Luigi "Gino" Valenzano (April 24, 1920, Asti - May 28, 2011) was an Italian racing driver. He entered 39 races between 1947 and 1955 in Abarths, Maseratis and Lancias as a teammate of drivers like Robert Manzon and Froilán González.
Early life As a young man. Valenzano was fascinated by airplanes and air travel, so he studied at the Academy of Caserta. However, he was called back to Turin after his father's sudden death. During World War II Gino and his brother Piero had to leave Turin because of their relation to Pietro Badoglio, so they lived in Rome for a while, until they were sold out to soldiers, who deported the brothers to Mauthausen. May 5, 1945 they were liberated by the Americans.
Racing career
Valenzano started competing in hillclimbs in his own build single seater and received later a BMW-engined single seater designed by Enrico Nardi. He was soon noticed by Carlo Abarth, who hired him as works driver for Abarth. There he met Gianni Lancia, son of Vincenzo, with whom he went to the Liceo classico Massimo d'Azeglio as a child. Lancia let him try out an Aurelia B20 and Valenzano decided to compete in professional racing with that car and later the Lancia D20 and D24. He competed in Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Among his teammates were Luigi Segre and other successful drivers, including Alberto Ascari, Luigi Villoresi, Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Musso. In 1955 Lancia withdrew as a team from professional racing, so Valenzano switched to Maserati and drove six more races. However, this would be his last season, because his brother Piero died during the Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti on July 10, 1955.
Complete results + Gino Valenzano racing results Year Date Race Entrant Car Teammate(s) Result1947 June 29 Varese Fiat 1100 July 20 Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti Revelli Monaco Testadoro 10th August 24 Circuito di Senigallia Fiat 7th1948 April 4 Targa Florio DNF May 2 Mille Miglia Fiat Rocco Motto DNF May 9 Vercelli Nardi-Danese 8th July 11Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti6th1949April 24Mille MigliaFiat 1100 CabrioletLuigi Segre63rdJuly 17Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti Nardi-Danese DNFAugust 21Circuito de Senigallia6th1950April 23Mille MigliaFiat 1100 ELuigi Segre59thJune 11Premio di AperturaNardi-Danese 6thAugust 20Pergusa Grand PrixAbarth 11001stOctober 8ModenaNardi-Danese4th1951April 29Mille MigliaLancia Lancia AureliaLuigi Maggio7thAugust 116 Hours of Pescara 3rd1952March 9Giro di SiciliaEmilio Giletti3rdMay 4Mille Miglia"Paltrinieri"DNFJune 1Prix de Monte Carlo Scuderia Lancianone4thJune 1524 Hours of Le Mans"Ippocampo"6thJune 29Targa Florio 2ndJuly 13Coppa d' Oro delle DolomitiDNF1953April 12Giro di SiciliaScuderia Lancia"S. Ramella"2ndApril 26Mille Miglia "Margutti"DNFMay 14Targa Florio Scuderia LanciaLancia D20none4thMay 31Coppa della ToscanaLancia AureliaLuigi Maggio2ndJune 1424 Hours of Le MansLancia D20Felice BonettoFroilán GonzálezDNFJune 28Giro dell'Umbria Lancia AureliaLuigi Maggio3rdJuly 12Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti Scuderia LanciaLancia D23noneDNF1954March 712 Hours of Sebring Lancia D24Profirio Rubirosa2ndMay 2Mille MiglianoneDNFSeptember 11RAC Tourist TrophyRobert ManzonEugenio Castellotti3rd1955March 1312 Hours of SebringMaserati Co. & B. S. CunninghamMaserati 300SCesare Perdisa4thMay 15Bari Grand Prix Maserati A6GCS 4thMay 29SupercortemaggioreMaseratiMaserati 300SFranco BordoniDNFJune 2Coppa Delle Sei Ore Lancia Aurelia June 5Mugello Grand Prix Maserati A6GCS 10thJune 1224 Hours of Le MansOfficine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati 300SLuigi MussoDNFJuly 10Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti Maserati A6GCS DNF
References