Racing season 1953


Records
1953 is undoubtedly an unforgettable year in the history of Italian powerboating. After the various world speed records achieved since the beginning of the 50s by our Casinghini, Sestini, Cometti, Castoldi and Selva, it is the turn of another great protagonist of the inboard classes, Mario Verga who prepares a new attack on the fresh record of the 800 kg obtained by Ezio Selva with 194 km/h.

Verga uses an Abbate hull (the famous Laura II ), with an Alfa Romeo 159 engine which is none other than the 8-cylinder 1500 with a double-stage compressor that allowed the motor racing champion Juan Manuel Fangio to become Formula 1 world champion in 1951. Through two attempts, always on the waters of Ceresio in Campione d'Italia, Mario Verga improves the previous limit of 800 kg on January 19th, recording 202 km/h. A remarkable performance, but one that does not satisfy our driver, so, a few days later and precisely on February 15th, he tries again after having made slight adjustments to the propeller and rudder and reaches the fantastic speed of 226.49 km/h.
But this stupendous performance by the Como driver does not last long, because in the autumn of the same year Achille Castoldi also decides to try.
After going to Maranello, the Milanese driver manages to convince Comm. Enzo Ferrari to give him, for his record attempt, the engine of a Formula 1 single-seater: the 375, with which in 1951, at the British Grand Prix, Josè Froilàn Gonzàlez wins the first victory for the prancing horse in a race of the world championship.
On the red 3-point car from the Timossi shipyard, called Arno XI , Castoldi's mechanic, Luigi Allione, installs the 12-cylinder 4500 cc engine, whose maximum power of 380 HP is increased to around 510 HP, with the help of two volumetric compressors, all thanks to the supervision of Ferrari's technical manager Aurelio Lampredi. On October 15, on the waters of Sebino (measured base of Sarnico), Achille Castoldi, speeding at the incredible average of 241.708 km/h, achieves the new world record in the 800 kg racers category, shattering the one recently established by Mario Verga. This record by Castoldi will remain the greatest speed expressed on the water for boats with immersed propeller. In fact, 39 years will pass before another pilot, Fabio Buzzi, manages to improve the exceptional record result of the Milanese pilot. This exceptional result is the proof of the great career of this super champion from Milan: in fact, Castoldi has dedicated many years of his life to motorboating.

In the various world and national titles and speed records he took part, one could say, in the most important circuit and long-distance rankings, such as for example 12 Pavia-Venezia Raid. As a boy, Castoldi practiced rowing and in 1924 and 1925 he was the Italian and world university champion of the Skiff class.
Among his incredible feats, it is also worth noting the one obtained together with his four friends in 1922 when he rowed for 680 km from Pavia to Trieste in just six days.

Among the curiosities, Castoldi's most successful racing boats were donated to the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, including the glorious outboard with fins patented by the two Castoldi brothers (the brother is the well-known designer and builder of the famous Castoldi hydrojet).

During the year, another world record of a completely different caliber, but no less important, was achieved by Valerio Rampezzotti for the L 1500 cc racer class aboard a Timossi 3-point engined OSCA 1400, Rampezzotti improved the previous record set by Augusto Cometti with a Timossi-BPM at 137.410 km/h, bringing it to 142.866. Cometti made up for it by winning the Italian title for the second consecutive year, again in the L 1500 cc class


The 800 kg world championship
After the records, it is the circuit that takes centre stage. The highlight of the autumn motorboating meeting programme, held on the waters of the Idroscalo in Milan on 4 October, is, in fact, the challenge reserved for the racers of the 800 kg class for the assignment of the highest world laurel in the inboard field. There is much anticipation for the debut, in this championship, of two new 3 points that the Timossi shipyard has prepared for Mario Verga and Achille Castoldi. Mario Verga's racer is equipped with the powerful Alfa Romeo 158, 1500 cc supercharged, whose tuning is directly taken care of by the Biscione house thanks to the expert mechanic Marchini. Mario Verga carries out a series of tests right at the Idroscalo a week before the world challenge, improving the circuit record recently set by Ezio Selva's twin-engine with 1' 16", lowering it further to around 1' 13"-1' 12".

