Dario Resta

Dario Dolly Resta Born August 17, 1884 - September 2, 1924) was an Italian Briton race car driver born in Livorno,Tuscany Italy. Resta's father Enrico dececided to move the family from Italy to England. Raised in England from the age of two, It seems Resta began racing there starting in 1907. He took part in the Montagu Cup the very first race of the now historic Brooklands track. He set a record of 95.7 mph in a half-mile run a few years later. After competing in Grand Prix motor racing in Europe, including the 1913 French Grand Prix.

Coming to America

In early 1915 he was brought to the United States by Alphonse Kaufman an America importer of Peugeots to drive Kaufman's Peugeot. In February he won the United States Grand Prix at San Francisco followed by a victory in the Vanderbilt Cup. After leading during the final stages of that year's Indianapolis 500, he finished second to Ralph DePalma when his car skidded and he had to make a pitstop for tires. Resta then drove his blue Peugeot to victory in the inaugural 500 mile race on the board track at the Chicago Speedway on June 26, 1915. The race received eighteen pages of coverage in the July 1, 1915, issue of Motor Age magazine. The following year in 1916, enroute to winning the United States National Driving Championship, Resta repeated as winner of the Vanderbilt Cup plus he won the Indianapolis 500, the Chicago 300, the Minneapolis 150 and the Omaha 150 races. With World War I raging in Europe and the United States entering the war in 1918 races were reduced to a minimum. During 1918 Resta drove a Peugeot at a race in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, a minor event with only a handful of racing drivers. During this time Resta dedicated his time to his business, a few years earlier Resta moved his family to Bakersfield, California. During his time in California, Resta created a small racing track at Buttonwillow, California, the track still exists and is used by racing fans to this day.

Dario Resta, 1913

Comeback years

In 1923 Resta returned to racing, now 39 years of age his first appearance was in Beverly Hills, California. Next he made another attempt at Indy again, was but forced out of the race after 225 miles. Racing in Europe, Resta finished 3rd in the Penya Rhin Grand Prix, and won the voiturette class at the Spanish Grand Prix. He drove for Sunbeam in the 1924 season with teammates Henry Segrave and K. Lee Guinness.

Death

Dario Resta was killed in 1924 at the age of 40 when his racecar crashed at the Brooklands racecourse in England while trying for a new land speed record Resta was driving a Sunbeam when a security belt on his car broke which in turn punctured Resta's tire sending him out of control.

Indy 500 results