Was Juan Manuel Fangio the greatest racecar driver of all time? He was World Champion five times (1951, 1954 to 1957) and his career winning percentage of 46.2-percent in Formula One is better than anyone else by a sizeable margin (Alberto Ascari, 39.4; Jim Clark, 34.3; Michael Schumacher, 29.6; Jackie Stewart, 27.0; Ayrton Senna, 25.3). Fangio’s greatest achievements have been widely discussed in the world of motorsports, but his beginnings are less well known.
Born in Argentina in 1911, and bored with the standard curriculum in school, Fangio spent his childhood studying auto mechanics. His racing debut was in the 1939 Turismo de Carretera (TC). He won the event in 1940 and 1941 behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Coupe, and these back-to-back TC championships launched his racing career.
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