Lella Lombardi’s Formula 850 got a new lease of life and returned to racing circuits.
Luciano Biraghi built several Formula 850 cars from 1966 to 1968, and 9 of them were registered with the CSAI.
Of these 9 cars, 2 (the 67.4 and 67.5) were registered by him in his own name and he made them available to his drivers, while the others were sold to private drivers.
Since 1967, Lella Lombardi participated in some races, both on the track and uphill, with one of the two cars that Luciano Biraghi kept for the team, the 67.4.
In 1968 Luciano Biraghi built the last two cars, one of which was specially for Lella. The car had chassis number 68.1 and the certificate of origin lists Lella Lombardi as the first owner.
The car of champions
Lella Lombardi competed with this car from 1967 to 1969, achieving many important goals with it. In fact, she won the Italian championship in 1970 by winning four races and came second in 1971 by winning one race.
Then the car was bought by Orazio Ragaiolo who won the Italian championship in 1972 winning 4 races and one race in 1973.
It was then passed to Giacomo Ballarino who won a race in 1975 and a race in 1977, the last season of the F850 championship.
In 2019 the car was bought by Tommaso Bussani who still competes with it on a number of circuits today.
Strongly passionate about these extraordinary cars, their incredible builders and drivers who for more than ten years have animated a nourished and fought championship like no other category has ever done, Tommaso Bussani, together with some friends from Perugia, decided to give life to the Registro Formula 850.
Hence the desire to set out in search of a Formula 850. After various searches he finally found a Biraghi in Monza, very beautiful and well maintained, restored 10 years earlier.
As a true enthusiast, he saw 68.1 on the chassis and inquired to get the ACI sport certificate of origin and found out the history of that car.
So he learned that he owned a car belonging to Lella Lombardi and decided to find out more about her and the competitions in which she participated.
He also got in touch with Luciano Biraghi, builder of the car itself, from whom he learned many anecdotes, about the races and the cars.
To this day, Tommaso still races with Lella Lombardi’s Formula 850, keeping her gritty spirit alive on the track. He participated in the first edition of the reborn Formula 850 trophy in 2021, winning two races and coming second in the overall standings.
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Luciano Biraghi and Lella Lombardi
In the video, Luciano Biraghi recounts the period when he built Formula 850 cars, including the one in which Lella Lombardi raced.
