KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE SINCE 1999

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Carlo Abate
10/7/1932

Won Mille Miglia in a Ferrari in 1959 and the Targa Florio in a Porsche RS62 driving with J.Bonnier in 1963.

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Born in Turin, for some reason his middle name was 'Maria'. Somewhat unsuprisingly he preffered to be called Mario!

He actually began rallying in 1955 with a FIAT 1100. Switching the following year to GT racing. He raced mostly for the private Italian team Scuderia Serenissima of Count Volpi, but also for Scuderia Centro Sud, Scuderia Ferrari and the Porsche AG factory team.

He won Italian 1300 GT Championship in 1957 and the following year he took the Italian Hill Climb title as well.

In 1959 he won the Mille Miglia driving a Ferrari with G. Balzarini and took the Italian GT Title again.

Over the next couple of year he won a number of GT races and European Hill Climbs

In 1962 he tried his hand a single seater racing, driving in the non-championship F1 Naples Grand Prix driving a Porsche 718 (203) the at Posillipo Circuit, Naples, finishing 4th. He then entered the Grand Prix de Reims with a Lotus-Climax 18/21 (912) but crashed out on lap 23. He had better luck with the Porsche in the Gran Premio del Mediterraneo at Enna-Pergusa in August that year finishing 3rd behind the Ferraris of Lorenzo Bandini and Giancarlo Baghetti abd ahead of the Lotus of Jo Siffert. He had planned to enter the French Grand Prix but withdrew his entry.

1963 was probably his best year. He again tackled a couple of non Championship Grand Prix and drove a Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper-Maserati T51 to 5th place in the Imola Grand Prix and to 3rd in the Gran Premio di Siracusa. He entered his Porsche 718 in the Italian Grand Prix but withdrew. In sports cars he won the Targa Florio driving a Factory Porsche 718GTR with Jo Bonnier and had a number of other good finishes and class wins in European Sports Car races.

At the end of the year he retired and became the director of a private clinic.
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