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One particular race which he won in
1940, the Gran Premio del Norte was almost 10,000 kilometres
long. This race between Buenos Aires, up through the Andes
to Lima, Peru and back again took nearly two weeks. No
mechanics were allowed, any repairs had to be completed by
either the driver or co-driver at the end of each stage. In
1948, he was sent to Europe by the Automobile Club of
Argentina (ACA) as a member of a fact finding mission to
investigate the reviving motor racing scene. After a couple
of drives, he returned home. He was back again the following
year and won several races in a Maserati. Then, with a
Ferrari Tipo 166 F2 bought by the ACA, he had an impressive
win in the Monza Grand Prix. He was offered a drive for the
1950 Formula One season at Alfa Romeo. Battling with his
teammate Nino Farina in the newly instituted drivers world
championship he scored three victories and ended up in
second place. The next year Fangio, driving an Alfa Romeo
159, won the first of his five titles. 1952 saw him suffer
his first major accident, at Monza, when he broke his neck
and had to miss the rest of the season. |
As a driver, Fangio had exceptional
skills, a high degree of confidence, competitive spirit and
a sense of balance which combined to bring consistent
success. In his 51 world championship, started on pole 29
times and won 24. He was world champion a record five times
- in 1951 and for four consecutive years from 1954-57. Juan
Manuel Fangio was born in Balcarce, Argentina the son of an
Italian immigrant in 1911. After military service he became
a mechanic and in 1932 he opened his own garage. In 1936, he
made his racing debut in a borrowed taxi which he had
modified. Over the next ten years he flourished in
long-distance races held over mostly dirt roads up and down
South America.
He
had promised to race at Monza following a race in Belfast
but due to missed connections he found himself driving all
night from Paris only to arrive at the circuit one half hour
prior to the race. Having to start from the back of the grid
he made a rare mistake and the Maserati he was driving went
into a big slide. Being extremely tired his reactions were
not what they would normally have been and he could not
regain control of the car before it hit a earthen bank and
somersaulted in the air. Fangio was thrown out and would
spend the next few hours hovering near death. The following
year he returned at the wheel of a Maserati and finished the
season in second place. For the next four years, he
dominated Grand Prix racing, winning the world championship
with Maserati and Mercedes-Benz in 1954 and Mercedes-Benz in
1955, with Ferrari in 1956 and Maserati in 1957. 
In 1957 Juan-Manuel Fangio won one of his most famous races
at the German Grand Prix. Fangio both loved and was in awe
of the Nurburgring circuit but he was driving an under
powered Maserati. The Ferrari team decided to race non-stop,
but Fangio chose to start with only half a tank full of
petrol and to change tyres at half distance. After his
pit-stop he was 48 seconds behind the two Ferraris of Mike
Hawthorn and Peter Collins. There were ten laps to go and
for nine of these, Fangio broke the lap record each time.
Passing Hawthorn by "straight lining" one of the final
curves he amazed his rivals with his skill and
determination. "I believe I was inspired that day," Fangio
has said, "I had never driven quite like that before and I
never drove quite like it again." In 1958, driving his last
race, the French Grand Prix he finished fourth. His Maserati
was not competitive that day and was about to be lapped by
the race leader Mike Hawthorn. As a mark of respect for the
great man known as "the maestro" by his peers Hawthorn
braked and allowed Fangio to cross the line ahead of him.
Getting out of the car after the race he said to his
mechanic simply, "It is finished." Juan-Manuel Fangio
retired. He was 46 years old. His record of wins against
starts will probably never be matched.