DRIVERS (F)
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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!
Luigi Fagioli (I)
9 Jun 1898 - 20 Jun 1952
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Fagioli was born in Osima near Ancona in 1898.
Fagioli's family had a substantial interest in a pasta-making factory in Osimo near Ancona (Marche region). This allowed him to run
the typical life of a well-to-do bourgeois of bygone provincial Italy: shooting, hunting birds and boars and racing cars.
He went to a high school which gave him a low-rank accountant degree.
The hot tempered, cocky Fagioli was a fast driver whose aggressive style on and off the track was probably more appriciated by the
spectators than by teammanagers and competitiors.
Fagioli took up racing as a hobby in 1926 with a 1.1L Salmson but the breakthrough came in 1930 when
he signed on as works driver for Maserati. He won the minor Coppa Principe de Piemonte and then the Coppa Ciano and followed it up with a
victory at the Coppa Castelle Romani. Next year he was 2nd at Moanco and Tunis and won the Monza GP. In 1932 he won the Rome GP and was 2nd at
the Italian, Czech and Monza GPs. In 1933 Fagioli raced for Scuderia Ferrari and scored a series of fine results: 1st Coppa Acerbo, 1st Comminges GP,
2nd Marseille, 1 Italian GP, 2nd Czech GP and 2nd Spanish GP. For 1934 Fagioli signed on for Mercedes-Benz and remained there for three colorful
years, often having clashes with Neubauer and Caracciola regarding team orders and equal treatment. He had 3 victories both in 1934 and 1935
but 1936 proved to be a catastrophe. The car was problematic and Fagioli suffered from rheumatism. He signed on for Auto Union for 1937.
The bad feelings against Caracciola surfaced at the 1937 Tripoli GP where after the race, at least according to Neubauer, Fagioli attacked
Caracciola with a wheel hammer. The rheumatism got worse and Fagioli was a non starter in several races,
he used to wear a large girdle on top of his overalls.
Finally he was forced to walk with a aid of a stick and retired from racing. Fagoli made a comeback in 1950 joining Fangio and Farina as on of the three "F"s in the victorious Alfa Romeo
team. he took 4 second places in the World Championship races that year. In 1951 he won the French GP together with Fangio becoming the oldest
F1 winner ever. All together he did 7 championship starts and collected 32 points. In 1952 he took 3rd place at the Mille Miglia in a Lancia Aurela
beating the 300SL of arch rival Caracciola. During practice for the Monaco sports car race Fagioli crashed his Lancia in the tunnel braking an arm
and a leg. First it seemed he would be ok but three weeks after the accident things got worse and Fagioli died at a Monaco hospital.
The nickname "Abbruzzi robber" remains a bit of mystery.
The sentence has very little meaning in Italian and Fagioli had nothing to do with the Abruzzi region. Just as with
Bonetto the nickname is impossible to find in contemporary Italian sources but it possibly has to do with Nuvolari being "robbed" of a victory back in 1933.
(With thanks to Alessandro Silva for some clarifications)
Click here for more.
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Patrick Greenway "Pat" Fairfield (GB)
26 Nov 1907 - 21 Jun 1937
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Born in Liverpool, England, Fairfield emigrated to South Africa at age 15.
Hs family had large citrus estate at White River.
Returning to England in 1933 he worked with Cyril Paul for Riley tuning specialist Freddie Dixon, and raced Rileys in 1934. He was a fast but rather erratic driver.
Bought himself the first ERA sold to a private owner, a white 1100 cc car.
Raced as works ERA driver mid 1936 - 1937. Died after reciving severe injuries in a multiple
crash in the Le Mans 24h race 1937.
(Info supplied by Robert Young)
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Benoît Falchetto (F)
8 Jul 1885 - 4 Aug 1967-
Raced Bugattis 1932. In 1933 he formed a racing team together with Louis Braillard.
For 1934, they bought two Maserati 8CM and endered them under the name Ecurie Braillard.
The team carried on with Falchetto and Brunet as drivers till the end of 1935.
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Maurice Fitzgerald Laing Falkner (GB)
10 Mar 1911 - 2 Dec 1966-
Born in Knutsford, Cheshire 1911. Name often incorrectly spelled "Faulkner".
