Gianfranco "Franco" Comotti (July 24, 1906 – May 10, 1963) was an Italian racecar driver. He participated in two World Championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grands Prix, debuting on 3 September 1950. He scored no championship points. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.

Racing career

A native of Bergamo, he first appeared at the 1928 Italian Grand Prix in one of Scuderia Materassi’s

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

s. After this race Comotti disappeared from the racing scene but he returned in 1931 when he won the cyclecar race at the Circuito di Alessandria in a

Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

. He then brought an Alfa Romeo Monza sports car to Scuderia Ferrari in Modena for servicing and became an official driver for the team in 1932. In

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

Comotti won the

Grand Prix du Comminges The Grand Prix du Comminges was an automobile race held in France. The race was named after the Comminges, one of the former Provinces of France in ancient Gascony in what is now the Haute-Garonne department of the Midi-Pyrénées region of France ...

for Ferrari. Later that year he finished third at the 1934

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

together with

Carlo Felice Trossi Count Carlo Felice Trossi (27 April 1908 – 9 May 1949) was an Italian racecar driver and auto constructor. Racing career During his career, he raced for three different teams: Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo and, briefly, Maserati. He won the 1947 I ...

. Comotti continued to drive for Ferrari until the end of 1935. In 1937 Comotti moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and joined the

team as a test driver. He tested cars for clients and was a reserve driver for the racing team. That year he won the

RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...

at Donington Park. Comotti left the team at the end of the season and joined Laurie and Lucy Schell's Ecurie Bleue racing for 1938, driving a

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The compa ...

. That year he made his first Grand Prix start at

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and also made his only start at Le Mans. But he retired early in both races. After the war Comotti became a test driver of the new

Talbot-Lago T26C The T26C was a single-seater racing car with a box section chassis, an unsupercharged 4.5 litre straight six engine and a four speed Wilson preselector gearbox. The chassis and gearbox were derived from the company's 1930s racing cars and were si ...

. He also made some Grand Prix start with that car in 1948. In

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

Comotti became a test driver for

Scuderia Milano Scuderia Milano was an Italian Formula One motor racing team founded in Milan by Arialdo and Emilio Ruggeri, two brothers who had raced Maseratis in the early post-war period. The team scored two World Championship points on its debut, when Feli ...

and also made his first World Championship Formula One Grands Prix at the

. He made his second and last World Championship Grand Prix start at the 1952 French Grand Prix, driving a Ferrari for Scuderia Marzotto. Comotti was one of nine founders of the ''Club international des anciens pilotes de Grand Prix F1'' (1962).

Personal life

Comotti was born in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, but grew up in Bergamo. He worked in the oil business for his entire life. In 1932 he married Anna Maria Peduzzi (1912–79), who was one of the best female drivers of Italy. Her career lasted even longer than her husband’s. After his retirement from racing he worked for BP in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Championship results

( key)

Post WWII Grandes Épreuves results

( key)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comotti, Franco 1906 births 1963 deaths Sportspeople from Brescia Italian Formula One drivers Scuderia Milano Formula One drivers Italian racing drivers BP people European Championship drivers