Alfonso de Portago
Encyclopedia
Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Angel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, Marquis of Portago, best known as Alfonso de Portago (born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, October 11, 1928 - died near Guidizzolo
Guidizzolo
Guidizzolo is a comune in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 110 km east of Milan and about 25 km northwest of Mantua.-Geography:...

, Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, May 12, 1957) was a racing driver from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

Notable heritage

Portago was 6' (1.83 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg). He was educated in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. He became articulate in four languages. Portago was heir to one of the most respected titles in Spain and a millionaire. Among his ancestors was an explorer, a Governor of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, and a war hero. His Spanish father was Antonio Cabeza de Vaca. He died during half time at a polo match at a young age. His mother was named Olga Leighton and was Irish. She also had a daughter named Sol. Olga's first husband, Francis John Mackey, was more than 40 years older than she was. He shot himself while terminally ill and left Olga an enormous fortune made as founder of Household Financial.

Personal life

In 1949, when he was twenty, de Portago married American former showgirl Carroll McDaniel (by whom he had two children). McDaniel was several years older than Portago and they barely knew each other. One of his daughters (born 1949 or 1950) is photographer Andrea Portago, who was on the June 1977 cover of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

's Interview magazine. His son Anthony de Portago, a stockbroker and private investor interested in dance and acting was born around 1954. Supposedly, Carroll and Alfonso were in the process of getting a divorce so he could legitimize his invalid Mexican marriage to Dorian Leigh
Dorian Leigh
Dorian Leigh was an American model and one of the earliest modelling icons of the fashion industry. She is considered one of the first supermodels and was well known in the United States and Europe.-Biography:Dorian Leigh Parker was born in San Antonio, Texas, to George and Elizabeth Parker...

 (who had already aborted their first baby in 1954 and then gave birth to their son Kim on September 27, 1955). However, de Portago was also dating actress Linda Christian
Linda Christian
Linda Christian was a Mexican movie actress, who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara in the last Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film Tarzan and The Mermaids...

, actor Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...

's ex-wife. De Portago was killed in the 1957 Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....

 race on May 8. His divorce was to become final on May 9. McDaniel never signed the divorce document since he was deceased. She went on to marry multi-millionaire Milton Petrie
Milton Petrie
Milton Petrie was a Russian American retailer, investor and philanthropist. He made a fortune from a chain of retail stores and supplemented it through a series of investments in real estate and stocks...

.

Portago's two sons, Kim and Anthony, born only months apart, became friends and both lived in New York City. Kim became a serious drug addict however, and he committed suicide in 1977 by jumping out his New York City highrise apartment window. Anthony died of AIDS in 1990.

Versatile athlete

He won a $500 bet at the age of 17 when he flew his plane beneath a bridge. He participated twice in the Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree
Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England.It was served by Aintree Racecourse railway station until the station closed in the 1960s....

 as a gentleman jockey, although he found keeping his weight down to be a struggle.

He also was a bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....

 runner. In this sport he took part in the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene...

, where he placed fourth in the two-man race. He was introduced to bobsledding by an American from Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 census, Beloit had a population of 36,966. The greater Beloit area is home to more than 91,000 residents.-Claim to fame:...

, Edmund Nelson. Portago and Nelson later teamed to win the Tour de France automobile
Tour de France automobile
Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France, first held in 1899 at speeds of 30 mph . The first event was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor...

 race. Portago recruited several of his cousins from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 for the Olympic competition. The team made only twenty trial runs before achieving their fourth place finish.

Portago also won a bronze medal in the two-man event at the 1957 FIBT World Championships
FIBT World Championships 1957
The FIBT World Championships 1957 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record eighth time. The Swiss city had hosted the event previously in 1931 , 1935 , 1937 , 1938 , 1939 , 1947, and 1955...

 in St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...

.

The Marques de Portage is a Cresta Run
Cresta Run
The Cresta Run is a natural ice 1,212.5 m long skeleton racing toboggan track in the Swiss winter sports town of St. Moritz, and one of the few runs dedicated primarily to skeleton. It was built in 1884 near the hamlet of Cresta in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna by Major Bulpett, eventual...

 record holder from Stream.

Race car driver

Portago began racing sports cars and won six big races, including the Tour de France
Tour de France Automobile
Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France, first held in 1899 at speeds of 30 mph . The first event was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor...

 automobile race, the Grand Prix of Oporto, and the Nassau Governor's Cup (twice). He once told a reporter, I like the feeling of fear. After a while a man becomes an addict and has to have it. In Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

 during the winter of 1956, Portago trailed the car ahead of him by inches while travelling at 150 mph (241 km/h). Portago used his skill to avert careening into a crowd after the driver
ahead of him touched his brakes and both cars went into a 600-foot (180 m) skid.
Among sports car enthusiasts Portago was known as a two-car man, because of the many burned-out brakes, clutches, transmissions, and wrecked cars for which he was responsible. He often needed several cars to finish a race.

He participated in 5 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on July 1, 1956. His best result was a second place at the 1956 British Grand Prix
1956 British Grand Prix
The 1956 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1956 at Silverstone. It was the sixth round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :...

 (a shared drive with Peter Collins
Peter Collins (racing driver)
Peter John Collins was a Formula One driver from England. He participated in 35 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He won 3 races, achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 47 championship points....

, and scored a total of four championship points. In 1953 he raced with Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II and became an American citizen....

 in the Carrera Panamericana
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sports car racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, it was widely held by contemporaries to be the most dangerous race of any type in the world...

. During the 1955 British Grand Prix
1955 British Grand Prix
The 1955 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on 16 July 1955. It was the sixth round of the 1955 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Lap Leaders:** Juan Manuel Fangio 10 laps...

 at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...

