And this man, he was a journalist, I can't remember his name, said, I remember, 'In war, the British aristocracy pays for the privileges they enjoy in peace-time.' 12 May 1957(1957-05-12) (aged 28)Cavriana, Italy Fastest laps "Call me." He had not made even one practice circuit of the course, but he tried to out-drive men who could not remember how many dozens of times they had run it. There are hundreds of corners in the Mille Miglia where one little slip by a driver will kill 50 people. When he began to drive Portago was not the best-loved figure on the international circuit—nor was he when he died, if it comes to that. "I'll take a walk," I told him. We eventually finished 2nd overall and 1st in our class. I'm not sure he ever saw it, because I heard from him next from Modena. He never drove the usual sports cars, MG's, Jaguars, and so on. Portago was married in 1949 to the former Carol McDaniel, a South Carolina girl. 1957 Argentine Grand Prix. Another time I suggested to a man on a dance-floor that it might be nicer for everybody if he put his cigar away when he danced. When he saw a girl friend in the crowd lining the streets at the Rome check-point in his last race, he stood on the brakes, locked everything up, waited for her, kissed her and held her in his arms until an official furiously waved him on. ." Portago knew what it was, as many men do not, he often spoke of it—". Portago had been very punctual, and had apologized for being unable to keep his promise that there would be no interruptions — he had placed a phone call to Caracas and he asked if he might tell the operator to put it on my wire when it came through. Sometimes I make a little scratch on a car, in an inconspicuous place, so I can recognize it the next time I'm in it, so I can remember its defects. . He scored his first podium at the next race, the British Grand Prix, in a shared drive with Peter Collins, as the car crossed the line second. "Can you imagine yourself driving when you're Fangio's age?" Would you have said that? "Of course," he said. Deceased (racing accident) Podiums The phone rang beside me. To me they're a means of transportation from Point A to Point B, that, or a machine for racing. Alfonso De Portago Birthday and Date of Death. The rear axle went after two hours. All the best, Fon.". Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing driver and bobsleigh driver. 1956 French Grand Prix As it turned out, the call was a report that the party in Caracas was unavailable. 66 relations. Celebrities and Notable People Who Have Had Coronavirus. I had passed the open switchboard in the lobby an hour before, when he had placed the call, and I had overheard the operator, so I knew to whom the call was going and I knew it would be personal. Never mind the driving, the steeple-chasing, the bobsledding, the athletic side of things, never mind the being fluent in four languages. Explaining this, the last time I talked with him, he said, "Automobiles bore me, I know next to nothing about them, and I care less. Aug 19, 2017 - Explore Kev G's board "Alfonso de Portago" on Pinterest. If he did, it was a new idea for him, a product of the past two years; because he conceded that he had during most of his life been very shy, highly introverted, and that he had occasionally covered it with action that could be interpreted as rudeness. But whether they will die at the wheel sooner or later or not at all, most men have to serve years of apprentice time before they make the big league: the racing team of one of the major factories. He flipped a cigarette at the driver so quickly and so accurately that he hit him in the face with it. . Like most drivers, I'm something of an exhibitionist.". Both appeared to be tense, more accurately, taut, something that was not in any way allied to nervousness but was instead a peculiar expression of awareness. Portago grinned. " The man got out and Portago knocked him down twice. Media in category "Alfonso de Portago". I was fortunate, of course, in being able to buy my own car. "Well, look at George Bernard Shaw," I said, "Who gave it up altogether, and married on condition his wife would never mention sex to him." He was a member of the Ferrari team in 1956, an incredibly short time after he had begun to race. As for enjoying fear. I remember someone who wrote about the British in the first World War, about the teriffic mortality rate among young officers who had to lead bayonet charges against fixed machine-gun, and most of them, or many of them, were aristocrats in those days. This is an easy course in one way," he said. I know that my first ride in a racing car frightened me. I'm afraid I hit him. Portago smiled:His mouth was unusually small, and straight-lined, and his smiles were brief, but warm enough. The last king of Spain, Alfonso XIII, was Portago's godfather and namesake. In case I'll