What you need to know:
“Ferrari” premiered in Mexico on February 22nd and is based on true events
On May 12, 1957, one of the greatest tragedies in motorsport occurred, during the celebrations of the 24th edition of the Mille Miglia, an endurance race referred to in the film “Ferrari” in which he stars Adam Driver (Enzo Ferrari) and Penelope Cruz (Laura Ferrari). This was the last edition of the Mille Miglia, after nine people (including five children) died in the accident involving Spaniard Alfonso de Portago’s car He died at the scene of the accident along with his co-pilot, journalist Edmund Nelson.
The accident happened in the municipality of Guidizzolo (Mantua)when the Ferrari 335 ran over a reflector, causing a puncture in the left front tire that caused Alfonso de Portago lost control and crashed into a telephone pole and from there he went into a crowd. The film scene shows some powerful images of this tragedy.
Ferrari’s roughest scene came during a witness statement
During the research phase, the film’s director, Michael Mann, He found an older man who recounted part of this tragedyat which he was present along with his older brother who ran out of the house to see the cars passing by and According to an interview in the Radio Times, he was one of the fatal victims.
Before the accident it was The Ferrari 335 had reached a speed of almost 290 kilometers per hour and so much From Portago, like Edmund Nelson, they were shot at at 250 kilometers per hour. According to Romolo Tavoni, Ferrari’s sports director at the time, De Portago’s body was left in two pieces under the car.
“When I arrived at the scene of the tragedy in Guidizzolo, I went to a mortuary in the cemetery. I saw remains of De Portago and Nelson, as well as those of other victims. He blew me away. De Portago consisted of two parts: the legs on one side and the torso on the other. while Nelson only had half a head. Something horrible. I felt really bad. “I had nightmares for a long time and screamed at night” he recalled in an interview with the Scuderia Ferrari Club Riga.
Tavoni recalled that before the accident, at a previous meeting, De Portago was very enthusiastic until, as he stood up, he collided with a waiter who spilled milk and tea. “Tavoni, in my country it is bad to spill milk and tea, it is equivalent to bad luck. Today is going to be a bad day“De Portago would have told him.
A Mexican actress’s kiss of death for De Portago
During the race, De Portago made a stop in Rome to refuel. At this checkpoint the Spanish pilot was waiting for his girlfriend at the time, Mexican actress Linda Christian, who gave the pilot a kiss before returning to the competition. The moment was captured and after the tragic event that followed, the image was christened “The Kiss of Death.”
Linda Christian has transcended the film world the first Bond girl in 1954. He was born in Tampico and died in California, USA in 2011, and in previous interviews he recalled this moment. “De Portago asked me to wait for him when he traveled through Rome, where we would be among the first. I was there and saw him for the last time.
“It was a meeting of only 45 seconds, just enough to give him a kiss. I also gave him a piece of paper on which I had written the positions of the different rivals in Spanish so that he could control his rhythm. At the end of the essay I added three words, the last words of love that I dedicated to him: I love you very much.”
The film shows that De Portago left a letter to the Mexican actress to whom he was already engaged. The document was real and this showed that the Spaniard did not want to take part in the race.
“As you already know, my love, I didn’t want to run away, but Enzo Ferrari took me with him To do it. I hope I’m wrong, but maybe it will be an early death. I don’t like the Mille Miglia, no matter how much you train and memorize the route, it’s almost impossible to remember every corner on the road The slightest pilot error can kill 50 people because you can’t avoid spectators on the street.”
Stop us before we kill again
Despite the Guidizzolo tragedy, the Mille Miglia continued Piero Taruffi was the winning driver. The victory gave Ferrari an economic breakthrough. Taruffi had finished third in the Formula 1 championship with the Ferrari team in 1952 and made one last appearance in the Gran Circo in 1956, a year before the Mille Miglia.
After winning the 1957 event, the 49-year-old driver announced his retirement and published an article the next day titled: “Stop us before we kill again.” After this tragedy, Enzo Ferrari was charged with murder and acquitted after four years.