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Giovanni Lurani

Lurani with "Nibbio 1" in 1935

Giovanni “Johnny” Lurani Cernuschi, VIII Count of Calvenzano (December 19, 1905 – January 17, 1995) was an Italian automobile engineer, racing car driver and journalist.

Lurani studied engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and raced cars such as Salmson, Derby, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, participating eleven times in the Mille Miglia. He took class wins in the event three times: 1933 in an MG K3, 1948 in a Healey and 1952 in a Porsche.[1]

After partaking in the second Italo-Abyssinian War from 1935 to 1936,[2] Lurani founded the racing team Scuderia Ambrosiana in 1937[3] along with Luigi Villoresi and Franco Cortese (1937). Sustaining a bad hip injury in a Maserati 4CM at Crystal Palace, Lurani ended his single-seater career in 1938 but continued racing sportscars until 1953.[4]

After World War II Lurani became more involved in administration and politics, working with the FIA, where he initiated GT in 1949 and Formula Junior in 1959 and was one of the principal organizers of FIA-sanctioned events at Monza, including the Italian Grand Prix there.[5][6]

He also designed record breaking cars based on Moto Guzzi engines. In 1935 the Nibbio 1 was the first 500cc car to exceed 100 mph.[7] The 350cc Moto Guzzi powered Nibbio 2 broke long distance records at Monza in 1956.[8][9][10] He was president of the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) Sporting Commission for several years.[11]

Moto Guzzi Nibbio 2 in the Museo Nazionale Dell'Automobile, Turin[12]

In 1971 he won the prestigious Premio Bancarella Sport literary prize for his book Storia delle Macchine da Corsa (History of Race Cars) [13]

  1. ^ http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Giovanni-Lurani-I.html. Archived 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "The Golden Era of Gp Racing 1934-40 - Drivers (L)". Archived from the original on 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  3. ^ "1937 Grand Prix Season - Part 1". Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
  4. ^ "Giovanni Lurani (I) - Complete Archive - Racing Sports Cars".
  5. ^ "Giovanni Lurani". Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  6. ^ Motor Sport June 1977. Denis Jenkinson "The Maserati Tipo 4CM".
  7. ^ The Encyclopedia of Motor Sport page 250 G.N. Georgano. 1971 ISBN 0-670-29405-5
  8. ^ Autocar 11 May 1956
  9. ^ The Encyclopedia of Motor Sport. G.N. Georgano. 1971 ISBN 0-670-29405-5
  10. ^ Moto Guzzi. Styles. 2001 ISBN 0-7603-1004-1
  11. ^ "Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme | FIM".
  12. ^ "Museo dell'automobile - Collection". Archived from the original on 2011-03-18.
  13. ^ ":: PREMIO BANCARELLA SPORT::". Archived from the original on 2005-05-07.

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