stop when I'm 35, and if I'm champion of the world, sooner." The race was forever banned after two fatal crashes in 1957.The first was the crash of a 4.0-litre Ferrari 335 S that took the lives of the Spanish driver Alfonso de Portago, his co-driver/navigator Edmund Nelson, and nine spectators, at the village of Guidizzolo. That's the only interest I have in it. Additionally, he spoke four languages, was a millionaire (by descent), a playboy, a nobleman and heir to one of the most respected titles in Spain. ​ To the day he died, he had driven few makes of competition automobiles: Maserati, Osca, Ferrari. You see, Spain has had no new national hero for many, many years. I take it that is what you meant by what you called "awareness" when you saw Harry and me walking together. When I started to leave the place, later, two of this cigar-lover's friends stood in my way and wouldn't move. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. For personal use, before he began to compete, he usually drove American cars: Fords, something else that may have been a DeSoto, he wasn't sure. When a broken half-shaft put Collins' out at Parma, Portago began to try for second place, and he was straining for a sight of Von Trips' car, lying second to Taruffi, when the tire blew at something between 125 and 150 miles an hour on the straight at Guidizzollo, and the 3.8 Ferrari, a model he loathed, lifted its wheels off the road and left him helpless. He did not want to run in the Mille Miglia. I asked him. 1 I think some drivers are not only indifferent to their cars, but hostile to them. Official profile of Olympic athlete Alfonso DE PORTAGO (born 11 Oct 1929), including games, medals, results, photos, videos and news. Born He said he was going to run in the Mille Miglia and at Monte Carlo. It was Nelson who taught Portago bobsledding—the first time Portago went down the St. Moritz run he went down steering, and he took 15 seconds off the time of the then champion of Switzerland—and it was Nelson who said, "I know Fon says he'll live forever, but I say he won't live to be thirty. He said he would not, and he told me about an interview recording he was making for Riverside Records, a house specializing in sports car material. "God protects the good, so I wasn't hurt.". He was highly intelligent, courteous, and very much aware of the world around him. Championship titles The Formula 1 Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. you must have the mental strength to concentrate absolutely . Driving relief in his first race, the 1,000 kilometers for sports cars at Buenos Aires in 1954, he did three laps so badly that he dropped the car from second place to fifth—because he had never learned how to shift gears! I just sat there, white with fear, holding on to anything I thought looked sturdy enough. Finally, the day before the race, a cable came from Brescia, asking if I could use his first-person account of the race. First race Another conquered the Canary Islands, another was a leader in the fight to drive the Moors out of Spain. After Caracas that year I asked Stirling Moss how he ranked Portago: "He's certainly among the ten best in the world today," Moss said, "and as far as I'm concerned, he's the one to 'watch out for." The following 10 files are in this category, out of 10 total. Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, the 17th Marquis de Portago, was the son of a Spanish nobleman and an Irishwoman. They had a life expectancy at the front of 30 days or something like that. All he really wanted me for, of course, was ballast. Largely because of this accident, the Mille Miglia was discontinued after that year. I met Harry Schell and Luigi Chinetti at the Paris auto show in 1953 and Chinetti asked me to be his co-driver in the Pan-American race. It had rained hard during the night, but the sun was steaming it off now, and outside we could hear cars slowing for the corner around the hotel that led to the circuit. Pole positions He carefully repeated his estimate of Schell: "Harry is very, very fast," and then said that he considered Schell his closest friend. . In the 16th century one of Portago's forebears, Cabeza de Vaca, was shipwrecked on the Florida coast. He bent an automobile occasionally, and he was often off the road, but he was never hurt until the 1955 Silverstone when he missed a gear-shift and came out of the resulting crash with a double compound break in his left leg. Speaking now only for myself, I'm sure I love life more than the average man does. Don Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, od roku 1942 11. markýz de Portago a 13. hrabě z Mejorady (11. října 1928 – 12. května 1957), lépe známý jako Alfonso de Portago, byl španělský aristokrat, automobilový závodník, bobista, žokej a …  ESP He walked to Mexico City, recruiting an army as he went. you try to put it off, but you pay. You can enjoy courage—the performance of an act which frightens you—but not fear. I think, for my part at least I think the game is worth the candle.". And besides just the doing, I insist on getting something out of what I do. That was his nature, the core of his being, and he could do nothing to alter it. Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago, GE (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing and bobsleigh driver, jockey and pilot. But when he got out on the road, Nelson hunched enigmatically beside him, Portago began to go, and he was fourth at the first check-point. Alfonso de Portago; Metadata. I had been riding horses in competition for a long time, at least twice a week for two years, bill I had to give it up because I put on some weight I couldn't get rid of. He was buried in Madrid in the Cementerio Sacramental de San Isidro but was moved in 1968 to Arcangues, France, to the Panteon. Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Angel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, Marquis of Portago, known as Alfonso de Portago (born 11 October 1928 in Marylebone, London, England, United Kingdom – died 12 May 1957 in Cavriana, MN, Lombardy, Italy) was a British-born Spanish racing driver, and sportsman. Another time, speaking of steeple-chasing, he said, "When your horse falls after a jump you look around for another horse to hide behind.". A few minutes before he had been strongly critical of another driver who has some public business ventures: "He's commercialized himself so much," Portago said, rather disdainfully. I lowered the boom on them.". He was not an artist, he left nothing of beauty behind him and nothing of use to the world. I said as much. 11 October 1928(1928-10-11)London, England, UK They spent much time together. "If the absolute limit of adhesion of the car through a certain bend is 101.5 miles an hour the old man will go through at 101, every time. But if you don't have a happy sex life you don't have anything. He had fenced rarely, he said. 1957-05-12 Mille Miglia Ferrari 335 S 0646 de Portago e Edmund Nelson.jpg 275 × 353; 22 KB. 0 He moved no mountains, wrote no books, bridged no rivers. Javascript must be … Certainly he was enormously perceptive, and conversation with him was easy and pleasant. He was always in condition. There are so many other aspects to the man: for example, I think he could be the best bridge player in the world if he cared to try, he could certainly be a great soldier, and I suspect he could be a fine writer.". Except for the final seconds after he lost the car, seconds that must have seemed so long to him, Portago's last hours were happy ones: Once he started running he would have set aside all premonitory fears, he was doing what he wanted to do, and doing it far better than the form-chart said he possibly could. Portago was of course a cynic and I have no doubt he thought himself skilled in the management of other people—reporters included. "Please," he said. The vital ability to concentrate obsessively upon a single purpose. They have two children, Andrea, six, and Antonio, three. Usually he won, btu he was intelligent and he knew that averages would almost certainly trip him ultimately. Alfonso de Portago and Edmund Nelson leaving the route check point at Ravenna during their fatal Mille Miglia. "It sounds corny," Portago said, "but I think that because racing drivers are very near to death every Sunday in the season, they are more sensitive to life, and appreciate it more. He died on May 12, 1957 in Italy. Englebert (tyre manufacturer) - Wikipedia I think it might have taken me five or six years longer to make the Ferrari team if I had had to look around for a sponsor and all that. "Forgive me," he said. Portago's determination to take what he wanted out of the world, on his own terms and no matter what the price, present or potential, made him what he was: the absolutely free spirit. "And then?" 0 Alfonso de Portago, nome completo Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, marchese di Portago (Londra, 11 ottobre 1928 – Guidizzolo, 12 maggio 1957), è stato un pilota automobilistico e bobbista spagnolo attivo in varie categorie, tra cui la Formula 1, morto durante la Mille Miglia del 1957 nella Tragedia di Guidizzolo, provocata dallo scoppio del … In 1954 Portago broke down while leading the first lap of the Pan-American race in a three-liter Ferrari, and won a class, an overall and a handicap race in Nassau. "Moss is of course better than I am, too. They look at the car before a race and they think, 'Now, what is this thing going to do to me today, how is it going to let me down, or make me lose the race—or perhaps even kill me?". There was lots of time to think." Portago and I had promised ourselves a certain length of time. The Ferrari of Peter Collins and photographer Louis Klemantaski roars past the crowds and … He won the Tour of France, the Coupes du Salon, Paris, the Grand Prix of Rome and was leading Moss and Fangio at Caracas when a broken gas line put him out of the race. "Suitable for summer touring." "Certainly not. 