, Portago was thrown from his Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 while racing at 90 mph (140 km/h) after losing control on a patch of oil. He was hospitalized with a broken leg.

Death

He and his co-driver Edmund Nelson were killed in a crash (on May 8) in the 1957 Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....

 about forty miles (68 km) from Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

, the starting and finishing point of the 1,000 mile (1609 km) race. They were in third place at the time. The accident also claimed the lives of ten spectators, among them five children. Portago blew a tire on his Ferrari, causing the car to go into the crowd lining the highway. He was travelling at 150 mph (241 km/h) when the tire went flat. The Ferrari hurtled over a canal on the left side of the road, killing five spectators, then veered back across the canal, and caused the deaths of five other onlookers on the right side of the road. Two of the dead children were hit by a concrete highway milestone that was ripped from the ground by Portago's car and thrown into the crowd. The bodies of Portago and Nelson were badly disfigured beneath the Ferrari, which was upside down. Portago's body was in two sections. This resulted in a long trial for Ferrari team owner Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer...

.

As T.C. Browne wrote: The inevitable happened when Alfonso [...] de Portago stopped alongside the course, ran to the fence, kissed Linda Christian, ran back to his Ferrari and drove on to his destiny, killing himself, his co-driver, 10 spectators, and the Mille Miglia.

Once Portago commented: "I won't die in an accident. I'll die of old age or be executed in some gross miscarriage of justice". However Nelson countered this assertion by saying that Portago would not live to be 30. According to Nelson, "every time Portago comes in from a race the front of his car is wrinkled where he has been nudging people out of the way at 130 mph (210 km/h)".

Legacy

The Portago curve at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun
St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun
The St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun is a bobsleigh piste located in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Constructed in 1903, it officially opened on New Year's Day 1904 and is the oldest bobsleigh track in the world and the only one that is naturally refrigerated...

 is named in his honor for his foundation's efforts to renovate the lower portion of the track. A Portago curve (#7) is also shown on the Jarama motor racing circuit
Circuito Permanente Del Jarama
The Circuito del Jarama , formerly known as Circuito Permanente del Jarama is a race course in Madrid, Spain which has hosted nine Formula One Spanish Grand Prix....

 in Spain.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WDC Points
1956
1956 Formula One season
The 1956 Formula One season featured the seventh FIA World Championship of Drivers as well as numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars. The championship series commenced on January 22, 1956 and ended on September 2 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title,...

Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 D50
Lancia D50
The Lancia D50 was a Formula One racing car designed by Vittorio Jano for Lancia in 1954. The car's design made use of many innovative features, such as the use of the engine as a stressed chassis member, the off-centre positioning of the engine to allow a lower overall height, and pannier fuel...

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 V8
ARG
1956 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1956 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 January 1956 at Buenos Aires. It was the first round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....


MON
1956 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1956 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1956 at Monaco. It was the second round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....


500
1956 Indianapolis 500
The 1956 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Wednesday, May 30, 1956 at Indianapolis. It was the third round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....


BEL
1956 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1956 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 June 1956 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was the fourth round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....


FRA
1956 French Grand Prix
The 1956 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 1956 at Reims. It was the fifth round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 2:23.3...


Ret
GBR
1956 British Grand Prix
The 1956 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1956 at Silverstone. It was the sixth round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :...


2 †
GER
1956 German Grand Prix
The 1956 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 5 August 1956 at Nürburgring. It was the seventh round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 9:51.2...


Ret
ITA
1956 Italian Grand Prix
The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 1956 at Monza. It was the eighth and final round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....


Ret
15th 3
1957
1957 Formula One season
The 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...

Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 D50A
Lancia D50
The Lancia D50 was a Formula One racing car designed by Vittorio Jano for Lancia in 1954. The car's design made use of many innovative features, such as the use of the engine as a stressed chassis member, the off-centre positioning of the engine to allow a lower overall height, and pannier fuel...

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 V8
ARG
1957 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1957 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 January 1957 at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez. It was the first round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship.- Race report :...


5 *
MON
1957 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 May 1957 at Monaco. It was the second round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship.- Race report :...


500
1957 Indianapolis 500
The 1957 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Thursday, May 30, 1957 at Indianapolis. The event was the third round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship and the first round of the 1957 USAC Championship Car season.- Classification :- Notes :...


FRA
1957 French Grand Prix
The 1957 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 July 1957 at Rouen-Les-Essarts. It was the fourth round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship.-Classification:-Notes:* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 2:21.5...


GBR
1957 British Grand Prix
The 1957 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 20 July 1957 at the Aintree Circuit, near Liverpool. It was the tenth British Grand Prix, and the fifth World Championship race of the 1957 Formula One season. The race was won by Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks, who shared driving...


GER
1957 German Grand Prix
The 1957 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 August 1957 at Nürburgring. It was the sixth round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship. The 22 lap race was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, and is often cited as one of the greatest victories in racing history...


GER
1957 Pescara Grand Prix
The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 18 August 1957, at the Pescara Circuit near Pescara in Italy. The race was the seventh, and penultimate round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship. The race, which was the only Formula One race at the track, is best remembered for...


ITA
1957 Italian Grand Prix
The 1957 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 8 September 1957 at Monza. It was the eighth and final round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship.-Classification:-Notes:* Pole position: Stuart Lewis-Evans - 1:42.4...


20th 1

Indicates Shared Drive with Peter Collins
Peter Collins (racing driver)
Peter John Collins was a Formula One driver from England. He participated in 35 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He won 3 races, achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 47 championship points....

* Indicates Shared Drive with José Froilán González
José Froilán González
José Froilán González is an Argentine former racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One debut for Scuderia Achille Varzi in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix...


External links

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