Ferdinando "Nando" Minoia (2 June 1884 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian racing driver with an exceptionally long, distinguished and varied career. In 1907, he won the Coppa Florio driving an Isotta Fraschini. In 1923, he drove the world’s first

mid-engine In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

Grand Prix car, the Benz Tropfenwagen. In 1927, he won the inaugural

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

driving an OM. Finally, in 1931 he became the first European Champion, driving for

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

, but without winning a single event.

Career notes and milestones

In 1907, he won the Coppa Florio and the 50,000 Lira prize at the Corse di Brescia driving an

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () was an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 19 ...

for in 4 hours 39 minutes. At the 1923

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 ...

at Monza he finished fourth in the world’s first

Grand Prix car, the Benz Tropfenwagen, trailing behind the superior supercharged Fiats.

Edmund Rumpler Edmund Elias Rumpler (4 January 1872 – 7 September 1940) was an Austrian automobile and aircraft designer. Born in Vienna, then Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Austria),Wise 1974, p.1964 he worked mainly in Germany.Lyons 1988, p.73 An automo ...

’s ground breaking design used a normally aspirated, 1991 cc, 6 cylinder, twin cam Benz engine delivering only which was mounted behind the driver in the ‘tear drop’ design. The car also featured swing axle independent rear suspension and inboard brakes. In 1924, at the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

he drove 4.9-litre

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

VI Kausen, but retired after 3 laps because the mechanic was exhausted. He also finished 4th in the Italian Grand Prix in the

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 ...

. In the

1925 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 3rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1925. It was the last of the three races spanning 1923 to 1925 to determine the winner of the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, as well the second rac ...

, he finished 25th, driving a 2-litre

Officine Meccaniche Officine Meccaniche or OM was an Italian car and truck manufacturing company. It was founded in 1899 in Milan as Società Anonima Officine Meccaniche to manufacture railway rolling stock and car production began in 1918. It disappeared as s ...

(O.M.) Tipo 665 Superba with Vincenzo Coffani. In the

1926 24 Hours of Le Mans Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, he finished 4th, driving a 2-litre O.M. Tipo 665 Superba with

Giulio Foresti Giulio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Giulio Alberoni (1664–1752), Italian cardinal and statesman * Giulio Alenio (1582–1649), Italian Jesuit missionary and scholar * Giulio Alfieri (1924–2002), Italian a ...

. In the

1926 German Grand Prix The 1926 German Grand Prix was an auto race held at the AVUS track on 11 July 1926. It was the first ever German Grand Prix. The race was held in heavy rain, and was won by Germany's native son, Rudolf Caracciola. Recognising a lack of available ...

at the

Avus The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

, he set the fastest lap of in his 1.5-litre O.M., but failed to finish. The same year, he finished 5th in a Bugatti 39A at the Grand Prix of Europe at

Circuito Lasarte The Circuito Lasarte was an Grand Prix motor racing road course at Lasarte-Oria, Guipúzcoa, Spain in the Basque Country near the city of San Sebastián on the Bay of Biscay. The counterclockwise layout was used between 1923 and 1935 but ...

. In 1927, Minoia lead an O.M. 123 at the inaugural

with

Giuseppe Morandi Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

, averaging for 21 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds. That year, he finished 4th at the Italian Grand Prix in an O.M. 865 and raced a Bugatti 35C at the Targa Florio. In 1931, the A.I.A.C.R. introduced a European Championship for drivers, that was nominally contested over the three 10-hour Grands Prix, the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

, and

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...

. He accrued sufficient points to become champion without winning a race, narrowly beating his Alfa Romeo teammate

Giuseppe Campari Giuseppe Campari (8 June 1892 – 10 September 1933) was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver. Racing career Born near the city of Lodi southwest of Milan, as a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile compa ...

, who had jointly won the Italian Grand Prix with

Tazio Nuvolari Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' (Th ...

driving the Alfa Romeo Monza. Minoia shared second place in the

and shared 6th place in the

driving an Alfa Romeo 8C-2300. He then finished joint 3rd in the

having changed to the Alfa Romeo 6C-1750. With Carlo Canavesi, he drove a 2.3-litre supercharged

8C 2300 in the

1932 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 10th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1932. A significant year for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) with the biggest changes to the circuit in the race's ...

but failed to finish.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European 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 ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Grand Prix History

Atlas F1 – Nostalgia forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minoia, Ferdinando 1884 births 1940 deaths Italian racing drivers Grand Prix drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers European Championship drivers