Scuderia Centro Sud

Scuderia Centro Sud was a privateer racing team founded in Modena by Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei and active in Formula One and sports car racing between 1956 and 1965.

Founder "Mimmo" Dei (center, with sunglasses) surrounded by Guerino Bertocchi (mechanic, seated in Maserati A6GCS/53) and team drivers Giorgio Scarlatti (left) and Piero Taruffi (right).
A Cooper-Maserati T51 in Scuderia Centro Sud's rosso corsa livery.

Dei had been an amateur driver in the 1930s. In the early 1950s he opened a Maserati dealership in Rome. Keen on maintaining a relationship with motorsport, in 1956 he founded his own team. The name "Centro Sud" refers to the parts of Italy where his adoptive and native cities are. (Modena and Rome).

Over the course of nine seasons, Scuderia Centro Sud entered a total of 49 World Championship rounds, with cars such as the Maserati 250F, various Maserati-powered Coopers and, in the 1960s, a BRM P57. After a very promising start (they scored their first points at their debut with Luigi Villoresi), Centro Sud went on to earn a further total of 24 points, mostly with Masten Gregory and Tony Maggs, but never won a race, with Gregory's third place at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix as the team's best result.

Centro Sud was the only Italian racing team who took part in the Tasman races in Australia and New Zealand during the winter of 1961-1962.[1]

One of their most notable feats was to be the first team in the history of Formula One to run a female driver, when Maria Teresa de Filippis (who had already raced as a privateer in the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix a few weeks earlier) competed in the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix as a Centro Sud team driver.[2] Future 24 Hours of Le Mans (1963) and 24 Hours of Daytona (1967) winner Lorenzo Bandini made his Formula One debut with the team at the 1961 Belgian Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Chassis Engine(s) Tyres Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1956 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA
Luigi Villoresi 5
Harry Schell Ret
Toulo de Graffenried 7
Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 Giorgio Scarlatti Ret
1957 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON 500 FRA GBR GER PES ITA
Harry Schell 4
Joakim Bonnier 7 Ret Ret
Masten Gregory 3 8 4 4
André Simon DNQ
Hans Herrmann Ret
Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 Alejandro de Tomaso 9
1958 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR
Joakim Bonnier DNA Ret
Gerino Gerini DNQ 9 Ret Ret 12
Maurice Trintignant 7
Masten Gregory Ret
Wolfgang Seidel Ret Ret
Carroll Shelby Ret 9 Ret*
Troy Ruttman 10 DNS
Hans Herrmann Ret
Cliff Allison Ret
Maria Teresa de Filippis Ret
1959 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 D MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA
Ian Burgess Ret Ret 6 14
Colin Davis Ret 11
Hans Herrmann Ret
Mário de Araújo Cabral 10
Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo DNQ
Fritz d'Orey 10 Ret
1960 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 D ARG MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA
Roberto Bonomi 11
Carlos Menditeguy 4
Masten Gregory DNQ DNS 9 14 Ret
Ian Burgess DNQ 10 Ret Ret
Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret Ret 15
Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret
Alfonso Thiele Ret
Wolfgang von Trips 9
1961 Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4 D MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA
Lorenzo Bandini Ret 12 Ret 8
Cooper T51 Massimo Natili Ret DNS
1963 BRM P57 BRM V8 D MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA
Lorenzo Bandini 10 5 Ret
Maurice Trintignant 9
Moisés Solana 11
Cooper T60 Climax V8 Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret DNQ
Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4 Ernesto Brambilla DNQ
1964 BRM P57 BRM V8 D MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX
Tony Maggs DNS DNS Ret 6 4
Giancarlo Baghetti DNA 10 8 12 Ret 7 8
1965 BRM P57 BRM V8 D RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX
Lucien Bianchi 12
Masten Gregory Ret 12 8 Ret
Roberto Bussinello DNQ 13
Giorgio Bassi Ret

* After retiring his Scuderia Centro Sud-entered car, Shelby subsequently took over Masten Gregory's car, entered by Temple Buell, finishing fourth.[3]

References
  1. "Lorenzo Bandini", The Times, May 11, 1967, Page 12.
  2. "Maria Teresa de Filippis, first female Formula One driver, dies aged 89". 9 January 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.

Bibliography
  • Mimmo Dei, Dei ex Machina: La storia della Scuderia Centro-Sud, Milan, Fucina Editore, 2008. (IT)

Notes
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