Lorenzo Bandini

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Lorenzo Bandini
Nationality	Italian
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1961 - 1967
Teams	Scuderia Centro Sud, Scuderia Ferrari
Races	42
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podium finishes	8
Career points	58
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	2
First race	1961 Belgian Grand Prix
First win	1964 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win	1964 Austrian Grand Prix
Last race	1967 Monaco Grand Prix

Lorenzo Bandini (born 21 December 1935 - died 10 May 1967, Monaco) was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams.

Contents 1 Career 2 Accident and death 3 Complete Formula One Results 4 References

[edit] Career

Bandini was born in Barce,^[1] Cyrenaica,^[2] Libya of Italian parents. He had an older sister, Graziella. The family returned to Italy in 1939 and resided near Florence, Italy. When he was 15 his father died. Bandini left home and found a job as an apprentice mechanic in the workshop of Signor Freddi in Milan.^[2]

He made his way into auto racing from competing on motorcycles.^[3] He started racing cars in 1957 in a borrowed Fiat 1100. The wealthy and kindhearted Signor Freddi moulded Bandini's career and assisted him from the start of it.^[2]

He achieved a first class victory at the Mille Miglia, in a Lancia Appia Zagato, in 1958. He then raced in Formula Junior until 1961. Bandini purchased a Volpini Formula Junior car and placed third in his first race in Sicily. In 1959 and 1960 he drove a Formula Junior Stanguellini. In 1960 he placed fourth in the Formula Junior World Championship.

In 1961 Bandini became disappointed when Giancarlo Baghetti, also of Italy, was selected to drive a sponsored Ferrari by the association of Italian motor clubs FISA. However he had the attention of Signor Mimo Dei, the team patron of Scuderia Centro Sud. He was invited to join the Scuderia Centro Sud in Formula One. At a non-championship race, he finished third at Pau. Bandini drove his first world championship race at Spa later in 1961. He retired with engine failure. During the winter of 1961-1962 he drove in the Tasman races in Australia and New Zealand.^[2]

The Maranello based Ferrari team's success had declined after the triumphs of Phil Hill and Wolfgang Von Trips in the new rear-engined cars. Hill won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1961.^[2] After Bandini was hired by Ferrari for the 1962 and 1963 seasons, he did fairly well. His debut in a works Ferrari was good one at the Monaco Grand Prix. He placed third.

For 1963 Bandini was retained by Ferrari for sports car races only. Signor Dei once again assisted him by purchasing for him a BRM discarded by Graham Hill. Bandini campaigned the BRM in Scuderia Centro Sud colors.^[2]

Bandini, along with Ludovico Scarfiotti, won the Le Mans 24 Hours race for Ferrari in 1963. He again became the number one driver for Ferrari, replacing John Surtees who left in mid-season of 1966. He returned for the Italian Grand Prix^[2]

In 1964 Bandini won the first Austrian Grand Prix at the Zeltweg circuit, his only GP win. He also achieved victories for Ferrari in sportscar racing, notably the previously-mentioned 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963, the Targa Florio in 1965, and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967.

Bandini was married in 1963 and managed a garage owned by his wife's parents in Milan. He resided in Maranello, near the Ferrari headquarters.^[4]

[edit] Accident and death

In May of 1967 Bandini was racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, running second to Denny Hulme on the 82nd lap, when he lost control of his car at the harbour chicane. He had just entered an S-turn when his Ferrari's left rear wheel hit the guard rail, sending him into an erratic skid. It impacted a light pole and overturned.^[5] The car hit straw bales which lined the harbour side, rupturing the fuel tank, and sparks ignited the fuel as the car rolled over, with Bandini trapped beneath it. Marshals flipped his car upright and pulled Bandini, unconscious, out from the flaming Ferrari. It is thought that during the effort to right the overturned car that gasoline leaked on the hot brake line or the exhaust pipe and exploded. A second fire occurred when the gas tank exploded after Bandini had been pulled away from the Ferrari.^[1]

Bandini's burns were extensive. Third degree burns covered more than 70% of his body. The worst burns were on his arms and legs with slight burns on his face. Doctors were forced to wait for twenty-four to forty-eight hours before resolving to move Bandini to a hospital in Lyons, France, which specialized in the treatment of burns. Another option was flying in skin grafts from Italy.^[1] The burns caused severe lesions. He also sustained a chest wound and ten chest fractures.^[5]

Three days later he succumbed to his injuries. He died at Princess Grace Polyclinic Hospital in Monte Carlo. There were concerns about the promptness of Bandini's rescue. However, investigators from the the Principality of Monaco ruled on May 10 that the security operation had functioned properly.^[3] Straw bales were banned soon after as a form of barrier. Bandini's only previous race accident was not a severe one. It happened during a 1957 Formula Junior race near New York.^[4]

Bandini was buried in Reggiolo,^[6] and there were 100,000 people who attended on May 13.^[7]

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Team	WDC	Points
1961	Scuderia Centro Sud	MON	NED	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR 12	GER Ret	ITA 8	USA				Scuderia Centro Sud	-	0
1962	Ferrari	NED	MON 3	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER Ret	ITA 8	USA	RSA			Ferrari	12th	4
1963	Scuderia Centro Sud	MON	BEL	NED	FRA 10	GBR 5	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5	MEX Ret	RSA 5		Ferrari	10th	6
1964	Ferrari	MON 10	NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA 9	GBR 5	GER 3	AUT 1	ITA 3	USA Ret	MEX 3		Ferrari	4th	23
1965	Ferrari	RSA 15	MON 2	BEL 9	FRA 8	GBR Ret	NED 9	GER 6	ITA 4	USA 4	MEX 8		Ferrari	6th	13
1966	Ferrari	MON 2	BEL 3	FRA NC	GBR	NED 6	GER 6	ITA Ret	USA Ret	MEX			Ferrari	9th	12
1967	Ferrari	RSA	MON Ret	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	CAN	ITA	USA	MEX	Ferrari	-	0

Preceded by Olivier Gendebien Phil Hill	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1963 Ludovico Scarfiotti Lorenzo Bandini	Succeeded by Jean Guichet Nino Vaccarella
Preceded by John Taylor	Formula One fatal accidents May 10, 1967	Succeeded by Bob Anderson

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hulme Takes Monaco Race; Bandini Seriously Hurt, New York Times, May 8, 1967, Page 59
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Lorenzo Bandini, The Times, May 11, 1967, Page 12.
3. ^ ^{a b} Italy's Bandini Dies Of Monte Carlo Burns, Stars and Stripes (newspaper), May 11, 1967, Page 20.
4. ^ ^{a b} Bandini Dies of Race Injuries, New York Times, May 11, 1967, Page 62.
5. ^ ^{a b} Hulme Wins Monte Carlo; Bandini Hurt, Sheboygan Press, May 8, 1967, Page 13.
6. ^ Mass Held For Bandini, New York Times, May 12, 1967, Page 56.
7. ^ 100,000 at Bandini Rites, New York Times, May 14, 1967, Page S4.