The birth
The long and exciting adventure into the world of the Leone Alato team cars came about as a challenge at the end of a chat in a foreign land. It was the day of Epiphany in 1960 when from the town of Celerina in Switzerland, the Count Giovanni Lurani was having breakfast with Count Volpi di Misurata. They wanted to create a team of racing cars that would take the name of Serenissima in honor of the city of Venice. It was the 7th January when the team was founded and Marisa Zambrini to become its director. She stayed there for two seasons and shortly after she was joined by Nello Ugolini who had in the past already been employed by Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. Marisa Zambrini was the first woman in the world of racing to hold the title of sports director, a task involving many responsibilities given that the team bosses spent a lot of time away from Italy. The first appointment that was important for the Gran Turismo cars was then scheduled for March, on the Sebring 12 Hours race.
The International Debut
It was the end of January 1960 when the Serenissima Team debuted for the first time in the international field, in the searing heat of the Argentine Temporada races. It was the opening race of the season in which the most prestigious carmakers would be showcasing their latest models. The Serenissima Team of the Count Volpi was assigned to the Ferrari 250 GT number 48 the pair Abate/Toselli that achieved twentieth place. The same Abate then always used the Ferrari 250 GT number 54, together with the local Rodríguez Larreta, moving up to twenty-fourth place on the grid. At the end of February 1960, the Serenissima Team decided to participate in an important international event: the Libertad Grand Prix in Havana, under the watchful eye of the newly established Fidel Castro, of Juan Manuel Fangio, and even of Che Guevara that on the previous days had requested to meet all the drivers in person. The Sports car race took place in front of almost two hundred thousand spectators and saw a top-level line-up, as it had been organised by the manager Giambertone. There were over forty drivers, among whom Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Jo Bonnier, the brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, Masten Gregory and a small Italian group, led by Ada Peace, Theodore Zeccoli and Gino Munaron. The Serenissima would enter a dated Maserati Cooper driven by the English driver Colin Davis who would become a point of reference of the Venetian carmaker.
At the age of twenty-six, Colin Davis exceeded and achieved fifth position behind his most powerful rivals. The coachmaker Neri and Bonacini became the garage of the cars of the Serenissima. "In the early days we had in Modena a second garage next to ours that we rented to the Count, then we signed an employee contract for 180,000 lire a month. At the beginning at our premises we had two Ferraris parked up, a 330 and the Maserati Formula Juniors and then came the cars modified by Bizzarrini”.
The first victories
The 26th March 1960 was the start date of the Sebring 12 Hours race, called on the occasion X Grand Prix of Endurance for the Amoco Trophy and as a second practice for the World Championship. The Venetian carmaker was presented with a golden opportunity to make a good impression. At Sebring, Serenissima lined up two teams on the track, Abate/Balzarini in the Ferrari 250 GT and Scarlatti/Serena in the same car but the California version. In this case also the list of participants was highly prestigious, the Rodriguez brothers in the Ferraris and the Maserati team with Moss, Gurney and Shelby. Also in attendance were the manufacturers Daimler, Bandini, Devis and Osca. Elva, Lola, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, Bristol, Morgan, Austin Healey and Chevrolet. The start, which took place in Le Mans style, with the drivers darting from one lane to another to climb into their cockpits, became a real trial and a great start for the skilled duo of the Serenissima team, Abete/Balzarini. Of overall value in eighth place overall in the Serenissima with Scarlatti/Serena, overall winners moreover of the GT 3.0 category, given that some of the Maranello cars that had completed in front of them were not compliant from a regulatory perspective in terms of cylinder capacity, with mechanical arrangements that had not yet been approved. Instead, the car belonging to the Count Volpi di Misurata was perfectly compliant, with its sheet metal bodywork, equipped with a small tank and similar to those used on a daily basis by usual Ferrari customers. In the pits euphoria reigned. "There was a huge outpouring of joy - recalls the then racing director - it was a memorable and truly spectacular debut.