Died in a road accident at Walsall, Staffordshire 1966.
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Alfred Fane Peers Agabeg (GB)
11 Nov 1911 - 18 Jul 1942-
Born i India. His family surname was Agabeg, he changed it later to Fane.
Joined RAF and died in a airplane crash near Duxford, Cambridgeshire 1942.
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A. F. P. Fane ( )
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Dr. Giuseppe Emilio "Nino" Farina (I)
30 Oct 1906 - 30 Jun 1966
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Farina was born in Turin, son of the oldest of the brothers who founded the "Pininfarina" coachbuilding company.
He became doctor of political science (some sources say engineering) and he also excelled in sports like
riding, skiing, athletics, football and cycling.
He started off with an old Alfa Romeo but crashed hard in his first race. He then cut short a career as cavalry
officer in order to concentrate on motor racing and in 1933 he made a comeback, racing Maseratis and Alfas
for Gino Rovere and Scuderia Subalpina and as a privateer before joining Scuderia Ferrari for the 1936 season.
With Nuvolari as tutor Farina's career soon took on speed, his greatest achievement being a victory at the Naples
GP in 1937. When Alfa Corse returned to racing in 1938 Farina became their head driver. Farina became Italian
Champion in 1937, 1938 and 1939. After the war he rejoined Alfa Romeo but left the team after the 1946 season
because of a disagreement over team leadership. He raced private Maseratis and works Ferraris in 1948-49
and then returned to Alfa once more to become the first Formula 1 world champion in 1950. In 1952-55 he raced Ferraris
before retiring from GP racing. He made plans to race at Indy 500 in 1956 & 1957 but they came to nothing.
After that Farina worked as an agent for Jaguar and Alfa Romeo and also became involved with Pininfarina.
But on his way to the 1966 French GP he lost control of his Lotus-Cortina in the Savoy Alps, crashing fatally against
a telegraph pole. Farina's racing style with extended arms and the head held back became a norm for the post war generation
of GP drivers as the ultimate smoothness and precision, but Farina actually was a driver who crashed quite often. At his peak
howewer he was a fast and stylish driver and that he is less known than some other World Champions has much to do with the
fact that Farina hated any kind of publicity.
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Faulkner - SEE: Falkner
Rupert Edward Lee " Buddy" Featherstonhaugh (GB)
10 Oct 1909 - 12 Jul 1976-
Born in Paris 1909. Well known jazz musician. Raced Whitney Straight's old 2.5 litre Maserati during the 1934 season. Took
over the car for the 1935 season and entered it as a privateer.
Died in Westminster, London 1976.
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René Ferrand (F)
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René Ferrand drove Bugatti and Peugeot in some grand prix races from 1930 to 1932.
In 1931 he teamed up with Victor Rigal at the 10-hour French Grand Prix
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Albino Ferrara (I)
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Pietro Ferraro (I)
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From Venezia.
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Ferreira - SEE: Ribeiro Ferreira
Graf Maria Josef Ernst "Ernõ" Festetics von Tolna (H)
15 Oct 1915 --
Born in Budapest 1915.
Private Maserati driver during 1937 season.
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George Field (GB)
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Jack Field ( )
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Alberto Filippi Gabardi (I)
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From Reggio Emilia. Purchased Belmondo's 1934/35 ex-Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Monza in 1936 but apparently never
raced it.
(Not to be confused with Alessandro Gaboardi, Alfa Romeo mechanic who took part in 1947 Italian GP)
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Luigi Filippone (I)
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From Napoli (Naples).
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"Fiorello" - SEE: Giuseppe Cortese
Heinrich Fleischanderl (A)
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Probably related to Robert Fleischanderl if not same person.
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Robert Fleischanderl (A)
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Austrian driver From Waidhofen ad Ybbs. Probably related to Heinrich Fleischanderl if not same person.
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R. C. Fleming (GB)
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Owned a Alfa Romeo "Monza".
