Tazio Nuvolari

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Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (November 16, 1892 – August 11, 1953) was an Italian racing motorcycle and car driver, known as "The Flying Mantuan".

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Career

Nuvolari was born 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.

He obtained the motorcycle racing licence in 1915, when he was 23, but was soon recalled to the Army as a driver, when Italy entered World War I. In 1917, He married Carolina Perina in a civil ceremony (quite a scandal for those times).

His career started with motorbikes and he had his first official race on June 20, 1920 in Cremona at the Circuito Internazionale Motoristico. He won his first race on March 20, 1921 in Verona.

He became a professional driver, and soon met Enzo Ferrari (still a driver and not yet the founder of Ferrari). Nuvolari quickly became very popular in Italy, where he was called "Il campionissimo delle due ruote", "the two wheeler Campionissimo" (the same title will be later given only to Fausto Coppi, bicycle champion).

He begun testing himself in Grand Prix motor racing and he won the prestigious Targa Florio, in Sicily. After that, he decided to dedicate himself only to cars. His fame grew rapidly and famous poet Gabriele D'Annunzio gave him a little golden turtle with dedication: "To the fastest man in the world, the slowest animal". He obtained victories on most of the Italian circuits and in the Mille Miglia. In 1932 he dominated Grand Prix motor racing, winning the Monaco, French and Italian Grand Prix events.

Perhaps his greatest ever victory was the German Grand Prix of 1935, where, in an outdated and uncompetitive Alfa Romeo P3 he defeated Germany's vaunted Auto Union and Mercedes Benz racing outfits in front of Adolf Hitler, who was said to be outraged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 have an Italian anthem to play.

Personal misfortune (in a few years he lost both of his two sons) made people even more passionate about him. His determination 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.

Several myths surround Nuvolari's career and owing to hazy records from the days and the absence of mass media at the time, these haven't been verified. And since most of these reports are from unique sources, several have been attributed to the fertile imagination of journalists.

Nuvolari is reported to have won the 1930 Mille Miglia by tailing Achille Varzi with his headlights off for a short part of the race, thereby not being visible in the latters rear-view mirrors and then overtaking him a few miles before the finish line, flicking his headlights on and then powering to victory.

Another often told story involves Nuvolari breaking both his legs in a crash and being recommended at least a month's rest by his doctors. Nuvolari is reported to have tied himself to his bike (casts and all) and then won the race.

Nuvolari is also reported to have won a race on three wheels [1]and another with the steering wheel in one hand and steering his car with a wrench stuck into the steering column. This final story is apparently true, as a photo from the 1946 Copa Brezzi race in Turin shows Nuvolari crossing the finish line while holding the steering wheel outside of his car. [2] (edit, both stories have photographs and are apparently true)

He died in August 1953, in his bed.

Ferdinand Porsche called him "The greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future."

In 1996, Alfa Romeo named their concept car Nuvola after him.

In 1998, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Fifty years after his death in 1953, Audi created a concept car in memory of Nuvolari known as the Audi Nuvolari Quattro.

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