DRIVERS (A)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
Even with lots of work still do be done this list have reached a state
where it must be considered one of the most complete and accurate ever assembled on
the subject. This has only been possible due to the tremendous help from people
all over the world, each of them experts of their local drivers and events.
Short biographies of drivers with BLUE background, will come up in due time.
If you have any information about any driver with GREEN background, please
contact me!
Abad - SEE: Léoz-Abad
George Edgar Abecassis (GB) |
|
* 21 Mar 1913
† 18 Dec 1991 |
Oatlands, Surrey
Ibstone, Buckinghamshire |
|---|
|
George Abecassis began his successful racing career 1935 with a 746 cc Austin at Donington and Brooklands. He took on a small filling station at
Cranford to finance his racing. The elegant Englishman was the son-inlaw of
David Brown, owner of Aston Martin and Lagonda. He also raced 1936 and 37 an older 1.5-liter Alta racecar at Brooklands.
In 1937 he bought a wreck of the latest Alta version that Philip Jucker had had a fatal accident with at Isle of Man. Rebuilt by Geoffrey Taylor,
Abecassis entered it for the 1938 season, starting of at Brooklands Easter Monday meeting. Soon he was known as the fastest Alta driver to battle against the 1.5-liter ERA and Maserati.
At times Abecassis raced also a 2-liter Alta. He drove in England also at Crystal Palace and Prescott. The Alta was badly damaged at Albi 1939.
During WW II Abecassis piloted RAF bombers, was shot down and became PoW.
After 1945 he carried on with the 1.5-liter Alta, then ERA and 3.3-liter Bugatti T59 but also drove Maserati, Aston Martin, Cicitalia and Cooper.
In 1948 George Abecassis and John Heath founded Hersham & Walton Motors (HWM) outside London, buiding racing and sportcars until 1955. After John Heath's fatal accident at
the 1956 Mille Miglia George Abecassis retired from racing to spend more time with Hersham & Walton Motors, who ended racing the following year.
|
| (Info supplied by Hans Etzrodt) |
|---|
| | | |
1938: 1 Crystal Palace Cup (handicap) /
? JCC 200 (Voiturette + GP) /
1 Imperial Trophy (handicap) /
DNF Siam Challenge (Voiturette)
1939: DNA/DNS Brooklands Road Championship /
DNF French GP (Voiturette) /
4 (heat) Albi (Voiturette)
|
|---|
|
Louis Emile Abit (F) |
|
* 22 Apr 1897
† 6 Aug 1951 |
Voulangis, Île-de France
Thorigny |
|---|
|
|
| (Info supplied by Jean-Charles Colombier) |
|---|
| | | |
1931: 3 Vaucluse Circuit
1933: 14 Dieppe GP
|
|---|
|
Agabeg - SEE: Fane
|
Giulio Agnelli (I) |
|
Not in the official list of licensed Italian racing drivers. Possibly Dante Agnelli.
|
| | | |
1929: DNF Alessandria GP (1100cc)
|
|---|
|
Aimini - SEE: Aymini
Hon. Peter Rudyard Aitken (GB) |
|
* 22 Mar 1912
† 4 Aug 1947 |
Belgravia, London
Stockholm, Sweden |
|---|
|
Son of British/Canadian press magnate and former Wartime Government Minister Lord Beaverbrook. Gained the rank of Captain of the Royal Fusiliers.
Voiturette driver who raced with his own Maserati 6CM during 1937-38. He bought the Alfa Romeo Bimotore from Austin Dobson at the end of 1937.
Then he bought Reggie Tongue's ERA in August 1938 and raced it in South Africa in 1939. In In 1939 he also drove a ex-Gérard Delage.
Aitken died in 1947 while on vacation in Stockholm, Sweden. After a trip to Sandhamn in the archipelago he found nobody who could take him back to Stockholm. He borrowed a motorboat but ran aground.
While trying to save the boat he had to get into the water. Finally he got ashore, fatigued and wet and with broken ribs and was taken to his hotel where a doctor gave him pain-killers.
Later that night he was found dead in his bed, probably due to a heart attack.
|
| (Info supplied by Tomas Karlsson) |
|---|
| | | |
1937: 3 Coronation Trophy (Voiturette) /
DNF Campbell Trophy /
DNA Isle of Man (Voiturette) /
DNA JCC 200 GP /
DNF Dublin (Voiturette)
1938: ? JCC 200 (Voiturette + GP) /
5 Mountain
1939: 7 South African GP (Voiturette) /
2 Grosvenor (Voiturette) /
DNA/DNS Brooklands Road Championship
7 Nuffield Trophy (Voiturette) /
3 Campbell Trophy
|
|---|
|
Harold-John "Aldy" Aldington (GB) |
|
* 5 Sep 1902
† 1 Apr 1976 |
Walworth, South London
Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire |
|---|
|
Harold John Aldington was the second oldest of three brothers.
