Eugenio Castellotti

Eugenio Castellotti Biography

Eugenio Castellotti was born in Milan but grew up in Lodi. When he was still only 20 years of age he bought a Ferrari sports car and campaigned it enthusiastically in Italian events in 1951 and 1952. In the second year he began winning, taking victory in the Sicily Gold Cup, the Circuito di Senigallia and the sports car Portuguese GP. He also finished second in the Monaco GP, run that year for sports cars.

But he really hit the headlines when he ran second in the Mille Miglia and this led to him being offered a drive with the Lancia sports car team for the 1953 Carrera Panamericana. He finished third behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Piero Taruffi. he also won the Italian hill climb championship and the 10 Hours of Messina. The Lancia connection resulted in him being signed by the Turin company for its Formula 1 program in 1954. The cars were late arriving and Castellotti did not get to race one of the D50s until the start of 1955. At Pau he finished second ahead of his team mates Gigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari (although the latter had mechanical trouble).