Tazio Nuvolari

Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver who raced motorcycles and later sports cars and competed in Grand Prix racing. Nicknamed il Mantovano Volante ("the Flying Mantuan") and Nuvola ("Cloud") he won numerous races included 24 Grands Prix, five Coppa Cianos, two Mille Miglias, two Targa Florios, two RAC Tourist Trophies, a Le Mans 24-hour race, a 350cc European Championship in motorcycle racing and a European Championship in Grand Prix racing.

Biography[]

Tazio Nuvolari was born on 16 November 1892 in Castel d'Ario, near Mantua, son of cyclist Arturo Nuvolari and his wife Elisa Zorzi. ^[1] The young Tazio admired his uncle Giuseppe who in 1904 tought him to drive a motorcycle. In 1915 at the age of 23 Nuvolari obtained a license for motorcycle racing, however soon after Italy entered the First World War and he served in the Italian army as an ambulance driver.^[2] Nuvolari was married to Carolina Perina on 10 November 1917 in Milan and in 1918 their first child Giorgio was born.

In 1920 he began his motorcycle racing career and in 1921 entered his first car race.^[3] During the 1920s he continted to race, focusing mainly on motorcycles, winning many races and setting a speed record at Monza in 1925 as well as becoming the 350cc European Champion. In the same year Alfa Romeo tested Nuvolari in their Grand Prix car but he was not selected for the team. After 1930 he concentrated on auto racing, driving in Grands Prix for Alfa Romeo, Scuderia Ferrari, Maserarti and Auto Union, and won the 1932 European Championship. In 1933 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Alfa Romeo and in 1936 the Vanderbilt Cup. Following the Second World War Nuvolari returned to racing and after further victories made his final appearance at a Palermo hillclimb on 10 April 1950, winning in his class. Following this his health declined and he died on 11 August 1953 from a stroke.^[4]

Motorcycle racing record[]

To be added

Sports car racing record[]

Career summary[]

Nuvolari competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans only once in 1933 alongside Raymond Sommer (the winner of the previous year) in a privately entered Alfa Romeo 8C-2300. During the race they took the lead, with Sommer breaking the track-record several times as they built a two-lap lead. Their first problem occured at dawn when Nuvolari brought the car into the pits with a loose mudguard and a leaking fuel-tank. The mudguard was secured with string and the leak plugged by soap, the 16 minute stop allowing their closest rivals to overtake. However more stops were required and Sommer asked two people to find some chewing gum to seal the leak. As the race continued further problems emerged, heavy vibration fractured a radiator bracket and then the exhaust, the brakes began to show signs of wear and the fuel leak contiued to get worse. Due to the pit stops they lost the lead once again however Nuvolari regained before making a final stop just ten minutes from the finish.^[5]

Complete Mille Miglia results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	No.	Class	Pos.	Class Pos.
1927	Tazio Nuvolari	Alessandro Cappelli	Bianchi Tipo 20	89	3.0	10	5
1928	Tazio Nuvolari	Amedeo Bignami	Bugatti Type 43	84	3.0	10	6
1929	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfonso Greggio	OM 665 "Superba"	85	2000	12	9
1930	Alfa Romeo	Giovanni Battista Guidotti	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750	84	S 2.0	1	1
1931	Alfa Corse	Giovanni Battista Guidotti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300	104	S+1.1	9	2
1932	Alfa Romeo	Giovanni Battista Guidotti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM	105	S+1.5	DNF	DNF
1933	Scuderia Ferrari	Decimo Compagnoni	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM	98	S/TP+1.5	1	1
1934	Scuderia Ferrari	Eugenio Siena	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM	44	S3.0	2	2
1947	Tazio Nuvolari	Giuseppe Carena	Cisitalia 202 MM	179	S1.1	2	1
1948	Scuderia Inter	Sergio Scapinelli	Ferrari 166 C	1049	S 2./+2.0	DNF	DNF
Source:^[6]

Complete Le Mans results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Tyres	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.	Images
1933	Raymond Sommer	Raymond Sommer	Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM	P	3.0	233	1st	1st
Source:^[7]

Grand Prix racing record[]

Career summary[]

European Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	EDC	Pts
1931	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Type A	Alfa Romeo 2x 3.5 L6	ITA 1 / ret			5th	13
		Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8		FRA 11
		Alfa Romeo 8C-2300	Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8			BEL 2
1932	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3	Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8	ITA 1	FRA 1	GER 2	1st	4

Race results by year[]

The following table shows Tazio Nuvolari's Grand Prix results, including European Championship and post-war Grandes Épreuves results.

Year	Chassis	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1921	Ansaldo 4CS	SAL 4	BRE Ret
1922	Ansaldo 4CS	SAL 2
1923	Diatto	CRE DNS
1923	Chiribiri 12/16		PEN 5	ESP 4	SAL Ret
1924	Bianchi 20	GEN 1
1924	Chiribiri 12/16		RAV 2	ROV 2	CRE RET	PES DNS
1927	Bugatti T37	PER 7
	Bugatti T35		ROM 1	BOL RET		LIV 4		SAL 1
	Bugatti T35C				PES DNS		MNZ RET
1928	Bugatti T35C	TRI 1	VER 1	ALE 1	PAL RET	MES 4	CAT RET	ROM RET	CRE 2	PES 4	LIV 2	ITA 3
Source: ^[8],^[9],^[10]

References[]

AIACR European Champions
(1931) Ferdinando Minoia • (1932) Tazio Nuvolari • (1935) Rudolf Caracciola • (1936) Bernd Rosemeyer • (1937–38) Rudolf Caracciola • (1939) Not awarded due to outbreak of war.

[1] ttps://www.tazionuvolari.it/en/nuvolari-biografia.php

[2] ttps://www.tazionuvolari.it/en/nuvolari-biografia.php

[3] ttps://www.tazionuvolari.it/en/nuvolari-biografia.php

[4] ttps://www.tazionuvolari.it/en/nuvolari-biografia.php

[5] ttps://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/when-winning-le-mans-calls-for-gum-ption-58283

[6] All Results of Tazio Nuvolari. racingsportscars.com.

[7] All Results of Tazio Nuvolari. racingsportscars.com.

[8] ttps://www.racingyears.com/driver/Tazio_Nuvolari

[9] ttps://www.goldenera.fi/dn.htm#NU

[10] ttps://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/

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