Luigi " Gigi " Villoresi Was born in Milan on May 16, 1909, and became one of the most famous Italian post-war car racing drivers. His racing career began in 1934 driving a Fiat Balilla, but his great success came with Maserati and later with Ferrari. Villoresi raced for Maserati from 1936 to 1940, again after the war from 1946 to 1949 and later in Formula 1, in 1954 and 1956. He began racing for Ferrari in 1950. 1947 resulted as probably the most successful year for Villoresi 's racing career with Maserati in 4 CL. On February 2nd, 1947, racing for the Scuderia Milano Team of Maserati 4 CL cars, he came 2nd in the Rosario City Grand Prix Buenos Aires; a week later he came first in the Peron Cup and the following week came first again in the next Peron Cup Race. Back in Europe, in June 1947, Villoresi won the Nimes Grand Prix, then winning the Nice Grancl Prix in July, the Strasbourg Grand Prix in August and finally the Lausanne Grand Prix on October 5. The Girard Perregaux wristwatch offered in this sale, inscribed "Buenos Aires 1947 " , was presented to Villoresi for his impressive results during the 4 CL South American Summer Series of 1947. In racing for Ferrari, in non-Formula 1 races, he won the Formula 2 Grand Prix at Ertel', Switzerland, and achieved a tremendous victory when he won the 1951 Mille Miglia, racing with a Ferrari 212. Villoresi ' s Formula 1 racing debuted with the Monaco Grand Prix in 1950 and continued until 1956. He drove for Ferrari (1950-1953), Maserati (1954), Lancia (1954-55) and again Maserati (1956). During those 6 years, he contested 32 Grancl Prix, with a total of 1,521 laps and 10, 375 kilometr es. Although he never qualified for a pole position, nor did he win any of those races, he nonetheless stepped eight times on the podium. His best years in Formula 1 were 1951 and 1953, both with Ferrari. Tn 1951 he came three times to the podium, even if on the lowest step, and achieved 5th place at the end of the championship. 1953 was his best year in Formula 1: the came 2nd both in Argentina and in Belgium, 3rd in Italy and achieved the fastest lap in Holland; he ended that championship with 17 points and at 5th place. However, Gigi ' s good friend and racing partner, Alberto Ascari, died in a crash in 1954 and shortly after this terrible event, at the end of 1956, Villoresi retired. Gigi Villoresi died on August 24, 1997, at the age of 88, in Modena. He had been invited to Lausanne on October 4 and 5, 1997, to attend as a guest of honor the event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the October 5, 1947 Lausanne Grand Prix, which the had so gloriously won. He will always be remembered as a pioneer of car racing.