His father, Henry, worked for the Post Office.
Harold hated his name and insisted on being called Aldy. he took an apprenticeship in Civil Engineering before joining GN as an apprentice in the greasing shop,
Aldy started competing in trials in the early 1920s competing in long distance trials such as the London to Lands End. He was also a regular
competitor at Brooklands. After the war Aldington brought the BMW designer Fiedler to England where he updated the 328 design for Bristol
and helped Frazer Nash develop their cars.
|
| (Info supplied by Richard A. Salomon) |
|---|
| | | |
1931: DNF Mountain
1932: DNA German GP (Voiturette) /
DNF Mountain
|
|---|
|
Giordano "Nando" Aldrighetti (I) |
|
* 14 Nov 1905
† 12 Aug 1939
|
Milano (Milan)
Pescara |
|---|
|
Alddigrette made himself internationally known as a motorcycle drive, racing a 4 cyl Gilera in TT races, before turning to cars.
Made his debut as Voiturette driver for Alfa Corse at Tripoli 1939 where he retired.
He was also a DNF at Coppa Ciano with gearbox troubles.
During Friday practice for the 1939 Coppa Acerbo at Pescara Aldighetti had a heavy crash, the car destroyed in flames
while the driver was thrown out. At first it seemed Aldrighetti had survived with only minor wounds but then
it was realized that the driver in fact had received serious internal injuries. Aldigretti succumbed at soon
after midnight.
|
| (Info supplied by Hans Etzrodt) |
|---|
| | | |
1934: DNF Coppa Ciano
1939: DNF Tripoli (Voiturette) /
DNF Coppa Ciano (Voiturette) /
DNS Coppa Acerbo (Voiturette)
|
|---|
|
|
Girolamo Alessi (I) |
|
Raced a Bugatti in the 1929 Giro di Sicilia, a sports car race.
|
| | | |
1930: DNA Targa Florio
|
|---|
|
|
Francesco Alfano (I) |
|
Raced a Fiat 508 Balilla
|
| | | |
1935: DNA Cosenza GP
|
|---|
|
|
Guido Alberto Alfieri (I) |
|
* 3 June 1904
† 29 June 1944 |
Brescia, Lombardy
Varzi, Pavia, Lombardy |
|---|
|
|
| | | |
|
|---|
|
|
Cavaliere Giovanni Alloatti (I) |
|
* ?
† 9 Jun 1934 |
Torino (Turin)
Palermo |
|---|
|
Little is known about this driver from Torino who, after his
victory in the 1926 Alessandria GP, was judged as a "driver of
good class and an excellent prospect". It seems though that his
prospects were to be limited mostly to the Alessandria race, which he
entered almost every year until 1934. His other main victory was the
1929 Circuito del Pozzo, in Verona. It is somehow distressing to see
that Alloatti, having for once extended his range of activity to far
away Sicily, left the road falling from a bridge during the first lap of
the 1934 Targa Florio. Alloatti died after 20 days of painful agony in a
Palermo hospital.
Certainly he was no longer in his prime when he died. He was entered in
the 1934 Mille Miglia as Cavaliere Giovanni Alloatti, a honorific title
awarded for a distinguished working life.
|
| (Info supplied by Alessandro Silva) |
|---|
| | | |
1929: 1 Pozzo Circuit /
DNA Cremona Circuit
1930: ? Alessandria GP
1931: DNA Alessandria GP
1933: DNF (heat) Bordino GP
1934: DNF (heat) Bordino GP /
DNF Targa Florio
|
|---|
|
Alsed - SEE: Carlsson
|
Joao Baptista Amaral Junior. / "Bauru" (BR) |
|
From Sao Paulo.
|
| | | |
1939: 4 Circuito de Gávea
|
|---|
|
|
Alfredo Amato (I) |
|
From Napoli (Naples)
|
| | | |
1934: DNS Napels GP
|
|---|
|
|
John Vilhelm. Andersson (S) |
|
* 20 Nov 1908
† 22 Dec 1984 |
Partille, Göteborg (Gothenburg)
Partille, Göteborg (Gothenburg) |
|---|
|
|
| (Info supplied by Hĺkan Gelin) |
|---|
| | | |
1931: DNF Swedish Winter GP (Ice race)
|
|---|
|
|
Gunnar Andersson (FIN) |
|
From Gamlakarleby (Kokkola).
|
| | | |
1935: DNF Finnish GP
|
|---|
|
|
Alberto Andreoni (I) |
|
|
| | | |
1931: DNF (heat) Rome GP
|
|---|
|
|
Angelo/Angélo (F) |
|
Possibly from Nice. Name is probablty a pseudonym.
