Carlo Maria Abate (10 July 1932 – 29 April 2019) was an Italian auto racing driver. He was one of the best Ferrari 250 GTO specialists. Abate preferred to be addressed as "Carlo Mario Abate" instead of his christened name. Abate raced mostly for the private Italian team

Scuderia Serenissima Scuderia Serenissima and Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia were names used by Giovanni Volpi to enter his own cars in Formula One and sports car racing in the early 1960s. Scuderia Serenissima was an auto racing team in the early 1960s. Funded ...

of Count Giovanni Volpi, but also for

Scuderia Centro Sud Scuderia Centro Sud was a privateer racing team founded in Modena by Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei and active in Formula One and sports car racing between 1956 and 1965. Dei had been an amateur driver in the 1930s. In the early 1950s he opened a Maserat ...

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

and the

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

factory team. He won one of the rounds of

1962 World Sportscar Championship The 1962 World Sportscar Championship season was the 10th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1962 International Championship for GT Manufacturers, which was contested in three engine capacity divisions, and ...

: The Trophée d'Auvergne on 15 July 1962. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

he tried participating in Formula One races, entering the

1962 Naples Grand Prix The 20th Naples Grand Prix was a motor race, run for cars complying with the Formula One rules, held on 20 May 1962 at Posillipo Circuit, Naples. The race was run over 60 laps of the circuit, and was won by Belgian driver Willy Mairesse in a Ferrar ...

in a

, finishing fourth. After crashing his

Lotus 18/21 Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

at his next race at

Reims-Gueux The circuit Reims-Gueux was a Grand Prix motor racing road course, located in Gueux, Marne, Gueux, 7.5 km (5 miles) west of Reims in the Champagne (historical province), Champagne region of north-eastern France, established in 1926 as the sec ...

, he withdrew his entry to his first World Championship event, the

1962 French Grand Prix The 1962 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Rouen-Les-Essarts on 8 July 1962. It was race 4 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by D ...

, and later also entered and withdrew from

1962 German Grand Prix The 1962 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on 5 August 1962. It was race 6 of 9 in both the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 15-lap race wa ...

. He returned to the track for the

1962 Mediterranean Grand Prix The 1st Mediterranean Grand Prix was a motor race, run for Formula One cars, held on 19 August 1962 at the Autodromo di Pergusa, Sicily. The race was run over 50 laps of the circuit, and was dominated by Ferrari. The winner was Lorenzo Bandini in ...

, where he came third. The following year, he drove a Scuderia Centro Sud

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

to fifth place in the

1963 Imola Grand Prix The 4th Imola Grand Prix was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 21 April 1963 at the Autodromo di Castellaccis. The previous three Imola Grands Prix were sports car races held in the mid-1950s, and this was the first Formula One event ...

, and came third at the

1963 Syracuse Grand Prix The 12th Syracuse Grand Prix was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 25 April 1963 at Syracuse Circuit, Sicily. The race was run over 56 laps of the circuit, and was won easily by Swiss driver Jo Siffert in a Lotus 24. Results Re ...

. After withdrawing his entry to the

1963 Italian Grand Prix The 1963 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 8, 1963. It was the seventh of ten races in both the 1963 World Championship of Drivers and the 1963 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. At this race ...

, he retired from the sport at the end of the year, his greatest year, culminating with a win at the Targa Florio in a factory

with Jo Bonnier. Abate later became the director of a private clinic.

Career results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abate, Carlo Maria 1932 births 2019 deaths Racing drivers from Turin Italian Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers