Lorenzo Bandini: The Racing Driver, The Man
Words by Roberto Marrone
It may seem strange, but May 10th marked the fiftieth year since that tragic accident at the Monaco G.P. where that black smoke column darkened the sky and put an end to the life of a great racing driver, Lorenzo Bandini. Surely it would have been his good year, he had great chances of winning the World Championship Title and unfortunately it was an accident that would not have led to any consequences on today’s standards – at that time safety was still very rough and fire was difficult to fight – especially if fed by trackside straw bales. But we want to talk about the man, the driver.
Lorenzo was born on December 21, 1935 in Barce in Italian Libya, today Al-Marj, where his Emilian parents were emigrated for work. In 1941, due to the consequences of the war, they were forced to come back to Italy and the Bandini family with two children, in fact Lorenzo had a sister, Gabriella, settled in the paternal village of San Cassiano di Brisighella, where they bought a hotel. In 1944, his father had to go to war and only later they found he was captured and shot to death. The bombings destroyed the hotel and so the mother brought her children to live in Reggiolo, where Lorenzo began studying at a professional start-up school and also working as a mechanic at a motorcycle workshop. In 1950 he moved to Milan and start working at the workshop of Goliardo Freddi, father of his future wife. Finding welcomed and doing something he loves Lorenzo becomes a good mechanic. With his employer he begins to follow motorsport and also to meet the champions of the time, from Fangio to Alberto Ascari and even Tazio Nuvolari, further increasing his passion. The whole situation was finally helping Bandini and his starting career, the debut took place in June 1956 at the wheel of Mr Freddi’s 1100-103 bicolor – the race was the Castell’Arquato-Vernasca and on that occasion he finished fifteenth. He took part in other competitions to accumulate experience, got a second place the same year at the Lossolo-Alice, then a third one at the Pontedecimo-Passo dei Giovi with a 2-liter Fiat 8V. Other good placements the following year and in 1958 the victory at the steering wheel of the Appia Coupe Zagato and the confirmation of his talent was evident to everyone.
At the Coppa d’Oro in Sicily he finishes third – his first race with a single-seater – a Formula Junior Fiat-Volpini. The following year he won on class 500 at the Trofeo Ascari with the little Berkeley and continued his season with the Stanguellini, winning three important races as well as numerous placements. His career went through all the needed steps, one by one: he was modest and determined, he wanted to crown his dream arriving in Formula 1. It might sound like a rhetorical sentence that Lorenzo was a simple, good and kind person but who really knew him could confirm it. In 1961 he thought he could reach the maximum series after winning the Junior Cup in Monza, given that at FISA’s disposal gave the opportunity to an emerging pilot to drive a Ferrari, but the choice fell on another new talent, Giancarlo Baghetti. However, the Scuderia Centro Sud offered a steering wheel to Lorenzo, a Cooper 1500 Maserati, and the debut race took place at the Belgian G.P., where a failure stopped him at the 20th lap. Although not bringing home any points, Bandini was noticed for its undeniable qualities and Enzo Ferrari did not let him run away, offering Lorenzo a contract for the following season. 1962 for Maranello’s horse was not easy, BRM, Lotus and Cooper were extremely competitive. Lorenzo first started in an unsuccessful race for the championship in Pau and then in Monaco where he came third. He also raced in Germany, but was forced to retire and then at the G.P. in Italy he ended eighth. There was a victory at the Mediterranean G.P. in Enna, but the race was not valid for the World Championship. Another difficult year was that of 1963, when Lorenzo only started at the fourth race, only placements, but the racing season was not just Formula One: there was the 24-hour win at Le Mans teaming with with Ludovico Scarfiotti.
Other successes in other competitions made Bandini the Absolute Italian Champion of the Year. In 1964, finally confirmed, he joined John Surtees in Ferrari and after the podium in Germany and the fifth position in the UK, victory came at the Austrian G.P. in Zeltweg. Then third in Italy, while in Mexico he gives way to his teammate Surtees, helping him to win the 1964 Title, as well as the manufacturers one. In 1965 he was second in Munich, then he only got some placement, also due to a series of failures that afflict the car. The season turned good thanks to the victory at the Targa Florio along with Nino Vaccarella. In 1966 it seems that things do not change, again second in Monaco, but then no matter first positions, he is constantly victim of various kinds of failures and on few occasions he struggles to see the checkered flag. In Monza he has to stop on the second lap, leaving the race lead. Same thing at the USA G.P., where the engine abandons him while he was in first position. Lorenzo is a little disappointed, but also determined to get revenge. 1967 had to be his year, which began with the big win at the 24 hours of Daytona teaming with Chris Amon. Then in Monza, another triumph at the 1000 Km. In Formula 1 he becomes the first drive of the prancing horse and at his side we find Amon again. Ferrari does not show at the first event in South Africa, the second race is in Monaco, Bandini is second behind the world champion Jack Brabham. Lorenzo manages to go head-to-head, while Jack’s car loses oil and right on one of those spots Bandini slides the following lap, losing two positions in favor of Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. His race really starts now – at the 61st of the 100 expected laps his gap from the New Zealand is of only 7.6 seconds, but there are two lapped cars in between, Pedro Rodriguez and Graham Hill. He overtakes the Mexican quickly, but with the English one he has to struggle a bit more, inevitably increasing the gap from the leader of the race. We are at the 82nd turn, when the accident happened – causes are unclear, it could have been for the excessive speed with which he approached the chicane, the tiredness or who knows what else, but it was so that the red car with #18 hit with the rear wheel a mooring bait for the ships, hidden by an advertising panel, the single-seater literally took off, falling upside down, and because of the straw bales, the fire propagated immediately. Unfortunately, the rescue did not have the abilities we are accustomed to today, some even thought that the driver had been thrown out of the cockpit, as happened to Ascari years before, but Lorenzo was imprisoned between the flames in the cabin for a few minutes, too much. When the car was finally free from the flames, the pilot was unconscious and with irreparable burns, every attempt by the doctors was vain and Bandini passed away after 72 hours of agony.
Yes, there is that chain of coincidence with No. 7 – even Lady Margherita said how strange it is, repeated, so absurd as inexplicable. It happened on 7 May 1967, he was racing his 7th year in Formula 1 – at 17:07 (5.07 pm) minutes he was in the wake of D. Hulme, at 17 seconds and with 17 laps at the end when the tragedy happened. They took 17 minutes to take him to the hospital, he faced 72 hours of agony in room number 7, then he was brought to Milan with a Boeing 727, flight 607. The family tomb was not ready and for 17 days he had to stay at the Monumental depot, then buried at field 7, grave 7, death certificate of Principessa Grace of Montecarlo Hospital, number 7747. I also add that the car had the No. 18 and that 8-1 is 7.
A driver who did not pick up what he deserved, but that everyone, associates, enthusiasts and mechanics with whom he had a relationship of true friendship and esteem, have known him as a great man, as well as a true champion. At the time I was 11 and with a bit of passion for cars, I remember very well when I was racing my toy cars in the hall of my parents’ home. Not F1, but various cars, on which I had written with the pencil the names of some of the most famous racing drivers, my heroes. The one with Bandini’s name was a Red Giulietta Sprint. I still remember it, as it was yesterday.