Emilio Villoresi
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Emilio "Mimì" Villoresi (December 7, 1914 – June 20, 1939) was an Italian
Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and ...
driver. Villoresi was born in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
,
Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...
. He was the younger brother of the
Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
driver
Luigi Villoresi Luigi "Gigi" Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Villoresi contested 34 Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons for Italian teams Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, and C ...
who co-drove with him in several races at the beginning of their career. Emilio Villoresi and his brother first competed together in the 1935 and 1936
Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...
driving a Fiat 508CS Balilla Sport but after a disappointing finish they purchased a Maserati which they initially drove individually in different races. After a string of good results Emilio was signed to drive an
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...
for
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...
in the
1937 Grand Prix season The 1937 Grand Prix season was the fifth AIACR European Championship season. The championship was won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team. Caracciola won three of the five events that counted towards the championship. This ...
. Emilio Villoresi finished third behind teammates
Giuseppe Farina Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Farina won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in its inaugural season with Alfa Romeo, and won ...
and
Clemente Biondetti Clemente Biondetti (18 October 1898 – 24 February 1955) was an Italian auto racing driver. Born into a working-class family, Biondetti raced motorcycles before turning to automobiles where he had greater success. Biography Born in Buddusò, S ...
at the 1937 Coppa Principessa di Piemonte and at the inaugural race at the "Circuito della Superba" in
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
. In 1938, when the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Silver Arrows Silver Arrows () is a nickname typically given to silver racing cars with a significant connection to a German car manufacturer. Although the term was coined in 1932, it came into popular usage regarding Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and ...
were dominating Grand Prix events, Villoresi managed to win the class competition at both the
Coppa Ciano The Coppa Ciano was an automobile race held in Italy. Originally referred to as Coppa Montenero or Circuito Montenero, the Coppa Ciano name was officially in use between 1927 and 1939. History During the years immediately following World War I se ...
and the
Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...
. In May 1939, he finished a strong third to the still dominant
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...
cars of
Hermann Lang Hermann Albert Lang (6 April 1909 – 19 October 1987) was a German racing driver who raced motorcycles, Grand Prix cars, and sports cars. Prewar racing Born in Cannstatt near Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Hermann Lang had to go to wo ...
and
Rudolf Caracciola Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola (30 January 1901 – 28 September 1959) was a German racing driver.Bolsinger and Becker (2002), p. 63 He won the European Championship (auto racing), European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the m ...
at the
Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...
. Villoresi's career was cut short the following month when he suffered a fatal crash while testing an Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta at the
Monza Circuit The Monza Circuit (Italian language, Italian: ; ) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, In ...
.


See also

*
Emilio Materassi Emilio Materassi (October 30, 1894 – September 9, 1928) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver. Early life Born in Borgo San Lorenzo, near Florence, Italy, Emilio began working in a bicycle shop, learning the basics of applied mechanics ...


References

1914 births 1939 deaths Racing drivers from Milan Grand Prix drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Italy Italian racing drivers {{Italy-bio-stub