Scuderia Centro Sud was a privateer racing team founded in Modena by Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei and active in Formula One and sports car racing between 1956 and 1965.

Founder "Mimmo" Dei (center, with sunglasses) surrounded by Guerino Bertocchi (mechanic, seated in Maserati A6GCS/53) and team drivers Giorgio Scarlatti (left) and Piero Taruffi (right).
A Cooper-Maserati T51 in Scuderia Centro Sud's rosso corsa livery.

Dei had been an amateur driver in the 1930s. In the early 1950s he opened a Maserati dealership in Rome. Keen on maintaining a relationship with motorsport, in 1956 he founded his own team. The name "Centro Sud" refers to the parts of Italy where his adoptive and native cities are (Modena and Rome).

Over the course of nine seasons, Scuderia Centro Sud entered a total of 49 World Championship rounds, with cars such as the Maserati 250F, various Maserati-powered Coopers and, in the 1960s, a BRM P57. After a very promising start (they scored their first points at their debut with Luigi Villoresi), Centro Sud went on to earn a further total of 24 points, mostly with Masten Gregory and Tony Maggs. But they never won a race: Gregory's third place at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was the team's best result.

Centro Sud was the only Italian racing team that took part in the Tasman races in Australia and New Zealand during the winter of 1961-1962.[1]

One of their most notable feats was to be the first team in the history of Formula One to run a female driver, when Maria Teresa de Filippis (who had already raced as a privateer in the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix a few weeks earlier) competed in the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix as a Centro Sud team driver.[2] Future 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans) and 1967 24 Hours of Daytona winner Lorenzo Bandini made his Formula One debut with the team at the 1961 Belgian Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(key)

Year Chassis Engine(s) Tyres Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1956 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA
  Louis Chiron DNS
  Luigi Villoresi 5
  Harry Schell Ret
  Toulo de Graffenried 7
Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4   Giorgio Scarlatti Ret
1957 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON 500 FRA GBR GER PES ITA
  Harry Schell 4
  Joakim Bonnier 7 Ret Ret
  Masten Gregory 3 8 4 4
  André Simon DNQ
  Hans Herrmann Ret
Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4   Alejandro de Tomaso 9
1958 Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6 P ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR
  Joakim Bonnier DNA Ret
  Gerino Gerini DNQ 9 Ret Ret 12
  Maurice Trintignant 7
  Masten Gregory Ret
  Wolfgang Seidel Ret Ret
  Carroll Shelby Ret 9 Ret*
  Troy Ruttman 10 DNS
  Hans Herrmann Ret
  Cliff Allison Ret
  Maria Teresa de Filippis Ret
1959 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 D MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA
  Ian Burgess Ret Ret 6 14
  Colin Davis Ret 11
  Hans Herrmann Ret
  Mário de Araújo Cabral 10
Maserati 250F Maserati Straight-6   Asdrúbal Fontes Bayardo DNQ
  Fritz d'Orey 10 Ret
1960 Cooper T51 Maserati Straight-4 D ARG MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA
  Roberto Bonomi 11
  Carlos Menditeguy 4
  Masten Gregory DNQ DNS 9 14 Ret
  Ian Burgess DNQ 10 Ret Ret
  Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret Ret 15
  Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret
  Alfonso Thiele Ret
  Wolfgang von Trips 9
1961 Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4 D MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA
  Lorenzo Bandini Ret 12 Ret 8
Cooper T51   Massimo Natili Ret DNS
1963 BRM P57 BRM V8 D MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA
  Lorenzo Bandini 10 5 Ret
  Maurice Trintignant 9
  Moisés Solana 11
Cooper T60 Climax V8   Mário de Araújo Cabral Ret DNQ
Cooper T53 Maserati Straight-4   Ernesto Brambilla DNQ
1964 BRM P57 BRM V8 D MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX
  Tony Maggs DNS DNS Ret 6 4
  Giancarlo Baghetti DNA 10 8 12 Ret 7 8
1965 BRM P57 BRM V8 D RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX
  Lucien Bianchi 12
  Masten Gregory Ret 12 8 Ret
  Roberto Bussinello DNQ 13
  Giorgio Bassi Ret

* After retiring his Scuderia Centro Sud-entered car, Shelby subsequently took over Masten Gregory's car, entered by Temple Buell, finishing fourth.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Lorenzo Bandini", The Times, May 11, 1967, Page 12.
  2. ^ "Maria Teresa de Filippis, first female Formula One driver, dies aged 89". The Observer. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. ^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.

Bibliography

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  • Mimmo Dei, Dei ex Machina: La storia della Scuderia Centro-Sud, Milan, Fucina Editore, 2008. (IT)