Thursday 17 March 2011

Luigi Chinetti


Luigi Chinetti has been one of my personal heroes for a long time. His life a manifesto of motorsport. Being a huge enthusiast for long distance racing, especially for the "golden age", I came across his Scuderia N.A.R.T many times. I won't even try to make a short story of his life, achievements, designs and victories. I would like to remember him for his Le Mans in 1949. His 166M was the first Ferrari to ever win the legendary competition, but the incredible aspect of the event is that he gave the steering wheel to the Baron Peter Mitchell-Thomson for a mere 20 minutes. This was in fact the minimum time necessary for him to be recognised as official co-driver. I can't even start to understand what it would be like to drive flat out a raging sportscar for that amount of time, lap after lap after lap, in a track where the only rest for the mind is in a neverending Mulsanne straight. Simply amazing.

Click here for a short news reel of the time. 

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