Dario Resta (17 August 1882 – 3 September 1924), nicknamed "Dolly", was an

Italian Briton Italians in the United Kingdom, also known as British Italians or colloquially Britalians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom of Italian heritage. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United Kingdom of Italian descent, some ...

race car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

driver. He was the winner of the

1916 Indianapolis 500 The 6th International 300-Mile Sweepstakes Race was the sixth running of the Indianapolis 500. It was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1916. The management scheduled the race for 120 laps, , the only Indianapolis 500 sch ...

Early years

Dario Resta was born in

Faenza Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

but was raised in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from the age of two. He began racing there in 1907 when he took part in the Montagu Cup, the very first race staged at the new

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

race track. He set a record of in a half-mile run a few years later. On October 2, 1913, alternating with

Jean Chassagne Jean Chassagne (26 July 1881, in La Croisille-sur-Briance – 13 April 1947) was a pioneer submariner, aviator and French racecar driver active 1906-1930. Chassagne finished third in the 1913 French Grand Prix; won the 1922 Tourist Trophy and fi ...

and

Kenelm Lee Guinness Kenelm Edward Lee Guinness MBE (14 August 1887 – 10 April 1937) was a London-born racing driver of the 1910s and 1920s mostly associated with Sunbeam racing cars. He set a new Land Speed Record in 1922. Also an automotive engineer, he inve ...

in two-hour spells, Resta set up a series of long distance World Records with a Sunbeam Grand Prix car fitted with a single-seater body. After competing in

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...

in Europe, including the

1913 French Grand Prix The 1913 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Amiens on 12 July 1913. The race The restriction on Grand Prix cars for 1913 included an minimum weight and an maximum weight, as well as a fuel consumption limit. The buildup to ...

, he went to the U.S.

Coming to America

In early 1915 he was brought to the United States by Alphonse Kaufman, an America importer of

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

s, to drive Kaufman's Peugeot EX3. In January he married Mary Wishart, the sister of racer

Spencer Wishart Spencer E. Wishart (December 3, 1889 – August 22, 1914) was an American racecar driver. He was active during the early years of the Indianapolis 500. Biography He was born on December 3, 1889, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wishart was ki ...

who had died the previous year. In February he won the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

, more properly named the United States Grand Prize, at

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

followed by a victory in the

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nassa ...

. After leading during the final stages of that year's

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, he finished second to

Ralph DePalma Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma (December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,0 ...

when his car skidded and he had to make a pit-stop for tyres. Resta then drove his blue Peugeot to victory in the inaugural race on the

board track Board track racing was a type of motorsport popular in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Competition was conducted on circular or oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. This type of track was first used for motor ...

at the Chicago Speedway on 26 June 1915. The race received eighteen pages of coverage in the 1 July 1915, issue of ''

Motor Age An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

'' magazine. DarioResta1915ChicagoBoardTrack

The following year, in 1916, en route to winning the United States National Driving Championship, Resta repeated as the winner of the

plus he won the

, the Chicago 300, the Minneapolis 150 and the Omaha 150 races. With

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

raging in Europe and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

entering the war in 1918, races were reduced to a minimum. During 1918 Resta drove a Peugeot at a race in

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. S ...

, a minor event with only a handful of competitors.

Comeback years

In 1923 Resta returned to racing at the age of 39, making his first appearance in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. Next, he made another attempt at Indianapolis but was forced out of the race after . Racing again in Europe, Resta finished 3rd in the

Penya Rhin Grand Prix The Penya Rhin Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor racing event staged at the three different circuits in three different eras in Spain. The race was held intermittently over its history, sometimes for full-size Grand Prix cars, sometimes for spor ...

and won the

voiturette A voiturette is a miniature automobile. History ''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers t ...

class at the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

. He drove for Sunbeam in the 1924 season with teammates

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneous ...

and

Death

Dario Resta was killed in England on 3 September 1924 at the age of 42 when his car crashed at

while trying for a new

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

. Resta was driving a

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunl ...

when a belt on his car broke on the second lap and punctured his tyre sending him out of control. The car crashed through a corrugated iron fence on the Railway Straight and caught fire. This accident also hospitalized his riding-mechanic, Bill Perkins, causing him to miss the San Sebastian Grand Prix a few weeks later. Perkins was Sunbeam driver Kenelm Lee Guinness's regular mechanic and so was substituted by Tom Barrett. Guinness suffered a serious crash during this race, in which Barrett was killed and this accident led to the end of the practice of carrying riding-mechanics during races.

Indy 500 results

References

External links

Champ Car Stats profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resta, Dario 1880s births 1924 deaths Champ Car champions Italian racing drivers British racing drivers Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 winners Racing drivers who died while racing Sunbeam Motor Car Company English people of Italian descent Sport deaths in England British expatriates in the United States Italian British racing drivers AAA Championship Car drivers