Achille Castoldi also showed up on the same circuit in the days leading up to the race with his Timossi in its still rough livery. The Arno IX, as it was named, had a 12-cylinder Ferrari 4500 cc supercharged with the help of two low-pressure Roots compressors, estimated at 7/10 of an atmosphere. A complex considered to be very fast, on a par with Verga's, but requiring more laborious preparation of the engine, which was followed by Ferrari itself by sending its chief mechanic Meazza. When anyone asked mechanic Meazza for clarification and technical details on the 12-cylinder installed on Castoldi's boat, he hid behind a "no comment". The same goes for the Formula 1 4-wheel champion Alberto Ascari, who came to witness this first outing of the Arno IX . But Castoldi's seems more like a hit-and-run, given that the hull, once put into the water, does not carry out any test laps, but is instead reloaded onto the truck and taken away. Castoldi, however, shows up just in time on the day of the race, completing a few test laps a few hours before the start of the opening round of the championship, obtaining a remarkable time response: a lap time of 1'13" net.
It seems obvious that Verga and Castoldi are the favourites for the final success: but we must not overlook the other Italian drivers who are still capable of playing an important role in the race for the title. Ezio Selva, on this occasion, is presenting his tried and tested hull built by him, powered by two BPMs with a total displacement of 5600 cc. The other member of the national team is the debutant in the 800 kg class Liborio Guidotti with a 2800 cc Abbate BPM hull.
The participation of foreigners is limited to the German Christoph Von Mayemburg, with his Streves hull equipped with a new 3000 cc Jaguar and the French Louis Delacour and Maurice Bouchet, both with Abbate hulls. BPM 2800 cc
Under a sometimes incessant rain, Mario Verga takes the lead in the first heat, maintaining it for all 8 scheduled laps. The never-say-die and feisty Ezio Selva, with his Moschettiere , unable to keep up with Verga's red racing car, settles for second place. Castoldi, on the other hand, after a good start that sees him threaten Verga, is forced to give up halfway through the race due to the rather bizarre behavior of his hull. In fact, the Milanese champion skids several times due to the entire dashboard coming out and the anchoring of the steering wheel, making it impossible for him to drive the vehicle. This is an absurd and very serious failure, certainly not repairable in the interval between the two heats: all this forces Castoldi not to return the red Arno IX to the water, depriving us of a sure protagonist.

Eleven days later, Castoldi would still have the opportunity to obtain a significant result with this racing car: the absolute world record for speed on water, a record that would remain for many years. Behind the winner Verga and Selva, a good performance was offered by Liborio Guidotti who finished third: the Milanese kept Delacour, Von Mayemburg and Bouchet in his slipstream. The latter, in particular, was in difficulty due to the loss of his glasses.
The second heat did not see Von Mayemburg at the start, victim of a seizure at the end of the first heat, nor Bouchet. Mario Verga, also in this race, now seemed out of reach for his opponents and the order of arrival mirrored that of the previous heat, with Selva second, Guidotti third (who could boast of not being lapped by Verga) and Delacour fourth. The championship was awarded by the sum of the two races run on the same day.


The Raid Pavia-Venezia
The final verdict of the thirteenth Raid Pavia-Venezia sees the first three places in the overall rankings for three inboard hulls from the Abbate shipyard, powered by BPM 2800 engines, registered in the LX 800 kg race class. A new name in the motorboat racing scene is Renzo Rivolta (the famous Commendatore creator of the Iso and Isetta cars) competing with co-driver Luigi Molli. Without taking anything away from the merits of this crew, the performance provided along the 433 km, is to be considered decidedly touristic, considering the modest speed, with an average of 76.079 km/h, and the time taken of 5h 1' 29". In any case, in the short history of the Raid, none of the previous winners, up to 1953, had managed to do better. Behind the winners, but with a considerable accumulated delay, we have the crews of the navy, composed of lieutenants Valli-Proto and Berti-Landolfi, respectively in second and third place. Not very lucky, however, the performance of Augusto and Camilla Cometti, forced to abandon the race due to a sand trap, despite having recorded a speed of 111.850 km/h in the timed sector Piacenza-Cremona, thus obtaining the Coppa d'Oro Theo Rossi di Montelera. But this strange couple who definitely made a good impression, will have the opportunity to make up for it, to the point that Cometti will write some of the most beautiful pages in the history of this competition.


