Franco Cortese

Today, Franco Cortese is, perhaps, one of motor sport’s forgotten stars and he shouldn’t be. He was the driver who put Ferrari on the map in a career that spanned 156 races, 20 victories and top placings as long as your arm. During more than four decades, from 1926 to 1958, he raced for the cream of the Italian and British constructors, among them Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Ferrari and Britain’s Frazer Nash.

Born in 1903, in the tiny Piedmont village of Oggebbio, Italy, which even today only boasts a population of 845 souls, Franco began his long, distinguished motor racing career when he was just 22-years old. He competed in the very first Mille Miglia in 1927 and made the top 10 that year by taking 8^th place overall in an Itala Tipo 61, while stars of the day like Gastone Brilli Peri and Luigi Fagioli dropped out. In fact, he competed in 21 Mille Miglias, finished a record 14 times, made the top 10 seven times between 1927 and 1951 and won the 1938 over 1500-cc class.