Onofre Marimón


Onofre Agustín Marimón was an Argentine racing driver, who competed in Formula One at 12 Grands Prix between and.
Marimón participated in 12 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving two podiums at the 1953 Belgian and 1954 British Grands Prix, and scoring a total of 8 championship points with Maserati. He also won the non-championship 1954 Rome Grand Prix, driving the Maserati 250F.
During practice for the 1954 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Marimón died after losing control of his Maserati 250F, impacting a ditch and causing a rollover. He was the first fatality at a Formula One Grand Prix.

Biography

Onofre Agustín Marimón was born on 19 December 1923 in Zárate, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Marimón was the son of racing driver and undertaker Domingo Marimón, the winner of the 1948 South American Grand Prix for Turismo Carretera. Marimón Sr. and Juan Manuel Fangio were team-mates for Chevrolet and friends, leading to Fangio becoming a mentor for Marimón Jr. when the young Zárateño moved to Europe.
Marimón was killed on 31 July 1954 during practice for the 1954 German Grand Prix, becoming the first driver to be fatally injured at a World Championship Grand Prix other than the Indianapolis 500. His Maserati left the Nürburgring race course at the Breidscheid curve near the Adenauer Bridge after he lost control attempting to improve his qualifying time. He died at the bottom of a steep and treacherous incline. He was going fast on a downgrade but failed to negotiate a sharp turn at the bottom. Marimón impacted a ditch, his Maserati shearing off a tree and rolling over a number of times. He was pinned underneath the car as it came to rest on its top with the wheels spinning in the air. Marimón was given the last rites by a Catholic priest before dying a few minutes after rescue workers freed him. It was thought that his braking unit failed.
Marimón's death trimmed the Maserati team to four drivers. His practice times had not been satisfactory enough for him to make the top 5 for the
1954 German Grand Prix. His best time was 21.3 seconds behind the record time of 9:50.1 set by Fangio.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789WDCPoints
1951Scuderia MilanoMaserati 4CLT/50Milano Straight-4SUI500BELFRA
Ret
GBRGERITAESPNC0
1953Officine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati A6GCMMaserati Straight-6ARG500NEDBEL
3
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
SUI
Ret
ITA
Ret
11th4
1954Officine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati 250FMaserati Straight-6ARG
Ret
500BEL
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
3
GER
DNS
SUIITAESP13th4

Non-Championship Formula One results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839
1953Officine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati A6GCMMaserati Straight-6SYRPAULAVASTBORINTELÄNAPULSWINFROCOREIFALBPRIGREESSMIDROUSTRCRYAVUUSFLAC
Ret
DREBRICHESABNEWCADSACREDSKALONMOD
2
MADBERJOECUR
1954Officine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati 250FMaserati Straight-6SYR
5
PAU
Ret
LAVBORINTBAR
4
CURROM
1
FROCORBRCCRYROUCAEAUGCOROUTREDPESJOECADBERGOODAI---------------