Boley Pittard's Fatal Crash @ Monza 1967
- 5 months ago
The Coppa dell'Autodromo di Monza held on Sunday, 04 June 1967 was just his second outing at the wheel of his new car, after he made his debut in the Coppa Fina, also held at Monza on 21 May. Pittard finished in tenth place in his heat.
Pittard's car went up in flames at the start of the final race, standing in the centre of the second row. On the packed grid, the accident would have been a major disaster, but he stayed aboard with his Dunlop tyres already blues soaked with leaking fuel. To avoid involving other cars in the fire, he bravely drove the burning Lola off the racing line, parking it near the guardrail in the green on the left side, before leaping out with his body well alight. He sustained extensive burns in the process.
The rest of the field flashed by, and no one of the other competitors stopped his car to render aid. Two officials and a fireman ran into the smoke and put out the fire sufficiently to extract Pittard. He was not wearing an appropriate protective fire suit but a synthetic overall which was melted by the fierce flames. The marshal Alfredo Curtarelli of Milan was also injured in the accident, trying to rescue the driver.
After his death, Boley Pittard was buried in Monza Cemetery, Italy. Today his niche has been moved and is no longer reachable. Although his year of birth is reported to be 1936, 1937 or 1938, depending on the source, the most likely conclusion is that the correct year was 1935, according to the Victoria College Jersey Register 1930-1956 - which he frequented in 1952, and his grave which read he was born on 14 October 1935.
R.I.P
Pittard's car went up in flames at the start of the final race, standing in the centre of the second row. On the packed grid, the accident would have been a major disaster, but he stayed aboard with his Dunlop tyres already blues soaked with leaking fuel. To avoid involving other cars in the fire, he bravely drove the burning Lola off the racing line, parking it near the guardrail in the green on the left side, before leaping out with his body well alight. He sustained extensive burns in the process.
The rest of the field flashed by, and no one of the other competitors stopped his car to render aid. Two officials and a fireman ran into the smoke and put out the fire sufficiently to extract Pittard. He was not wearing an appropriate protective fire suit but a synthetic overall which was melted by the fierce flames. The marshal Alfredo Curtarelli of Milan was also injured in the accident, trying to rescue the driver.
After his death, Boley Pittard was buried in Monza Cemetery, Italy. Today his niche has been moved and is no longer reachable. Although his year of birth is reported to be 1936, 1937 or 1938, depending on the source, the most likely conclusion is that the correct year was 1935, according to the Victoria College Jersey Register 1930-1956 - which he frequented in 1952, and his grave which read he was born on 14 October 1935.
R.I.P