Alfonso Thiele (5 April 1920 – 15 July 1986) was a racing driver who held dual citizenship of 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 territori ...

and

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 ...

, though he spent most of his life in

. He participated in one

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, ...

World Championship Grand Prix, on 4 September 1960. He scored no championship points. Most of his career was spent in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

World War II

During World War II Thiele was a captain of the Office of Strategic Services of Italian anti-fascist partisans.

Driving career

Working as a test driver for

Abarth Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and Car tuning, performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy, Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a ...

he participated in many events and races. In 1955 he was a member of the team that completed 3,743.642 km at an average speed of 155.985 km/h at the Monza track. One week later, with journalists present and participating, the team set the 500 km, 500-mile, 1,000 km, 48-hour and 72-hour records.Enzari, Fiat Abarth record breakers
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Personal life

During World War II Thiele was a captain of the Office of Strategic Services of Italian anti-fascist partisans. There he met Walkiria Terradura, another partisan who was later awarded the

Silver Medal of Military Valour The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

. They married and briefly lived with in the United States after the war, before returning to Italy. She remained active in politics and in the veterans' organisation, the National Association of Italian Partisans.

Complete Formula One Grand Prix results

( key)

Sports car results

Source: Racing Sports Cars.com Results for Alfonso Thiele
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References

1920 births 1986 deaths American racing drivers American Formula One drivers Scuderia Centro Sud Formula One drivers Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers Sportspeople from Istanbul Italian emigrants to the United States Italian expatriates in the Ottoman Empire {{F1-bio-stub