Enrico Platé
Encyclopedia
Enrico Platé is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
– 2 February 1954, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
) was a motor racing driver and team manager. Although born in Italy, Platé raced, and latterly ran his racing team Scuderia Enrico Platé, under Swiss
Swiss (people)
The Swiss are citizens or natives of Switzerland. The demonym derives from the toponym of Schwyz and has been in widespread use to refer to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 16th century....
nationality. He began his career as a mechanic, but swiftly took to racing cars in addition to repairing them. His best result as a driver was fourth place (albeit also last place) in the 1938 Circuito di Modena. Although he did not achieve any notable success in the pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
voiturette
Voiturette
Voiturette is a word mostly used to describe a miniature automobile; however, it has several nuanced meanings, depending largely on the usage date.-History:...
class, Enrico Platé became a significant and influential figure in post-war grand prix and early Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing as a team owner. During his brief career in this role, Platé ran Maserati
Maserati in motorsport
Throughout its history the Italian auto manufacturer Maserati has participated in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, sportscar racing and touring car racing, both as a works team and through private entrants.-Beginnings:...
s for notable drivers such as Prince Bira
Prince Bira
12th, 1956 Melbourne, Star 19th, 1960 Rome, Star 22nd, 1964 Tokio, Dragon 21st, 1972 Munich, TempestPrince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh better known as Prince Bira of Siam , or by his nom de course B...
, Harry Schell
Harry Schell
Harry O'Reilly Schell was an American Grand Prix motor racing driver.-Early life:...
and fellow Swiss Toulo de Graffenried
Toulo de Graffenried
Baron Emmanuel 'Toulo' de Graffenried was a Swiss motor racing driver. He participated in 23 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on May 13, 1950, and scored a total of 9 championship points...
.
Although he did not fully withdraw from driving until 1948, Enrico Platé tasted success as a team owner as early as 1946, when he provided the car that took racing legend Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Nuvolari
Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian motorcycle and racecar driver, known as Il Mantovano Volante or Nivola. He was the 1932 European Champion in Grand Prix motor racing...
to his final grand prix victory, in the Albi Grand Prix. In 1947 Christian Kautz
Christian Kautz
Christian Kautz was an auto racing driver from Switzerland.Son of a Swiss multi-millionaire, his career started with Mercedes-Benz as a junior driver in 1936, then as an Auto Union junior driver in 1938, starting in three Grands Prix. Kautz was a testpilot for Lockheed in the USA during the Second...
won the prestigious Grand Prix de la Marne
Grand Prix de la Marne
The Grand Prix de la Marne was a Grand Prix motor racing event staged at the Reims-Gueux racecourse, near the city of Reims in the Marne département of north-east France. First held in 1925, it proved to be one of the fastest road races in Europe...
at Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams...
in a Platé-entered Maserati 4CL, and the following year Nello Pagani
Nello Pagani
Cirillo "Nello" Pagani was an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. He was born in Milan, Lombardy, and died in Bresso....
drove the same car to victory in the Pau Grand Prix. Sadly for Scuderia Enrico Platé, the team also tasted tragedy in 1948 when Kautz was killed while driving one of their 4CLs in his home Grand Prix at Bremgarten
Circuit Bremgarten
The Circuit Bremgarten was a 7.28 km race course in Bern, Switzerland which formerly hosted the Formula One Swiss Grand Prix and the Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix....
. In 1949 de Graffenried scored Platé's final major race win with victory in the British Grand Prix
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire...
, this time in Platé's new Maserati 4CLT/48. Bira took the lesser Swedish Summer Grand Prix later that season.
With the dominance of first the works Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo in motorsport
During its history, Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport, including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and rallies. They have competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries and private...
and then Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
teams, Platé's cars were never front-runners in the early years of the Formula One World Championship. However, minor and non-Championship Grands Prix events saw Scuderia Enrico Platé take a further five race victories between 1950 and 1953. Always loyal to the Maserati marque, Platé's team rebuilt one of the Italian company's Maserati 4CLT Formula One cars to Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
specification for the and seasons, which were run to F2 regulations. The revisions and alterations were sufficiently significant for Maserati to allow Scuderia Platé to enter the car as the Maserati-Platé, making Platé the only Formula One engine manufacturer to originate in Switzerland.1
In the early part of 1953 Platé began to run into financial difficulty. Although he maintained a presence at races, this was usually by preparing cars for de Graffenried rather than as an entrant himself. Enrico Platé met a premature end when he was killed in an accident during a brief return to the track, driving in a minor Formula Libre
Formula Libre
Formula Libre is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the opportunity for some compelling driving performances against superior machinery...
race in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1954.
Footnotes
1 Discounting SauberSauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
's rebranded, British-built engines used during the 1993 Formula One season
1993 Formula One season
The 1993 Formula One season was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 14, 1993 and ended on November 7 after sixteen races...
.