Mário Manuel Veloso de Araújo Cabral (; 15 January 1934 – 17 August 2020), commonly known by the nickname "Nicha" Cabral (), was a

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

from Portugal. He participated in five

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship Grands Prix (four starts), debuting on 23 August 1959. He did not score any championship points. In 2009, at the age of 75, Cabral came out as bisexual.

Racing career

Son of the second marriage of the 1st Count of Vizela, Cabral was regarded as Portugal's outstanding driver of the late 1950s and competed in the Portuguese Grand Prix in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

finishing in tenth place and retiring respectively. In the 1959 Grand Prix at the Circuito de Monsanto,

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in , and , ...

claimed Cabral was responsible for causing the accident which left future triple world champion lucky to escape with his life. According to Brabham, Cabral collided with the Australian while he was being lapped, causing Brabham to spin and then somersault into a telegraph post. Brabham was thrown out of the car, which landed in the middle of the circuit, but was avoided by the other drivers. Cabral, in his biography "Nicha - Mário de Araújo Cabral", made it very clear that he kept his racing line and it was Brabham that tried to overtake at a dangerous place. Cabral's car was not damaged and finished the race in 10th place, 4 laps down. He was the first Portuguese driver to start a

race. Cabral did not pursue a full-time racing career but drove for

Scuderia Centro Sud Scuderia Centro Sud was a Privateer (motorsport), 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 19 ...

in the 1961

Pau Grand Prix The Pau Grand Prix () is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurated in 1933. It was not r ...

. His career was then interrupted by

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

which he spent as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. He returned to Formula One with Centro Sud in 1963 retiring from the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

and failing to qualify at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. His Formula One career ended with a retirement from the

1964 Italian Grand Prix The 1964 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on 6 September 1964. It was race 8 of 10 in both the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for Formula One Manufacture ...

in the

Derrington-Francis Derrington-Francis Racing Team was a short-lived Formula One team from Britain. It was founded by Stirling Moss' former chief mechanic, Alf Francis, and engine tuner Vic Derrington, acquiring an old Automobili Turismo e Sport Tipo 100 car af ...

ATS ATS or Ats may refer to: Businesses * ATS Wheels (''Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör''), a German wheel manufacturer and sponsor of a Formula One racing team * ATS Automation Tooling Systems, an Ontario, Canada-based factory automation company * ...

. Cabral was seriously injured in the 1965

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

Rouen-Les-Essarts Rouen-Les-Essarts was a motor racing circuit in Orival, Seine-Maritime, Orival, near Rouen, France. From its opening in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator gra ...

Grand Prix and was absent from competition until 1968 when he returned to race

sportscar A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1910s and ar ...

s and occasionally in Formula Two before retiring in 1975.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

;Footnotes ;Sources
Profile at www.grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Mario de Araujo 1934 births 2020 deaths Portuguese racing drivers Portuguese Formula One drivers Scuderia Centro Sud Formula One drivers Derrington-Francis Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Racing drivers from Porto World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Reims drivers LGBTQ racing drivers