|
| | | |
1933: DNF Marseille GP
|
|---|
|
Luis Angli (E) |
|
Raced at the 1933 Penya Rhin GP in a team with de Morawitz and Stahel in a
1.5L s/c Bugatti hired from de Morawitz. The objective was to win the 1.5 s/c & 2L u/s class, which instead went to
the French specialist Dourel.
|
| | | |
1932: 5 Pascua GP /
5/DNF (heat) Anis de Mono
1933: DNF Penya Rhin GP
|
|---|
|
Robert Edward "Bob" Ansell (GB) |
|
* 18 Nov 1917
† 13 Jan 2004 |
Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
Coln St. Aldwyns, Gloucestershire |
|---|
|
Bob Ansell was from the Ansell beer family, the Birmingham brewers, a substantial family business. He grew at Upper Billesley House,
Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, and was the nephew of the chairman of Ansell's. Bob started work as a stock-taker, then as a
pubs supervisor, becoming a director in the family firm after the war. He had bought ERA R9B from Scribbans' in 1938.
During the war he purchased Tongue's Maserati 4CL as well. His cousin Geoffrey drove the ERA during 1947 and purchased it in 1948.
Bob and Geoffrey were rich and very enthusiastic and raced as a hobby. The ERA and the Maserati were prepared for them -
and sometimes driven by - George Bainbridge. Cosmetically the cars looked great - in blue livery with red upholstery - unlike
their record for mechanical reliability. Raced also GP Maseratis after the war. Nonetheless racing cost the Ansells dear in financial terms.
Both Bob and Geoffrey retired from racing at the end of 1949.
|
| (Info supplied by Alessandro Silva) |
|---|
| | | |
1939: DNA/DNS Brooklands Road Championship /
4 Nuffield Trophy (Voiturette) /
DNA Campbell Trophy /
4 Swiss GP (Voiturette)
|
|---|
|
|
Giulio "Giglio" Antinori (I) |
|
A driver from Rome. "Giglio" is most likely a posthumous nickname originated by repetitious misprints.
|
| | | |
1935: 9 Targa Florio
|
|---|
|
|
Gerolamo Antonaci (I) |
|
From Biella. raced a "not very up-to-date" Bugatti.
|
| | | |
1931: 8 Monza GP (2000cc)
|
|---|
|
Ronald John Walter Appleton (GB) |
|
* 23 Apr 1910
† 6 Oct 1994 |
Forest Hill, London
Bickley, Kent |
|---|
|
John Appleton ran a stationery supplies company, named 'ESA' supplying schools with books, desks, chairs,
etc Very well liked as a person, a trained structural engineer, was born in Forest Hill, London, and
lived in Bird-in-the-Hand Lane, Bickley, Kent. The Appleton-Riley Special was originally Henken Widengren's
1931 Maserati 8C-1100 sports car and was bought by Appleton in 1933. A final shearing of the blower
drive in 1948 led Appleton to dispose of the car that it is still in existence today.
|
| (Info supplied by Alessandro Silva) |
|---|
| | | |
1935: DNA Coppa Acerbo (Voiturette) /
DNF Mountain
1937: DNF (heat) Coronation Trophy (Voiturette)
|
|---|
|
Araujo - SEE: Almeida Araujo
Robert Michael Wemyss Arbuthnot (GB) |
|
* 9 Mar 1914
† 29 Aug 1946 |
Aberdeen, Scotland
Bushey, Hertfordshire |
|---|
|
Born into a banking family. Went to Eton & Trinity College, Cambridge. Together with R.V. Wallington Arbuthnot owned the "High Speed Motors"
garage in Watford. They owned several racing cars including the ex - Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo 8C-35. He was a non starter at Le Mans in 1939. After the war he went to
the USA to take part in the 1946 Indy but his Lagonda (one of the 1939 works Le Mans cars) was damaged en route to the track and he withdrew before attempting a
qualifying run. Arbuthnot died in a crash at Watford Bypass, Bushey, Hertfordshire when a Buick coming in the opposite direction burst a tyre and collided with
Arbuthnot's Darl'Mat Peugeot 403, which he had recently acquired from Dorothy Patten.
|
| (With thanks to Richard Armstrong / Adam Ferrington) |
|---|
| | | |
1939: ? Campbell Trophy
|
|---|
|
|
Max von Arco-Zinneberg (D) |
|
* 28 Mar 1908
† 20 May 1937 |
?
near Wien (Vienna) |
|---|
|
Died in a plane crash near Vienna.
|
| | | |
1930: DNF Monaco GP
1931: DNA Czech GP
|
|---|
|
|
Giovanni "Gianni" Arezzi (I) |
|
From Pontecurone in the Alessandria province. Drove Alfa Romeo sports cars mainly in hillclimbs.
|
| | | |
1934: DNS Biella GP
|
|---|
|
|
Sydenham Armstrong-Payn (GB) |
|
* 6 Feb 1903
† 22 Sep 1942 |
Dover
Dover |
|---|
|
|
| (Info supplied by Adam Ferrington) |
|---|
| | | |
1931: DNF French GP
|
|---|
|
Carlos O. Arzani (RA) |
|
* 27 Nov 1909
† 30 Jan 1952 |
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
near Rio Ceballos |
|---|
|
Argentinian driver who raced private Alfa Romeos, mostly in South America.
