Ferdinando Spreafico

He ran the workshop in Barzanò with his brother, and it was the brother who set up the engine in the evenings. At the end of 1969 Spreafico bought Francesco Leopardi’s Repetto; with it he won both championships in 1970.

He was twenty-six, a mechanic, drove for the Scuderia Italia and was in his third year in the class. From mid-season he was the man to beat: three wins and three second places, the title settled on the last race day. He drove with an eye on the whole race, stayed clear of the pile-ups and used the slipstream over the final metres.

The whole race day of that year’s seventh round survives. Spreafico won the first heat ten seconds clear of Mercatelli and was second in the final behind Paolo Bertini, whose defence just held. He later reached Formula 3.