About Nino Vaccarella
Antonino Vaccarella (4 March 1933 – 23 September 2021) was an Italian sports car racing and Formula One driver from the island of Sicily. He was considered a specialist for the main local race, the Targa Florio, then the world's oldest automobile race, introduced in 1906. It was run over 72km of mountain roads that were hard to memorize, giving locals an advantage. Vaccarella was also called "il preside volante" as he was a math teacher and, following the early death of his father, principal of a private Montessori school in Palermo. The principal achievements of the principal include having won the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Targa Florio in 1965 and the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring with Ferrari. When the Scuderia did not participate at the Targa, like in 1968 and 1969, Vaccarella drove Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. With this brand came his last wins, in 1971, and also in 1975 when the Targa no longer was a World Sportscar Championship event, but a shorter mainly all-Italian event that soon would be discontinued due to safety concerns. Vaccarella's principal achievements include having won the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Targa Florio in 1965, 1971 and 1975, the latter year when it no longer was a World Sportscar Championship event. Sicily-born Vaccarella was well known for being a Targa Florio specialist. Maglioli had previously won the race twice; Vaccarella was a schoolteacher in Palermo with a great passion for motorsport.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.