Tazio Nuvolari:
The fastest man in the world, the slowest animal.
Ferdinand Porsche once called him "the greatest driver of the past, the present and the future": Italian racing pilot Tazio Nuvolari (1892-1953) remains unforgotten more then 50 years after his death. His dream had always been to die while piloting a racing car - but he died in bed.
Tazio Nuvolari was born on November 16th, 1892 in Castel d'Ario, Mantua. He was the fourth son of Arturo Nuvolari (a well off farmer and a known cyclist) and his wife Elisa Zorzi. Throughout his life he was passionate for both cars and motorbikes. Beyond his racing succes, he is also well remembered for his outstanding human characteristics.
He obtained the motorcycle race licence at the age of 23 in 1915. Only two years later, he was recalled to the Italian Army as a driver when Italy entered World War I in 1917. In the same year, he married Carolina Perina by only civil ceremony. What may seem quite usual today almost caused a scandal in early 20th century Europe.
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His racing career started with motorbikes. On June 20th in 1920, he was first registered in an official race in Cremona at the Circuito Internazionale Motoristico. Exactly nine months later, he won a race in Verona. It was the first time that Tazio Nuvolari left all his competitors behind - but many victories were to follow. Nuvolari soon became a professional driver and met Enzo Ferrari, who at that time had not yet founded the famous Ferrari company. Nuvolari quickly became very popular in Italy, where people started to call him "Il campionissimo delle due ruote" ("the two wheeler Campionissimo").
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But two wheels were not enough for Tazio Nuvolari. He begun testing himself in Grand Prix motor racing and won the prestigious Targa Florio race in Sicily in 1931. He repeated this success in the following year and decided to dedicate himself only to cars. His fame grew rapidly: famous poet Gabriele D'Annunzio gave him a little golden turtle with the dedication: "To the fastest man in the world, the slowest animal", and Ferdinand Porsche once called him: "the greatest driver of the past, the present and the future".
Nuvolari obtained victories on most of the Italian circuits. In 1932 he dominated Grand Prix motor racing, winning the Monaco, French and Italian Grand Prix events. To this day, he remains the most successful driver at the Coppa Ciano which he won five times. His greatest ever victory however was the German Grand Prix of 1935, where he defeated Germany's vaunted Auto Union and Mercedes Benz racing outfits in front of Adolf Hitler, who was said to be outraged and refused to shake his hand afterwards. The hosts were so expectant of a German victory that they didn't even have an Italian anthem to play.
In his personal life, Nuvolari was a lot less lucky than in his racing carrer: he lost both his sons within a few years. This misfortune was one of the reasons why people felt passionate for him. Another reason of course was his own determination which led him, proverbially, to insist on racing even when the car was losing components, or burning, causing several accidents. He also once competed in a Grand Prix with a broken arm. He had even publicly announced that he was hoping to one day die
Tazio Nuvolari suffered a stroke in 1953 and died on August 11th - in his bed.
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