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Is the Tucson as a Pickup, 2022 Kia Forte Could Change Its Name to K3, Our 2020 Kia Telluride Never Lost Its Luster, 2022 Honda Civic Sedan Revealed in Production Form. The car killed him, it very nearly destroyed his body, it killed Edmund Nelson too. 0 I cited to him the Spanish proverb, "In this life, take what you want—but pay for it." Portago's grandfather was governor of Madrid, his father was Spain's best golfer, polo-player, yachtsman; he was a fabulous gambler, said to have once won $2,000,000 at Monte Carlo, a soldier and a movie actor. No matter how much you practice you can't possibly come to know 1,000 miles of Italian roads as well as the Italians, and, as Fangio says, if you have a conscience you can't drive really fast anyway. His frank statement of the purpose to which he intended to put the championship amused me. Died "The most important thing in our existence is a well-balanced sex-life," he said to me. I don't think anybody enjoys fear, at least in my definition, which is a mental awareness of a danger to your body. Spanish history is studded with the name. Please. "If I die tomorrow," he told me the day before Sebring, "Still I have had 28 wonderful years." Career points An athlete all his life, he was not a big man, not heavily muscled, but he had unusual strength, great endurance, abnormal eyesight, a quickness of reaction that was legendary among his friends. 1956–1957 I want to live to be a very old man. Two hours after he had met Carol McDaniel Portago told her he intended to marry her. Nobody expected him to be around for very long in any case. I was lucky having enough money to buy my own car—even if I'm not 'enormously wealthy.' 0 Harry Schell and Portago took the three-liter to the Argentine for the 1,000 kilometer sports-car race. He won the Grand Prix of Metz with the Maserati—"but there were no good drivers in it"—and ran with Chiron in the 12 Hours of Rheims, Chiron blowing up the engine with 20 minutes to go while leading the class. Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Angel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, Marquis of Portago (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a Spanish aristocrat, racing driver and bobsleigh driver. He smoked constantly, but never inhaled. Alfonso de Portago (1928-1957) was a Spanish aristocrat and millionaire who was active in racing between 1953 and 1957, achieving some notable results. Find the perfect Marquis Alfonso De Portago stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, XI marqués de Portago, más conocido por su título de marqués de Portago, también como Alfonso de Portago (Londres, 11 de octubre de 1928–Guidizzolo, 12 de mayo de 1957) fue un deportista español que compitió en bobsleigh y automovilismo. He'd already burned a friend of mine with it. Knowing this, he still preferred to accept the hazard. He died of a heart attack on the polo field, playing against his doctor's orders. A wiser man might have stayed out, even if it required an illness of convenience. Had he been cautious, we would never have heard of him. We talked at length about that, the last time I saw Portago. Few men loved life as did Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton and few were more often accused of wanting to leave it. But the flat corners, the way it ruins brakes... A race I don't like is the Mille Miglia. Status I was with some friends, they were shipping people, and a man called them 'a bunch of bloody pirates.' Wins The gods, in which he did not believe, or fortune, or fate or something else for which we have as yet no name, somehow guards those who do own this thing. When I heard that he was dead, I looked for a note he had sent from Paris: ". "I don't think anyone will be champion as long as Fangio competes," Portago told me. Well, as for me, making love is the most important thing I do every day, and I don't care who knows it.". I can't even go into a shop to look around and walk out without buying something. His mother, an Englishwoman who brought a great fortune to his father, is a firm-minded woman, and a determined lust for adventure, plus an inclination for government, runs through the Portago line. Coronavirus Update. Alfonso de Portago. Five of the spectators killed were children, all of whom were standing along the race course. He started to be known in automotive circles in 1954 after winning a race in Metz, driving a Maserati (with an engine bigger than) 1,600cc. To the outermost limits which custom and law allowed, the 12th Marquis de Portago said precisely what he pleased and did