Italian privateer racing driver Gino Munaron has passed away at the age of 81. Munaron was always considered to be a very professional driver who raced sports and touring cars between 1955 and 1965, usually driving his own cars but also doing occasional works duty with Ferrari, Maserati, and Osca. His most noteworthy results include a victory at Hyeres in ’55 for Ferrari, 3rd place at Pescara and 4th at Bari for Maserati in ’56, a solo drive to 3rd place in the ’57 Reims 12 Hours, a 3rd in the ’59 Venezuelan GP at Caracas for Ferrari, and 3rd again for Osca in the ’59 Auvergne Trophy contest at Clermont Ferrand.
In 1960 he made his Grand Prix debut, driving an elderly Maserati 250F in the Argentine GP, then later that year did the French, British, and Italian GPs for Scuderia Castelotti in a Ferrari-engined Cooper T51. He entered a Cooper T43-Alfa for the 1961 Syracuse GP, but was unable to qualify, then followed that effort with a couple of other British intercontinental events for 2.5L cars. Once his single-seater career take 5th in the Spa 24 Hours, and 2nd in subsided, he raced GT cars, handling a works Alfa Giulia TI in 1964, teaming with coming-man Andrea de Adamich to Monza’s Coppa Inter Europa 4 Hours. He also authored a book about 4-cylinder Ferrari sports cars.