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Eugenio/Eugino? Fontana (I)
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Luis Goncalves Fontès (GB)
26 Dec 1912 - 12 Oct 1940-
Born in Hampstead, London. Of Anglo-Portuguese orgin. A Jekyll - Hyde type of character with such an appearence that many people could not
imagine him as a race driver. Behind the wheel the heavely bespectacled youngster turned into an incredibly competitive
driver. His after race parties also became infamous (as when he was balancing on the window ledge four stories up with a
girl on his shouders!). He hired an ex-Lewis Alfa Romeo Monza for the 1935 International Trophy
as his MG had an engine failure and sensationally went on to win the race. Later he bought the Alfa
and entered it in a few events. His greatest moment was his 1935 Le Mans victory Lagonda with Hawker test pilot John Hindmarsh.
But then was involved in a fatal road accident under the influence of alcohol and was tried, convicted and jailed for manslaughter.
At the war Fontes joined the RAF, flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary, and was killed in an airplane crash in
Llysworney, Glamorgan 1940.
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(John) Ludovic Ford (GB)
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In 1933 he drove with Maurice Baumer an MG C
type (CO291) at Le Mans. This was the first MG ever to
finish at Le Mans, finishing 6th overall and winning its class.
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Theodor Fork (D)
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Listed as from Berlin. Theodor Fork was possibly a pseudonym of German parlament member, SS-Gruppenführer Philipp Bouhler, Hitler's chief of chancellery of NSDAP.
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Eric Forest-Greene (RA/GB)
- 25 Jan 1954-
Forest-Green was born in Rosario, Argentine, on 9 October 1903 in a British family.
He went to school in England where he raced a Bentley. Later he returned to
Argentine where he became the importer of Rolls Royce, Bentley and Jowett and raced
sporadically until the war winning the 1928 Rafaela 500 miles race.
His Buenos Aires garage housed the cars of the British drivers that came to Argentina
for the early post WWII Temporadas. He used to entertain the foreign drivers
that invariantly acknowledged his and his wife Dora’s hospitality.
In 1952 he acted as go-between BRM and Fangio, being able to make Gonzalez
part of the package. Cooper team manager for the 1953 Argentinian GP, he wanted
to resume racing and was able to drive an Aston-Martin in the 1954 Buenos Aires
1000 kms sports car race. Sadly his car burst in flames after leaving
the road early in the race; nobody helped him to extinguish the fire
from his clothes and he did not survive the burns, dying 24 hours later.
(Info supplied by Alessandro Silva.)
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Thomas S "Tim" Fotheringham ( )
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Michel Foucret ( )
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Max Fourny (F)
4 Aug 1904 - 9 Mar 1991 -
After quitting racing, he became a gallerist and an art publisher, specialized in the naive art. There is an
exhibition center called after him in Montmartre,Paris.
(Info supplied by Jimmy Piget.)
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Emil Frankl (A)
- 3 Jun 1934-
Emil was the younger brother of Oskar Frankl, an engineer who during the sixties managed a Peugeot dealership in Vienna,
Oscar had raced motorcycles in the mid twenties before he started racing touring cars in 1928 with a 750 cc BMW Dixi.
He was not seen racing after Emil's death.
The younger brother, Emil, first appeared at the 1927 Semmering with a touring Bugatti.
He was then seen again in 1929 and early 1930 with an old former works Steyr 5.0-liter racer,
which he entered at mountain climbs. During 1931 he acquired a 1.5-liter Bugatti T37A and the following year
he raced a 2.3-liter T35B. He entered the T35B at the Brooklands 500-Mile Race but retired.
The 1934 Eifelrennen was his first race that year and also his last.
After presumed contact with another car immediately after the start the Bugatti left the road at more than 100 mph.
The unfortunate driver was ejected through the air and landed on the concrete with a cracked skull.
Emil succumbed to his injures after he was brought to the Adenau hospital.
After his death the Bugatti T35B was acquired by Adolf Brudes in Breslau.
(Info supplied by Hans Etzrodt.)
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Dudley Froy (GB)
14 Sep 1904 - 4 Sep 1986-
Born in chelsea, London 1904
Worked as mechanic for Kaye Don.
Died in Tuscon, Pima, Arizona, USA 1986.
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Giuseppe Furmanik (I)
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© 2013 Leif Snellman - Last updated: 25.03.2013
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