In 1937 he bought a Alfa Romeo 8C 35 (#50.014) and raced it at Napels before taking the car back to Argentine.
where he raced it with great success. Suffering from illness he escaped the summer heat for the freshness up in
the Andes. There he died in a quiet mountain village near Rio Ceballos in 1952.
|
| (Info supplied by Cristián Bertschi & Wolfgang Kaese) |
|---|
| | | |
1936: 1 Buenos Aires GP
1937: 4 Napels GP /
5 Rio de Janeiro GP
1938: 2 Rio de Janeiro GP
|
|---|
|
|
Axel Gustaf Georg "Gösta" Askergren (S) |
|
* 29 Sep 1905
† 21 May 1940 |
Stockholm
Stockholm |
|---|
|
Died of tuberculosis.
|
| (Info supplied by Hĺkan Gelin) |
|---|
| | | |
1933: DNS Swedish Summer GP
|
|---|
|
|
Alfonso Attili (I) |
|
Lived in Osimo, near Ancona. Raced mainly in the cyclecar class.
|
| | | |
1931: 7 (heat) Rome GP (1100cc)
|
|---|
|
Gennaro Auricchio (I) |
|
* 6 Jun 1906
† 16 Feb 1969 |
Napoli (Naples)
Palerno, Sicily |
|---|
|
|
| | | |
1934: DNF Napels GP
|
|---|
|
|
John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury (GB) |
|
* 13 May 1915
† 21 Jun 1971 |
Blean, Kent
Paddington, London |
|---|
|
English peer. He was the son of the Honourable Harold Fox Pitt Lubbock and a grandson of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury.
|
| (Info supplied by Adam Ferrington) |
|---|
| | | |
1938: ? JCC 200 (Voiturette + GP) /
DNF Mountain
|
|---|
|
Giulio Aymini (I) |
|
* 3 Aug 1891
† 29 Nov 1967 |
Torino (Turin)
? |
|---|
|
A wealthy amateur from the province of Torino, hailed from a branch of
an old Southern French family which returned in Piemonte from Argentina
mid-1850. Aymini was active from the 1920s until the the early post-WWII
years at the wheel of a variety of cars, Fiat, Diatto, Bugatti, Delage,
Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Cisitalia. He also raced for Scuederia
Subalpina in 1934/35.
His major successes came in hill-climbs, with overall victories at the
Cuneo-Colle della Maddalena (probably the longest hill-climb in history)
in 1925 and at the Susa-Moncenisio in 1926, both driving a Tipo 20 sport
Diatto, and in 1932/33 driving the Nardi-Monaco "Chichibio", a 1L
JAP-engined fwd special designed by Augusto Monaco, taking, among
others, a class win at the Klausen in 1932. Aymini also scored several
class victories at the wheel of the new Fiat 508 Balilla Sport spider in
1934.
Aymini was an engineer by trade and partenered Monaco in the design of
the staggering engine for the Grand Prix car project known as the
Trossi-Monaco. His good connections allowed the pair to build the
prototype engine at the Fiat Lingotto plant, but soon Senator Agnelli
withdrew his support. Then driver Carlo Felice Trossi agreed to finance
the project, which was completed in the Trossi's workshop near Biella.
Aymini was named test driver and drove the car - which was going to
become one of the most well known failures in motorsport history - for
its maiden run at Monza in July 1935.
|
| (Info supplied by Alessandro Silva) |
|---|
| | | |
1928: DNF Tripoli GP /
DNA Pozzo Circuit /
DNF Alessandria GP /
11 Coppa Messina /
DNF Coppa Etna /
7 Rome GP /
DNA Cremona Circuit /
DNF European GP
1929: DNF Alessandria GP
1931: DNA Coppa Acerbo (1100c) /
DNA Monza GP (1100cc)
1932: DNA Rome GP /
DNA Coppa Ciano (Cyclecar)
1933: DNF Coppa Ciano /
DNA Monza GP /
DNA Czech GP
1934: DNA Biella GP
1935: DNA Lucca GP
1936: DNA Monaco GP
|
|---|
|
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Z
Back to Contents
© 2019 Leif Snellman - Last updated: 25.03.2019
|
