the model of self-control, style and efficiency” but the conditions were so bad that Denis Jenkinson (co-driver to S.Moss) would later comment: “We were not racing against Musso, Castellotti or Fangio; it seemed that we were fighting for the mere right to go on living.” Other wins included the GP Rouen and with an OSCA in the Shell Cup Imola while in F1, his best results were fourth at Monaco and second in France, after fighting off Harry Schell’s Vanwall to finish a team-ordered one-two close behind team mate P.Collins.
At Monza, team leader Fangio remembered how the D50s shredded their tyres in the previous Italian GP, so told Eugenio and L.Musso he would lead the way so they could pace their laps without destroying any tyres. After a number of laps he would pull over and let them race to the finish and he advised them to be measured and steady. However, as soon as the flag dropped the pair battled for the lead and Fangio’s advice was proven right, with their tyres wearing out their threads by the fourth lap! After putting, he continued racing hard to catch up to Musso but on lap nine his tyre punctured again and his race ended when he spun off.
In 1957 he raced Ferrari’s Lancia powered 801 but in the first race, in Argentina, he retired when a hub overheated though did win the Buenos Aires 1000Km with M.Gregory and L.Musso in their Ferrari 290MM. At this time he was dating Delia Scala (one of Italy’s leading actresses) and there were wedding plans but while away on vacation in Florence with her he received a telephone call from Enzo Ferrari, ordering him back to Modena to test. However, it was alleged that the reason for the recall was that Jean Behra and Maserati had been testing at Modena and after beating the lap record around the Autodrome, Enzo Ferrari wanted this record back. Eugenio rose at dawn and drove over the Raticosa and Futa passes to Bologna and on to Modena and the car was waiting for him at the circuit when he arrived. Shortly after warming the car, he went out but after two or three laps lost control, with the car overturning through a fence and into an empty grandstand. Eugenio was thrown out and he received the Last Rites from a local priest at the track.
The Modena Autodromo later became a park and there are pathways named after drivers through the ages, with a memorial there to Eugenio.
In 2017, Sotheby’s a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta owned by Eugenio came up for auction, with an estimated price of $8,000,000 – $10,000,000.
Eugenio Castellotti – The dashing Milanese that stayed young forever – from 
