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Baconin Borzacchini
Borzacchini in 1932
Born	Baconino Francesco Domenico Borzacchini (1898-09-28)28 September 1898 Terni,Umbria, Italy
Died	10 September 1933(1933-09-10) (aged 34) Monza,Lombardy, Italy
Champ Car career
1 race run over 1 year
First race	1930Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0

Baconin Borzacchini (bornBaconino Francesco Domenico Borzacchini, 28 September 1898 – 10 September 1933) was an Italianracing driver who often competed under thenom de courseMario Umberto Borzacchini.

Born inTerni in theUmbria region ofItaly, at age 14, Borzacchini began working in a garage, training as a repairman. After serving in the army artillery duringWorld War I, he began racing motorcycles before turning to automobile competitions in 1926. During the next two years he won six Italianhillclimbing events driving aSalmson. He earned victories at three significant Italian races including the Etna Cup atCatania and the 1100cc class at the 1926 and 1927Targa Florio where he beat fellow up-and-comerLuigi Fagioli. Borzacchini's success ultimately led to an offer to join theMaserati racing team and driving for them, he won the 1927Terni-Passo della Somma and theCoppa della Collina Pistoiese." In 1928 he drove a Maserati to first place in theCoppa Gallenga hillclimb atRocca di Papa.

On 28 September 1929, Borzacchini set a new flying 10-kilometre (6.2 mi)land speed record of 246.069 km/h (152.900 mph) in a Maserati V4. That same year, he finished second in theCircuito di Alessandria and in theTripoli Grand Prix.

In 1930, under thefascist government ofBenito Mussolini, Borzacchini was pressured into racing under the Italian name, Mario Umberto, rather than his birth name of Baconin, which was based on that of Russianrevolutionary anarchist,Mikhail Bakunin, who his parents had admired.^[1]

Maserati entered the1930 Indianapolis 500. Designed with a swept-back aerodynamic front end, a radical innovation uncommon at the time but commonplace today, some felt that Borzacchini had a good chance to capture the prestigious American event. Unfortunately, magneto problems forced him out of the race after just seven laps. Later that year, Borzacchini and his Maserati claimed victory at the 1930 Tripoli Grand Prix and won another hillclimbing event, thePontedecimo-Giovi atGenoa.

In 1931, Borzacchini signed to driveAlfa Romeos forScuderia Ferrari where he became a great friend of team-mateTazio Nuvolari. Although he won theCircuito di Avellino, Borzacchini's season was dogged by both bad luck and the brilliance of Nuvolari. He finished second at theTarga Florio, theGrand Prix of Monza,^{[clarification needed]} and theItalian,Belgian andFrenchGrands Prix.

At the 1932French Grand Prix and theCoppa Ciano, driving the newAlfa Romeo P3, Borzacchini finished second behind team mate Nuvolari and third at Germany'sGroßer Preis von Deutschland. However, with co-driverAmadeo Bignami, he won the gruellingMille Miglia and wound up the 1932 season finishing second overall to Nuvolari for the European Drivers Championship. When Alfa Romeo decided to withdraw from racing after the 1932 season and sold its cars toEnzo Ferrari, Borzacchini rejoined the Maserati team, uniting withLuigi Fagioli andGiuseppe Campari. In March 1933, Borzacchini picked up where he had left off the previous year, finishing second to Nuvolari at theGrand Prix of Tunisia. In April he took another second at theMonaco Grand Prix, this time to theBugatti ofAchille Varzi, and then earned a third-place finish at theAvusrennen in Germany, also won by Varzi. At the 1933Targa Florio, held at theCircuito Piccolo delle Madonie, Borzacchini set the pace with the fastest lap before an accident forced him out of the race.

10 September 1933 at theAutodromo Nazionale Monza was one of the blackest days in racing history. TheItalian Grand Prix was held in the morning without serious incident, and was won byLuigi Fagioli. In an effort by the organizers to attract the largest possible crowd, another event called theMonza Grand Prix, using only the banked oval circuit, was staged in the afternoon. On a track dampened by a light drizzle, Borzacchini was vying with his team-mate Giuseppe Campari for the lead when Campari's vehicle slid on a patch of oil and crashed over the top of the banking and went into the trees, killing him. Borzacchini tried unsuccessfully to avoid the oil, and his car spun down to the infield and rolled over. Borzacchini was taken to the hospital, where he died later that day. After race officials restarted the event the third tragedy of the day occurred when the car ofPolish driverCount Stanislas Czaykowski blew the engine, caught fire and crashed at the same location, burning him to death.^[1]

During his years of racing, Borzacchini participated in more than one hundred events. Although his number of victories is considerably less than some of the other Italian racing notables, he was much loved and respected by his countrymen. In his honor, the circuit inMagione in theProvince of Perugia inUmbria, not far from where he was born, was named the "Autodromo Mario Umberto Borzacchini".

Borzacchini is interred in the local cemetery in his native Terni.

• Camaiore Circuit 1926
• Targa Florio (Junior class, 1100cc) 1926, 1927
• Etna Cup 1928
• Tripoli Grand Prix 1930
• Coppa Principe di Piemonte 1931
• Mille Miglia 1932

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Notes

• ^1 – Borzacchini was co-driver with Nuvolari at the Italian GP, Campari at the French GP and Nuvolari at the Belgian GP, therefore rules excluded him from the championship.

• Official site

• 1898 births
• 1933 deaths
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Italian racing drivers
• Sportspeople from Terni
• Racing drivers who died while racing
• Mille Miglia drivers
• Sport deaths in Italy
• European Championship drivers
• Grand Prix drivers

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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