The ill-fated Italian ace rendered an outsider at Ferrari
Anointed as Italy’s next great racing hero after the tragic death of Alberto Ascari, Luigi Musso was pushed out of favour at Ferrari by Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn. NIGEL ROEBUCK recalls a troubled soul…
Among the sizeable collection of memorabilia accumulated through a lifetime in motor racing are two small trophies, which sit on a shelf in my office. One of them, won by my childhood hero Jean Behra, is from the 1957 Caen Grand Prix, while the other – from the same year – was awarded by the Automobile Club Roma, and is inscribed, ‘Luigi Musso, Campione Italiano Assoluto’.
Following the death of Alberto Ascari in a testing accident at Monza in May 1955, Italian motor racing was in some despair. Gone was as great a driver as motorsport has known, and a new native superstar was urgently sought. The hope was that ultimately two young men – Musso and Eugenio Castellotti – might fit the bill.
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