Modest man, big talent

Sir,

If the September issue of Motor Sport is a prototype of what to expect under your editorship, all readers have a great deal to look forward to. Thanks for a first splendid issue and good luck for your future at the helm.

I wish to propose a correction to Bill Boddy’s pages from the last issue. On page 116, WB lists several engineers as being responsible for the racing successes achieved by FIAT up to 1926 — among them Aurelio Lampredi.

However, this excellent engine specialist, whom I first met at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters in May 1951, had become technical director there in 1947; in 1951, he must have been about 40 years of age — in other words, belonging to a much younger generation than Jano or Nazzaro.

Lampredi only joined Fiat in the mid-50s, after leaving Ferrari — he could not have possibly had anything to do with Fiat’s pre-1926 GP cars. By the way, in Italy, engineers holding a degree are addressed as Ingegnere When I greeted Lampredi in this fashion, he immediately corrected me with, “Jo non sono Ingegnere”, (I am not an Engineer), thus taking care not to leave me with the impression that I was facing an engineer holding a university degree. An astonishing expression of modesty from a man whose brilliance was appreciated throughout the profession.

I AM YOURS, ETC,

Hansjorg Bendel, Weinmanngasse, Switzerland