Achille Varzi

Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 to 1 July 1948) was an Italian racing driver from Galliate in Piedmont, the son of a textile manufacturer. He began as a successful motorcycle racer, riding seven times in the Isle of Man TT from 1924, and moved to auto racing in 1928, spending the next ten years as the great rival of Tazio Nuvolari. He drove Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Auto Union cars, won the Italian national racing championship and repeated the feat in 1934, and is remembered for winning the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix and the first Formula One Grand Prix, the 1946 Turin Grand Prix. In 1934 he became the first driver to hold both the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia titles in one season. He was killed in practice for the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten, and his death led the FIA to make crash helmets compulsory.