Grand Prix Insider

4th of December - Today is the birthday of François Migault, pictured here at the wheel just before the roll-auto of the brand new British F1 car Connew. do you know which track was chosen for the rol-out and why?

4/12/1957, Raul de Mesquita Boesel is born in Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil.

After poor results with March and Ligier in F1 Raul switched to the US to race in CART and the IRL, but also became interested in Endurance racing. In 1987 he won the World Sportscar Championship with Jaguar. Other significant successes: Winner at the 1988 Daytona 24 Hours, third at 1989 Indy 500 and finishing 2nd in the 1991 24 hours of Le Mans.

4/12/2001, Bruce Halford dies.

Buying the ex-Bira Maserati 250F in 1956 was the ticket to enter F1 in 1956, participating in nine World Championship Grands Prix and numerous European non-Championship F1 races. He stopped racing in the early 1960s but returned to the circuits in the 1970s racing a Lotus 16 in historic events.

Born: 18th of May 1931 in Hampton-in-Arden, at that time within Warwickshire, UK.
Died: 2nd of December 2001 in Churston Ferrers, Devon, UK.

4/12/1911, Willi Krakau is born in Studerdorf, Germany.

A member of the German rowing team at the 1936 Summer Olympics, Krakau became the first German to enter an International event post WWII. With a reputation as a constructor of specials, he entered one World Championship race, the 1952 German Grand Prix. Driving his six-cylinder AFM car, he qualifyied but did not dtart the race.

Born: 4th of December 1911 in Studerdorf, Germany.
Died: 26th of April 1995 in Peine, Germany, aged 83.

4/12/1944, François Migault is born in Le Mans in the Sarthe region in France.

Talented Formula 2 and 3 driver. Drove in F1 for Connew in 1972 and BRM in 1974. He later had guest outings for both Hill and Williams. He finished second at Le Mans in a Gulf Mirage in 1975.

4/12/1881, Felice Nazzaro is born in Torino, Italy.

After success in the Italian racing scene, Nazzaro had an international breakthrough in 1907 winning the three most important races in the world: the Targa Florio in a Fiat 28-40hp, the Kaiser-Preis in Germany in a Fiat Taunis and THE most important race on the calendar, the French GP in the Fiat 130hp F2 Racer. On the 8 June 1908, Nazzaro set the auto speed record at 193kph for 2.75 miles and briefly exceeded 200kph, the first driver in the world to do so.

In 1911 he began producing his own cars under the Company name ‘Nazzaro & C. Fabbrica di Automobili’ in Turin and even winning the Targa Florio for the second time, driving a Nazzaro Tipo 2. Meregalli would score another Targa Florio win in 1920. But in 1923 came the end of the line. The company had produced a total of 460 cars and 50 trucks, but simply had run into financial difficulties too often and Felice finally gave up Nazzaro Automobili for good in 1923.

Meanwhile Fiat, who due to the war had all but stopped racing in 1912, had returned in 1921 and Nazzaro had joined the team again. After his nephew Biagio Nazzaro had a fatal accident during the 1922 French GP, which the now 42-year-old Felice won, Nazzaro would retire at the end of 1923 to become head of the Fiat’s competitions department up until 1929, when the manufacturer finally withdrew from racing. Tragically the world’s greatest early century driver was at the wheel of his road car when he crashed and was killed in 1940.

Born: 4th of December 1881 in Torino, Italy.
Died: 21st of March 1940 in Torino, Italy, aged 59.

4/12/1988, Albert Uria dies.

Albert Uria was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and was another of the local drivers who made up the numbers in the international events held in Argentina at the beginning of 1955 and 1956.

He crossed the River Plate with his elderly Maserati A6GCM fitted with a 250F engine, but could only manage a distant 14th on aggregate in the 1955 Buenos Aires City Grand Prix. The following year he shared the car with Oscar Gonzalez, trailing home sixth but as they were 10 laps off the lead they were not classified.

Born: 7th of January 1924 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Died: 4th of December 1988 in Montevideo, Uruguay aged 64. years