Titles by the Author The Technique of Motor Racing

Piero Taruffi

There can be no man in motor racing better qualified to write a book upon the art of motor racing than Piero Taruffi, born in Rome, Italy on October 10th, 1906. The brief synopsis of his career (set out below) on both the sporting and the technical side proves beyond any doubt his fitness to speak upon both the theory and the practice of motor racing.

Like many great drivers before him, Taruffi drove both cars and motorcycles and won his first race on two wheels in 1925, when he was 19 years old. In forty-one races he scored twenty-two wins, twenty of them outright, and two only were class victories; amongst his principal successes were the 1928 Royal G.P. of Rome on Norton 500, a marque on which he also won the 1932 G.P. of the F.I.C.M. and the Montenero G.P. On C.N.A. Rondine he won the 1935 Grands Prix of Tripoli and Pescara.

In addition to his racing activities he broke thirty-eight Worlds records including those of the Flying Kilometre at 274 Km.h., the Standing Kilometre. The Standing Mile and the One Hour record also fell to him on Gilera in 1937 and 1939. On four wheels his record is even more impressive and in 136 races he scored forty-four wins, of which fourteen were in class, and thirty in general classification. His first victory was in 1923 and his principal successes include the G.P. of Berne in 1948, the 1951 Carrera Panamericana Mexico, and in 1952 he won the Grand Prix of Switzerland and the Ulster Trophy. In 1954 he won the Targa Florio and the Tour of Sicily, which he also won the following year. In 1956 with Moss, Behra, and Schell he shared the winning wheel in the 1000 Kilometre Race in Nurburg and in 1957 set the seal upon his brilliant career by winning the Mille Miglia.

In 1947, Taruffi was Champion of Italy (Racing Cars up to 1500 c.c.) and 1949 Formula 2 Champion of Italy. In 1951 he was the 5th in the Driver"s World Championship, and 3rd in 1952. In 1954 and 1956 he was Italian Sports Car Champion. In addition to these honors he holds or has held thirty-nine International speed records and has been a member of the following official works teams: Scuderia Ferrari (1931, 1932, 1933), Maserati (1934, 1956, 1957), Bugatti (1955), Scuderia Ambrosiana (1937, 1938, 1939), Alfa Romeo (1939), Cisitalia (1947, 1948, 1949), Ferrari (1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1957), Lancia (1953, 1954), Mercedes (1955) and General Motors (1957).

In 1933 he obtained his Doctorate of Industrial Engineering in Rome and his technical appointments in the motor industry are no less formidable than his successes in the sporting side. He was racing manager and on the engineering staff of the C.N.A. Rondine concern from 1935-1937, and technical and racing manager for Gilera in 1937-1940. In 1946 and 1947 he was racing director, technical consultant, and Chief Tester to Cisitalia and in 1950 rejoined Gilera as racing manager and technical consultant until 1956.

From this vast wealth of experience Piero Taruffi crowned his career with the authorship of this book, The Technique of Motor Racing, which must rank as a standard work of reference to all who aspire to fame in the most fascinating, exciting and dangerous sports of all time. Piero Taruffi passed away in 1988.