CARRERA PANAMERICANA 1951
CARLOS Y TERESA PANINI.
En 1951, la carrera tuvo lugar en noviembre. Entre los vehículos que representaron a Italia estaba un Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS del piloto privada Carlo Panini (italiano residente en México fundador de las aerolíneas mejicanas) que perdió la vida durante la segunda etapa de la carrera entre Oxaca y Puebla al salirse de la carretera en un accidente cuando conducía en lugar de su hija Teresa –de 17 años- que era la que estaba
inscrita como piloto. Él tenía solo 48 años.
Según Wikipedia: "Carlos Panini, de origen italiano, fué uno de los pioneros de la aviación mexicana. En 1927 ya había establecido la primera aerolínea mejicana, la cual vendió en 1951, con la intención de jubilarse. Se le da crédito de haber sido el primero en circunnavegar el planeta en un avión ligero."
CARLOS Y TERESA PANINI.
En 1951, la carrera tuvo lugar en noviembre. Entre los vehículos que representaron a Italia estaba un Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS del piloto privada Carlo Panini (italiano residente en México fundador de las aerolíneas mejicanas) que perdió la vida durante la segunda etapa de la carrera entre Oxaca y Puebla al salirse de la carretera en un accidente cuando conducía en lugar de su hija Teresa –de 17 años- que era la que estaba
inscrita como piloto. Él tenía solo 48 años.
Según Wikipedia: "Carlos Panini, de origen italiano, fué uno de los pioneros de la aviación mexicana. En 1927 ya había establecido la primera aerolínea mejicana, la cual vendió en 1951, con la intención de jubilarse. Se le da crédito de haber sido el primero en circunnavegar el planeta en un avión ligero."
Carlos Panini was a wealthy Mexican
businessman of Italian origin, from Mosio di Acquanegra sul Chiese in the
province of Mantova in Lombardia region. He is credited with being the first
pilot to fly a light plane around the world. In 1927 he had established
Mexico's first scheduled airline, which he had sold shortly prior to the race
as he was planning to retire.
He
was a motorsport enthusiast and participated in numerous competitions.
Panini
died when his car crashed during the 1951 Carrera Panamerica on the second
stage from Oaxaca to Puebla. Although the registered driver for the race was
Carlos' daughter Teresa (Teresita), he was at the wheel of car, despite the
fact that he did not have a valid license and was in ill health. The accident
happened when 15 year old Bobby Unser was trying to overtake Panini who was
travelling at a lower speed and blocked the American for a long stretch. After
several attempts, Unser made his move but Panini tried too late to block him,
resulting in the two cars bumping one another. Unser nearly went off a sheer
cliff but was skilled enough to control his Jaguar, while Panini's Alfa Romeo
went straight into a wall, killing the driver instantly. Unser did not stop for
fear of being disqualified from the race as the rules explicitly forbade it.
Later, Ricardo Ramirez of Mexico City abandoned the race to rush the Paninis to
a hospital in Puebla. Teresa Panini survived the accident with minor injuries.
Press
reaction to his death was strong in condemning the race as his was a part of a
series of prominent deaths that year. At the time of his death newspapers gave
his age as 54, but one states his age as 48.
The year 1951, the race was run from south
to north, starting in Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas and finishing in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua because of the lack of accommodation available for
race officials, drivers, crews and press in El Ocotal and the jungle. This
northerly direction also allowed the U.S. drivers to finish at their border.
For the first time, a European manufacturer entered a 'factory' team, Ferrari entering
several cars including a 212 EXPORT , LWB Vignale, and although these did not
technically satisfy the requirements of the touring car category, the Italians
were permitted to compete anyway.
The race would prove to
exact a heavy toll upon drivers. At the start of the race, José Estrada, a
prosperous Mexico City car dealer and a veteran racer, announced: "I will
win, or die trying." On the first stage, his 1951 Packard skidded off the
road and tumbled 630 feet (190 m) down into a ravine.
Both Estrada
and co-driver Miguel González died in Oaxaca hospital later that afternoon. The
next day claimed Carlos Pannini, Italian in origin, and a pioneer of Mexican aviation
- in 1927 he had established Mexico's first scheduled airline, which he sold in
1951 with plans for his retirement. He is credited with being the first pilot
to fly a light plane around the world. The fatal accident occurred on the
second day, during the second stage from Oaxaca to Puebla. Although the registered driver for the race was
Carlos' daughter Teresa, he was at the wheel of car, despite not having a valid
license and being in poor health. The accident happened while a young Bobby
Unser was trying to overtake Panini, as Unser related in his book "Winners
Are Driven: A Champion's Guide to Success in Business & Life":
On the
second day, we were in seventeenth and coming up to pass the car of
millionaire Carlos Panini and his daughter, Terresita. She was the registered
driver. However, Carlos was behind the wheel instead and was in ill-health.
He shouldn't have been driving. He didn't even have a driver's license. The
rules were that the slower car was to allow the faster car to pass if the
faster car honked its horn. We were in the mountains, and I came up to Carlos
and honked, but he wouldn't let me pass. This went on through about ten
turns, with Carlos blocking me each time. We were probably doing about 90
miles per hour at this point. The next time I tried to pass him, he bumped my
right-front fender, which almost pushed me off a sheer cliff to the left that
was some 500 to 800 feet down. My left front tire went over the edge, but
fortunately I regained control of the car. Carlos over-corrected his car to
the right, and went straight into a solid rock wall. The car exploded on
impact like an egg hitting a sidewalk. I didn't know it at the time, but
Carlos was killed instantly.
One of the rules of the race was if you stopped to
help anyone, you were automatically disqualified... Seeing the explosive
impact, I wanted to stop to help, but daddy told me to keep going. He knew
the rules and told me that people were there to help. That was hard for me -
I slowed down to about 15 or 20 miles per hour. He insisted that I keep
going, and grimly, I did.
 |
Unser managed
to control his Jaguar, while Panini's 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS collided with
the cliff face. Ricardo Ramírez of Mexico City abandoned the race to rush the
Paninis to a hospital in Puebla, but he was announced dead on arrival. Teresa
Panini survived the accident with minor injuries. The deaths of two well-known
Mexican sportsmen in the first two days of the race brought some reactions of
horror and indignation. A government official publicly branded the race
"an imitation of North American customs not suited to Mexican characteristics."
The press went off on a crusade; Mexico City's El Universal declared that permitting such dangerous shenanigans
was a "crime.”
Although the
first two places were predictably won by the works Ferraris (driven by Piero Taruffi and Alberto Ascari respectively),
third and fourth places were won by ordinary American cars. Bill Stirling, a
salesman from El Paso, Texas, won third place in a Chrysler Saratogaand well-known race car driver Troy
Ruttmanwon fourth in a flat-head Mercury
which he reportedly had bought for $1,000 in a used car lot inEl Monte, California. In
spite of this he was able to defeat several of the factory Lancias and
Ferraris.