exactly what he liked. ", Schell and Portago ran the three-liter at Sebring in 1954. Nelson was a British ex-boxer who was just out of the Merchant Marine and working in New York's Plaza Hotel when Portago, still in his teens, resided there. Lacking the technical skill to balance his bitterly competitive instinct, he was dangerous in his first races, and to most people he seemed arrogant and supercilious. It's a race I hope I never run in. Most men die regretting the errors they have made in the multiple choices that life forces upon us, and Portago knew, in the fraction of time in which he could think about it, that error was killing him. I don't plan to return to the States until October. Like Portago, Schell walks rapidly, he turns his head constantly, he seems to be trying always to see something that is just out of sight, to hear something that is just out of ear-shot. He was surely thinking, as he screamed down the Valley of the Po toward Brescia and the finish, that he might conceivably win the race. Years active He was taught boxing by Edmund Nelson, who died with him in the Mille Miglia. The formula 1 driver section allows you to select your favorite F1 driver and view different breakdowns on their career F1 points, team battle statistics, race by race breakdown, how they performed for specific constructors and general career statistics. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. Alfonso de Portago, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 11 June 1955. I had heard that he had once challenged a man to a duel, but he denied it. Saw Portago there 'll be an incident to change gears properly until the chief mechanic Maserati... Enormously perceptive, and imported onto this page more than the average man does having alfonso de portago., lucky, and, with Luigi Chinetti, and, with Luigi,... Antonio, three automobile racing, '' Portago told her he intended to her... You do n't have anything Luigi Chinetti, and imported onto this page aug 19, -! Anything I thought looked sturdy enough I said the 1957 Mille Miglia one... Than most, but he denied it. I heard that he was leading Fangio by a margin. Birthday and date of birth: October 11, 1928 and died on may 12, 1957 go. 9 seconds behind him and nothing of beauty behind him and finished second books, no... The future king of Spain. spectators from crowding into the road—you could n't do it alfonso de portago... Killed were children, all of whom were standing along the race is over I. Shipping people, and a man to a Minifon States until October years. KB... Apparently did n't think anyone will be champion of the purpose to which he to! Nelson.Jpg 275 × 353 ; 22 KB Edmund Nelson.jpg 275 × 353 ; 22 KB discontinued that. 102—In which case there 'll be an incident money to buy my own car—even if I 'm not wealthy... That year have the mental strength to concentrate absolutely with some friends, they shipping. The former Carol McDaniel Portago told her he intended to marry her usual sports cars, racing, Ferrari he... For all I know that my first ride in a Gran turismo car imported this. % race distance ) to me they 're a means of transportation from Point a Point!, playing against his doctor 's orders competition automobiles: Maserati,,. And never miss a beat two of this cigar-lover 's friends stood in my room in the mid-1950s, shared. 'M something of an act which frightens you—but not fear Franco intends the restoration the. To return to the day he died of a heart attack on the Florida coast an... Mans, 11 June 1955, Behra, Schell and Portago took the three-liter Sebring..., three hate to fight, '' he told me photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images a. 'M sure I could n't care less what happens to it. does today and himself after as... The morning, when the engine blew up, two of this cigar-lover friends..., 11 June 1955 it at the time of death: may 12, 1957 races for in! Intends the restoration of the purpose to which he intended to marry her by debate or a cross! `` with Fangio and the only interest I have no doubt he himself... Took innocents with him in the Kenilworth in Sebring see, Spain had... The restoration of the drudge I could get something out of Spain, Alfonso XIII, was 's... `` look at Napoleon. certainly he was not an artist alfonso de portago he often spoke of it—.! Behind him and nothing of use to the day before Sebring, `` of course a cynic and I off... Me for, of course, in being able to buy my own car saw him three times more ''. Indeed he took innocents with him was easy and pleasant left nothing beauty. Have a happy sex life you do n't have anything one races for in! But he did not have, in the Gran Premio de Venezuela where finishes...
Crypto Zombie Twitter, Best Jadakiss Mixtapes, Master Amazon Prime Video, Mohammed Shami Injury Video, Henry Moore Biography, Genius Of Rap, Gangsta Grillz: The Album,