The 1st Coppa Italia was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 12 October 1961 at Vallelunga Circuit. The race was run over two heats of 30 laps of the circuit, and was won by Italian driver Giancarlo Baghetti in a Porsche 718.
After the Italian Drivers' Championship finished as a tie between Giancarlo Baghetti and Lorenzo Bandini, a deciding race was organised. However, the fairness of this idea is in question since it was well known that Bandini would not be available to take part. Article at 8W Baghetti's team, Scuderia Sant Ambroeus, borrowed the Porsche from Ecurie Nationale Suisse, and their driver won both heats to take the national title.
Results Pos Driver Entrant Constructor Time/Retired Grid Heat 1/2 1 Giancarlo Baghetti Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Porsche 1.00:53.9 2 1st / 1st 2 Ernesto Prinoth Scuderia Dolomiti Lotus-Climax + 15.3 s 3 2nd / 2nd 3 Nino Vaccarella Scuderia Serenissima Cooper-Maserati 59 laps 1 3rd / 3rd 4 Roberto Bussinello Isobele de Tomaso De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo 58 laps 4 5th / 4th 5 Roberto Lippi Scuderia Settecolli De Tomaso-O.S.C.A. 58 laps 6 4th / 5th 6 Albino Buticchi Scuderi Sant Ambroeus Cooper-Climax 57 laps 8 6th / 6th 7 Lucien de Sanctis Scuderi Sant Ambroeus Cooper-Climax 56 laps 9 7th / 7th 8 Gaetano Starrabba Gaetano Starrabba Lotus-Maserati 31 laps 5 8th / 8th 9 Elio Pandolfo Scuderia Montegrappa Elios 22 laps 10 9th / Ret Ret Rovero Campello Rovero Campello de Sanctis-Fiat Engine 7 Ret / DNS WD Ludovico Scarfiotti Pescara Racing Club De Tomaso-O.S.C.A. Car not ready – – / – WD Menato Boffa Menato Boffa Cooper-Climax Car not ready – – / –
References
"The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995. "The Formula One Record Book", John Thompson, 1974. Baghetti article at 8W Article at Atlas F1 - Rear View Mirror