Bob Cullinan

The heroes of the Mille Miglia are household names among motor racing fans: Nuvolari. Ascari. Moss. But without one behind-the-scenes figure, the famous Italian race might never have happened.

Count Franco Mazzotti was an avid racer, the president of the Region Automobile Club of Brescia, and one of the original organizers of the Mille Miglia—the race from Brescia to Rome and back. Mazzotti died in combat in World War II when his Italian Air Force plane was shot down in the channel between Sicily and the Italian mainland.

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