Count Gastone Brilli-Peri (24 March 1893 – 22 March 1930) was an Italian racing driver, who won the 1925

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 ...

in an

Alfa Romeo P2 The Alfa Romeo P2 won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925, taking victory in two of the four championship rounds when Antonio Ascari drove it in the European Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa and Gastone Brilli-Peri w ...

, securing the inaugural

World Manufacturers' Championship The World Manufacturers' Championship, also known as Automobile World Championship, was a competition organised by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, AIACR between 1925 Grand Prix season, 1925 and 1930 Grand Prix season, 1930. Scoring ...

title for Alfa Romeo. Known simply as "Brilli", his face had been permanently scarred in an accident during a Tour of Italy motorcycle race. He used to race wearing a hat similar to a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

, which is now known in Italy as a ''brilliperi''.

Biography

Brilli-Peri was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

into a noble family. He debuted in a bicycle race in 1907, aged 14. In 1911 he won the Tuscan cycling championship. In 1912 he bought a motorcycle, and in 1914 he debuted in a race at the

Lake Trasimeno Lake Trasimeno ( , also ; it, Lago Trasimeno ; la, Trasumennus; ett, Tarśmina), also referred to as Trasimene ( ) or Thrasimene in English, is a lake in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region of Italy on the border with Tuscany. Th ...

, winning the 1st Motogiro of Italy in the same year. He first raced as a car driver just after

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 ...

, where he had acted asa motorcycle driver. In 1925, in an Alfa Romeo P2, he won his first Grand Prix at the Italian Grand Prize at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. In 1929, still in the Alfa Romeo P2, he won the Circuit of Cremona and the

Tripoli Grand Prix The Tripoli Grand Prix (Italian: ''Gran Premio di Tripoli'') was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania, now Libya. It lasted until 1940. Background Motor ...

Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica ...

. Brilli-Peri was killed in 1930 during Saturday practice for the sixth

. Free practice had been scheduled from 11am to 1:50pm and Brilli-Peri, who knew the track well having won the race one year earlier, came to test the cars of his team, the Scuderia Materassi. He first made one lap on his car, then moved to the vehicle of his teammate

Clemente Biondetti Clemente Biondetti (18 October 1898 – 24 February 1955) was an Italian auto racing driver. Born into a working-class family, Biondetti raced motorcycles before turning to automobiles where he had greater success. Biography Born in Buddusò, Sa ...

, which had carburation problems. Brilli-Peri made one lap with Biondetti's car and then jumped again in his Talbot for another stint. However, during the second lap he crashed heavily near the village of

Suq al Jum’ah A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

(also known as Suk el Giuma or Sugh el Giumaa (سوق الجمعة)) and was killed on impact. According to eyewitnesses, while negotiating a fast left-handed bend, the car bounced on the irregular surface of the track. Brilli-Peri could not control it anymore and went straight into the right embankment, being ejected from the vehicle. The accident happened around 12:50pm. The race (composed of two heats - the first of them for voiturettes only - and a final), was won by

Baconin Borzacchini Baconin Borzacchini (Terni 28 September 1898 – Monza 10 September 1933) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver often referred to as Mario Umberto Borzacchini. Biography Born Baconino Francesco Domenico Borzacchini in Terni in the Umbria ...

in a

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

. Clemente Biondetti won the voiturette heat and was classified third in the final. Brilli-Peri died at the age of 37 years; the stadium of his native city,

Montevarchi Montevarchi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. History The town of Montevarchi sprang up around 1100, near to a fortified Benedictine monastery, founded by bishop Elempert (986–1010) of Arezzo. At first the cas ...

, is named in his honour. The Italian actress

Nancy Brilli Nancy Brilli (; born 10 April 1964 as Nicoletta Brilli) is an Italian film, television and stage actress. Career Born in Rome, of partial Ukrainian origin, Nancy Brilli was introduced in cinema by Pasquale Squitieri, making her debut in a rol ...

is a niece of Brilli-Peri.'' Sette'', 4 agosto 2017

References

External links

Historicracing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brilli Peri, Gastone 1893 births 1930 deaths Sportspeople from Florence Italian racing drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Libya Italian male cyclists Grand Prix drivers

Biography

See also

References

External links