2 years ago – The disappearance of Nino Vaccarella, a Sicilian hero

Even today, it is possible to see them around a bend in the old Madonie circuit, or in the main street of Collesano (Italy). Their immaculate white paint testifies to this, they are maintained like holy relics of the glorious past of the Targa Florio: the VV Vaccarella inscriptions remind local young people and visitors alike that this champion was a hero of the Sicilian people. However, he was not the first among them to put his name on the list of winners of the event created in 1906 by the Count Vincenzo Florio: a year before Vaccarella's first victory, Baron Antonio Pucci had won the 1964 edition on Porsche 904, but this gentleman-driver will never reach Nino's level of popularity, nor match his track record. Having become a specialist in Sport-Prototypes through his taste for powerful cars, Vaccarella counts on his list the four classics which formed, from 1962 to 1973, the World Challenge ofEndurance : 12 Hours of Sebring, Targa Florio, 1000 km of the Nürburgring and 24 Hours of Le Mans. A challenge created for the Prototypes by the organizers of these four events when the FIA ​​decided to reserve the world championship for GTs, from 1962 to 1965. It lost its prestige when the Prototypes were again distinguished by the FIA, but remained awarded until 1973.