What's more, it was the first victory for a team that had a woman at its helm and a group of assistants that were all of noble blood. Finally, the season debut in Italy took place in the forty-fourth edition of the Targa Florio race, included as official practice of the World Sports Car Championship before the Nurburgring 1000 Km race and the 24 Hours Le Mans. Colin Davis together with Cammarota were on board a Maserati Cooper, entered in the two litres category and found themselves up against several truly formidable opponents such as the official Porsches, the Ferrari of the Rodriguez brothers, a WRE and the Maseratis of Govoni and Boffa. At the end of the first lap, Bonnier's Porsche was in the lead, followed just eight seconds behind by Magliol's Maserati that had set off in less than perfect physical conditions, by Gendebien's Porsche, by Allison's Ferrari and surprisingly by the Cooper Maserati number 188 of the Serenissima Team driven by Davis. The race was not particularly successful from an Italian perspective in general with Vaccarella/Maglioli in the lead until the eighth lap but who would be forced to withdraw, thus conceding final victory to Jo Bonnier. The Serenissima would in any case achieve a commendable result, ranking overall twelfth, ninth in the sports category and fourth in the two-to-three-thousand-cylinder capacity class. But this was just the start of victories that would later be achieved at international competitions.
The Protagonists On The Most Challenging Circuits
Comforted by the initial respectable results, the Serenissima Team decided to test out their ambitions and reliability on the most demanding circuit in the world, the Nurburgring. The team of the Count Volpi di Misurata had three solid teams: in the three-litre there was a Ferrari Gran Turismo 1960 with Gerini/Thiele (number 16), while in the Gran Turismo line-up another two Ferraris with the teams Abate/Davis and Peroglio/Frescobaldi (no. 17): however, the pole was seized by Jo Bonnier in a Porsche. The Gran Turismo category saw in the opening minutes the Serenissima Team take the lead with Abate/Davis in an exciting battle with the Ferrari of the Belgians Bianchi/Schlesser, while in the tenth lap the other Ferrari of the Serenissima driven by Thiele came off the road though without sustaining any form of damage. After more than seven and a half hours of the race, the Italian anthem, reserved for the drivers and not the manufacturers, sounded out thanks to the Serenissima team. Abate/Davis on board the Ferrari Gt 250 number 77 won the Gran Turismo category and was also placed overall eighth, establishing however both the circuit and the track record (at an average of over 127 km/h), the result of a shrewd tactic with only two stops for refuelling. In the same category another podium for Serenissima: third in fact were placed Peroglio and Frescobaldi with the Ferrari California 250. Serenissima went from endurance races to uphill ones.
The Trento-Bondone was due to start on 10th July. Serenissima would play its trump card: Wolfgang von Trips was in fact assigned to a Ferrari 250 GT (chassis 1875 GT), winner of the above competition in 1958. Participation in the event was massive, with no less than a hundred and seventy drivers at the start. The race would be won by Govoni in the Maserati 2000, while Von Trips would seize a prestigious second category place. On 19th July 1960 Carlo Mario Abate would take part in the Garessio-San Bernardo. Although full summer, the climate was not particularly conducive. However, the weather wouldn't stop the Serenissima driver that on board the Venetian Ferrari 250 GT number 136 would win the practice in 4'23"1, with an average of almost 85 km per hour, a very respectable result, considering the winding road with ravines on either side. One month later, there was a surprise protagonist in the Sassi Superga: the Turin born Gianni Balzarini was entered at the last minute and was assigned the Saturday. On the day of the practices, a Maserati driven WRE was entered (a car made in Modena on an English design) of the Serenissima team. Despite having never driven it before, in the race Balzarini took the lead ahead of the favorite Govoni and won the coveted trophy, establishing a new track record that since 1958 had been held by the same Govoni. Activities were frantic. During the same period as the Turin race, the Serenissima Team entered the prestigious Tourist Trophy, the oldest British car race. Colin Davis in the Ferrari 250 Gt of the Serenissima was already eighth after the first half hour of the race. Mid-race Davis would confirm the fourth place, behind Moss and the Aston Martins, in front of several cars of the Prancing Horse, even though the pit stop would prove longer compared to the competitors, given the organization that hadn't yet been fine-tuned by the Venetian team. In the final run, the British driver fell foul to a head gasket and had to give way to Graham Hill's Porsche and to Whitehead's Ferrari but managed to hold sixth position overall, a wholly respectable result.