The American trip
At the end of December 1953, world champion Mario Verga and world record holders Achille Castoldi and Ezio Selva went to Miami to take part in the expedition organized by our FIM to establish a better relationship with the stars and stripes motorboating. Our three inboard aces took part in the Orange Bowl Regatta, which took place in the waters of Haulower Beach Park, which was nothing more than a fairly wide canal of salt water. On December 21, the International Grand Prix was held, an event with the Baker Palladium Trophy up for grabs every year. This is a trophy made entirely of palladium (a metal from the platinum group) with an estimated value of 7,500 dollars (in the 1950s, at the exchange rate of the Italian currency, the value was around 4.5 million lire).

The race takes place on a 2.800 km long windshield circuit for three laps; it is divided into three heats and is classified with a total of points for each participant.
The Italians prove to be the fastest of the entire group of participants (24 drivers), forcing the organizers to make a selection. The Italians, however, were included "by right" in the list of participants, without having to pass any type of selective mechanism, precisely by virtue of the excellent performances exhibited in the timed trials. The rest of the competitors, divided between Americans and Canadians, after the various selections are reduced to 9 participants, together with our three drivers. With 12 starters, the first heat starts, where the very fast Selva takes the lead with Castoldi in his slipstream. On the third lap Castoldi, trying to get closer to Selva, is squeezed by a Canadian competitor, ending up with his red Timossi-Ferrari against a pole marking the circuit. In the crash, the hull suffered some damage, but despite the incident Castoldi managed, on the last lap, to catch up with Selva, overtaking him and taking the win in this first heat.
Castoldi also achieved an average lap of 123.218 km/h, which remained the highest of the entire event, proving his considerable potential. The order of arrival of the first heat saw Castoldi and Selva classified by the Italian Mario Verga, in 4th position, squeezed by the American Gassner and the Canadian Hatch.
In the second race, good luck was not on the side of the Italians Selva and Castoldi: the first was stopped by the jury for an early start, while Castoldi, in the water with the hull hastily repaired due to the accident in the first heat, was forced to retire. This happened on the second lap, due to the violent impact with a wave that, in addition to detaching and making him lose part of the grille, also made him take on board a considerable quantity of water. On the contrary, Mario Verga, the only Italian in the race (with an average of 114.860 km/h), manages to win the race by defending himself from the attacks of the American Gassner. In the last heat, in addition to Selva, Castoldi also participates and even with his hull weighed down by the large amount of water on board, he still manages to classify himself in fourth place. The race records the encore of Mario Verga who with his hull Abbate Alfa Romeo triumphs ahead of Selva and Gassner.
The final classification crowns the Italian Verga as the winner of the Orange Bowl Regatta, second the "regular" Gassner, third Selva and fourth the unlucky Castoldi. With a bit of luck, there could have been an entirely Italian podium and the over 30,000 spectators undoubtedly realized this.

On the same day, but with a shorter circuit of 2,600 km, repeated five times, a free-for-all-race was held for all boats without limitation. Castoldi was absent, at the start, in addition to Verga and Selva, six other American competitors. With a rocket start, Selva jumped to the lead and maintained it until the finish line, winning the race by a landslide. Unfortunately, Verga, initially second, suffered some problems with the spark plugs and was out of the race during the third lap.

Two days later, about ten miles inside the Miami Channel, Selva and Verga again carried out some free trials, recording very high average speeds. Although there is no official confirmation, it is worth mentioning, for the record, the 212.730 km/h recorded by Mario Verga (a performance never achieved in these waters by other boats) and the 184 km/h of Selva.

For our riders and for the entire FIM, the American trip ends with exceptional results that place, without a doubt, our motorboating and its champions at the forefront of world motorboating.


Inboard racing seasons
Racing season 1954