Motorsport Memorial -

Ennio Bonomelli

Complete name: Ennio Bonomelli

Birth date: 03.Jan.1940

Birth Place: Rovato (BS), Italy

Death date: ??.Dec.1982

Death Place: Brescia, Italy

Nationality: Italy

Gender: male

Notes:
A popular Italian hillclimber, GT and sportscar driver and mechanic, Ennio Bonomelli from Brescia tuned and raced Porsche cars during his whole career. He had his debut in the early 1960s, competing in Italian hillclimbs and circuit races in a Porsche 356SC S90.

Ennio Bonomelli in his Porsche 356 SC S90 at the start of the Sarezzo-Lumezzane hillclimb in 1965.
Photo A. Vimercati - archivio A. Gnutti. Courtesy of Riedizione Sarezzo - Lumezzane. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved

In 1968 Ennio Bonomelli won the GT Italian Trophy 2000 cm³ class in a Porsche 911T entered by Scuderia Brescia Corse, scoring a class win, 8th place overall with Luigi Taramazzo as team mate, in the Circuito del Mugello, the classic Italian road race held in the tough 66.200-kilometer public roads course. Other astonishing class wins occurred in 1969, once again in the Circuito del Mugello, 7th place overall, and in the Targa Florio, then a round of the World Sportscar Championship, when Bonomelli shared his Porsche 911T with Cesare Guzzi. The pair finished 10th overall, but the car was later disqualified for illegal valve.

Ennio Bonomelli in his Porsche 911S at the Sarezzo-Lumezzane hillclimb in 1967.
Photo A. Vimercati - archivio A. Gnutti. Courtesy of Riedizione Sarezzo - Lumezzane. Reproduced under kind permission, all rights reserved

Ennio Bonomelli progressed to a 2-litre Porsche 906 sportscar, scoring a remarkable 2nd place overall in the 1969 Coppa Città di Enna at Pergusa, behind Nino Vaccarella's Alfa Romeo 33/3. In 1970 Bonomelli campaigned a Porsche 910 in the European 2-Litre Championship, finishing 7th overall in the Circuito del Mugello, and in the Italian Hillclimb Championship, scoring outright wins in the Salsomaggiore and Colle Sant'Eusebio events. At the wheel of the same sportscar he was 2nd overall in the final standings of the 1971 European Hillclimb Championship, behind Johannes Ortner in a works Fiat-Abarth 3000. Then he scored a fine class victory, 5th place overall, in the World Sportscar Championship race 1000 Km of Zeltweg, partnered by his fellow citizen "Pooky". During the season he obtained an 8th place overall in the Tour de France Automobile, sharing a self-tuned 2.4-litre Porsche 911S with Belgian female co-driver "Christine" Beckers.

The following year Bonomelli competed in the European GT series in which he finished 9th in points. He was 6th at the Nürburgring then obtained a 2nd place overall at Monza, in the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix supporting race, closely following the Kremer Porsche 911S of the winner John Fitzpatrick, who eventually captured the championship.

A singular case occurred during the season, when team Bonomelli Squadra Corse was battling for the over 2000 cm³ class in the Italian GT Championship. They filed two entries in the 56th Targa Florio, the World Sportscar Championship round scheduled on Sunday, 21 May 1972. During practice, the two Bonomelli Tuning's Porsche 911S cars set the best times, proving to be the fastest in class. But on Saturday night both Bonomelli cars were stolen and hidden in the countryside of Sicily. Shortly before the race the #38 car was found, somewhat by chance, parked in a narrow road nearly the circuit. Its drivers Pino Pica-Gabriele Gottifredi managed to start the race, winning the class, 5th place overall. The car #26 of Ennio Bonomelli-Everardo Ostino mysteriously disappeared only to be found untouched in the following days. Despite he could not take part in the Targa Florio and did not score any point, Ennio Bonomelli eventually won for the second time the Italian title.

In 1973 Ennio Bonomelli drove a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR in the European GT Championship, finishing 3rd in the Grand Prix de Paris at Linas-Montlhéry, behind Claude Ballot-Léna and Clemens Schickentanz, and 6th at Hockenheim and Monza, paired with Toni Fischhaber. He was the winner overall of the Coppa AGIP at Monza, and with his wife Silvana as co-driver, was 2nd overall in the Giro Automobilistico d'Italia.

In 1974 his own team Bonomelli Squadra Corse competed once again in the World Sportscar Championship, with a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. In the 1000 Km of Monza Bonomelli was 4th of class, 13th place overall, with Giuseppe Schenetti and the American Michael Keyser as team mates. During the year he shared the car with different drivers, including Pino Pica, Claude Ballot-Léna, the Belgian Charles Geeraerts and others.

After his retirement form racing in the late 1970s, Bonomelli had drugs trouble, until he decided to kill himself. It happened shortly before Christmas of 1982, a few days before his 43th birthday. He was survived by his wife Silvana, who sometime followed her husband from the pits, as team member, timekeeper and mechanic.

Career Summary:

Sources:

Book "1000 Km di Monza - Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo" by Andrea Curami, Daniele Galbiati and Luca Ronchi, Edizioni dei Soncino, Soncino Cremona, 1998.
Magazine Autosprint, issue of 23 May 1972.
Magazine Rombo, issue of 03 January 1983.
Website Racing Sports Cars, page http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Ennio-Bonomelli-I.html .
Website World Sports Racing Prototypes, by Martin Krejčí, page http://wsrp.ic.cz/ .
Website Forum Auto » FORUM Sport Auto » Histoires du sport automobile, thread "I PILOTI DELLA TARGA FLORIO", page http://www.forum-auto.com/sport-auto/histoire-du-sport-auto/sujet379179-2310.htm .
Website Le Mans & Formula 2 Register by Stefan Örnerdal, page http://www.formula2.net/Targa69.htm .
Website Le Mans & Formula 2 Register by Stefan Örnerdal, page http://www.formula2.net/Targa72.htm .