Ludovico Scarfiotti


Ludovico Scarfiotti was a Formula One and sports car driver from Italy. Just prior to entering Formula One, he won the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. He later participated in 12 World Championship Formula One grands prix, and many non-championship races. He won one World Championship race, and scored a total of 17 championship points. A motor sports competitor for a decade, Scarfiotti won the 1962 and 1965 European Hillclimb Championship. He was proclaimed Italy's best driver in both 1962 and 1965.

Early life

Scarfiotti was born in Turin. Scarfiotti was associated with cars from his youth. His grandfather was the first president and one of the nine founders of the Fiat automobile company.

Sports car competition

Scarfiotti competed in the 1,000 Kilometres de Paris sports car race in October 1962. He finished third with teammate Colin Davis. The event was won by Pedro Rodríguez and Ricardo Rodríguez driving a Ferrari. Partnered with Lorenzo Bandini, Scarfiotti was victorious in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 1963. Their factory Ferrari achieved an average speed of 117.99 miles per hour over a distance of. The victory was worth almost $20,000 in various prize money along with prestige, and gave Ferrari its fourth consecutive Le Mans victory.
In 1965, John Surtees and Scarfiotti shared a Ferrari 330 P2 Spyder which gave the marque a fourth consecutive victory at the 1000km Nürburgring race. They led throughout the 44 laps, posting a winning time of 6 hours, 53 minutes, and 5 seconds, for an average speed of. Scarfiotti and Bandini drove a 2-litre Dino 206 S to second place in the 1966 running of the 1,000 kilometre Nürburgring in which first place went to Phil Hill and Joakim Bonnier driving a 5.4-litre Chevrolet-powered Chaparral. The Dino was 90 seconds behind the Chaparral that debuted the automatic transmission in European competition.
Surtees severed relations with the Ferrari racing team following their decision to replace him with Scarfiotti at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scarfiotti would go on to finish 31st, retiring after 123 laps. Scarfiotti joined Mike Parkes in a Ferrari P4 for the 1000 km Spa in May 1967. They finished a lap behind Jacky Ickx and Richard Thompson, who drove a Ford Mirage. The winning team averaged and posted a time of 5 hours, 9 minutes, 46.5 seconds.
Teamed with Mike Parkes, Scarfiotti took the new Ferrari P4 coupe to second place behind the sister car driven by Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon at the 24 Hours of Daytona, with Ferrari taking the first three positions. The same result took place at the Monza 1,000 km in April. Scarfiotti, again teamed with Parkes finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this time behind the Ford Mark IV driven by A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney. Scarfiotti raced a Ferrari factory car in the September 1967 200-mile Canadian-American Challenge Cup race held on a course near Bridgehampton, New York. His sponsor was the North American Racing Team of Luigi Chinetti.
Scarfiotti entered the 1968 Targa Florio, but wrecked his Porsche 907 on the first day of qualifying and was forced to race with Porsche's T-car which did not last the road race.

Formula One

signed Scarfiotti to the Ferrari Formula One team of drivers for along with Surtees, Willy Mairesse, Bandini, and Nino Vaccarella. Scarfiotti placed sixth in the second Ferrari in the 1963 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He was a lap behind victor Jim Clark in a Lotus. John Surtees piloted the first Ferrari to third place behind Dan Gurney in a Brabham. Scarfiotti finished fifth in the 1965 Syracuse Grand Prix.
Scarfiotti became the first Italian in fifteen years to win the Italian Grand Prix when he drove his Ferrari to a track record speed of at the 1966 event. As of the end of the 2019 Formula One season, Scarfiotti is also the last Italian to win it.
Following the death of Bandini from burns sustained during the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari decided to enter two cars for Scarfiotti and Parkes in the 1967 Syracuse Grand Prix. Scarfiotti drove a 1966 3-litre Ferrari 312 whereas Parkes drove a 1967 with the 1966 nose to accommodate his long frame. They shared the victory when they crossed the finish line in an unusual dead heat. They were clocked at, recording an official time of 1 hour 40 minutes 58 seconds for the race.
Brian Redman and Scarfiotti came in third and fourth respectively at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix in Jarama, both driving for Cooper. In his final Formula One appearance, Scarfiotti placed fourth in the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, an event marked by mechanical breakdowns that eliminated 11 of 16 starters before the race was completed.

Death

Ludovico Scarfiotti died in 1968 at a hillclimbing event on the Roßfeldhöhenringstraße near Berchtesgaden, Germany, in the German Alps. He became the third Grand Prix driver to die in 1968, following Jim Clark and Mike Spence. Scarfiotti wrecked his Porsche 910 during trials when the car veered abruptly off the Rossfeldstrasse track and catapulted ten yards down a tree-covered slope. The Porsche hung in the trees and Scarfiotti was thrown from the cockpit. He was discovered, badly injured, fifty yards away. He died in an ambulance of numerous fractures. Huschke von Hanstein, the team manager of Porsche, stated that he had never been associated with a fatal accident during the eighteen years he had been in charge of the team. of burned rubber braking indicated that Scarfiotti had slammed on his brakes at the final moment.
Scarfiotti was married to Ida Benignetti and had two children from a previous relationship.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

YearTeamChassisEngine123456789101112WDCPoints
1963Scuderia FerrariFerrari 156Ferrari 178 1.5 V6MONBEL
WD		NED
6		FRA
DNS		GBRGERITAUSAMEXRSA16th1
1964Scuderia FerrariFerrari 156Ferrari 178 1.5 V6MONNEDBELFRAGBRGERAUTITA
9		USAMEXNC0
1965Scuderia FerrariFerrari 1512Ferrari 207 1.5 V12RSAMONBELFRAGBRNEDGERITAUSAMEX
DNS		NC0
1966Scuderia FerrariFerrari 246Ferrari 228 2.4 V6MONBELFRAGBRNEDGER
Ret		10th9
1966Scuderia FerrariFerrari 312/66Ferrari 218 3.0 V12ITA
1		USAMEX10th9
1967Scuderia FerrariFerrari 312/67Ferrari 242 3.0 V12RSAMONNED
6		BEL
NC		FRAGBRGERCAN21st1
1967Anglo American RacersEagle T1GWeslake 58 3.0 V12ITA
Ret		USAMEX21st1
1968Cooper Car CompanyCooper T86Maserati 10/F1 3.0 V12RSA
Ret		16th6
1968Cooper Car CompanyCooper T86BBRM P101 3.0 V12ESP
4		MON
4		BELNEDFRAGBRGERITACANUSAMEX16th6

Non-championship Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456
1965Scuderia Centro SudBRM P578BRM P56 1.5 V8ROC
NC		SYR
5		SMTINTMEDRAN
1967Scuderia FerrariFerrari 312Ferrari 242 3.0 V12ROC
5		SPCINT''SYR
1		OULESP