Benedicto Caldarella (

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, September 1, 1940), also known as Chiche Caldarella, is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

former

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

, who competed between

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

. In

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, he won at the 500cc

Argentine Grand Prix The Argentine Grand Prix (Spanish: ''Gran Premio de Argentina'') was a round of the Formula One championship, held intermittently from to , at the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez in the Argentine national capital of Buenos Aires. Origins and ...

, becoming the second Argentine rider in history (after Jorge Kissling) to win a Grand Prix in World Motorcycle Racing. He ended the season ranked fifth overall. In 1970, he ran a Brabham BT 30 in the European Formula 2 Championship, sponsored by Automovil Club Argentino, beside

Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver and politician, who competed in Formula One from to and served as the Governor of Santa Fe from 1999 to 2003. Reutemann was runner-up in the Form ...

Biography

Benedicto Caldarella, son of an Italian father and an Argentine mother. His father and his sister came from the island of Sicily during the First World War, from the area at the foot of Mount Etna. He and his brother Aldo were influenced by their father Salvador's passion for motorcycles. Benedicto debuted and won at the age of 15 with a Gilera 150 cc. In 1959, he finished runner-up in Argentina and, a year later, he was crowned national champion with nine wins out of twelve races. That same year, having won the 100 Miles of Valparaíso, he was runner-up in the South American Championship. Caldarella had his World Cup opportunity in the

250cc

. Almost no privateer drivers from the World Championship were able to attend this race, as travel to South America was too expensive. The factory teams were also absent, with the exception of Honda, which sent a delegation mainly to support

Tom Phillis Thomas Edward Phillis (9 April 1934 – 6 June 1962) was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He won the 1961 125cc motorcycle road racing World Championship and was the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT mountain ...

, who could still become world champion in the 125cc class. Caldarella obtained a factory Honda RC162 for the 250cc race but had to retire. In the

season, he rode a Matchless G50 as a privateer at the 500cc Argentine Grand Prix. The two European riders that participated ( Arthur Wheeler and

Bert Schneider Berton "Bert" Jerome Schneider (May 5, 1933December 12, 2011) was an American film and television producer. He was responsible for several topical films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the road film '' Easy Rider'' (1969), directe ...

) retired, leaving the South Americans alone in the fight for victory. Benedicto Caldarella won this Grand Prix. In the

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

he finished third at his home Grand Prix. Also that year, he won the Argentine 500cc championship for a second time. In

he received a four-cylinder Gilera 500 from the factory. That was actually a 1957 machine, which was revived in 1963 when

Geoff Duke Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015), born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. Af ...

founded "Scuderia Duke". That team raced these old machines, which were still fast but not very reliable. When Scuderia Duke folded, Caldarella acquired one of these machines, which he also used in European races. At the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

, he impressed by following

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...

for a long time until its gearbox broke, while at the Nations Grand Prix in Italy he did the fastest lap at Monza and finished second behind Hailwood. After finishing his motorcycling career, Caldarella ventured into motorsports. He raced

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...

in Europe from 1967 to 1971, teaming up with

and a Brabham sponsored by

Automóvil Club Argentino The Argentine Automobile Club (, ACA) is Argentina's largest automobile association. It was founded on June 11, 1904, by Dalmiro Varela Castex, who in 1892 had imported the country's first registered automobile, a Daimler, and in 1894 its second ...

.Caldarella en driverdb.com
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Motorcycle Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldarella, Benedicto 1939 births Argentine motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Living people