Just one look at Dorino Serafini’s Formula One results sheet tells you everything you need to know, and hides everything you should want to. He is a man for whom the stats conceal a quite fascinating truth, the likes of which I have never seen in a driver before. When we talk of those who ‘should’ve’ won a Grand Prix, or Le Mans or suchlike there are names we tend to focus on. Chris Amon. Jean Behra. Martin Brundle. Teo Fabi.

And yet, despite his talent being so bursting and brilliant, the world has all but forgotten someone who outdoes the lot of them. He is a man who has led the 24 Hours of Le Mans, challenged for the Mille Miglia and undoubtedly had the talent for an F1 win.

But as you’ll see, for one reason or another when it came to four wheels, it never quite happened for Dorino Serafini.

Akin to his contemporaries, Serafini’s first love was a common one back in the rural Italy of the early 20th century, and it was one for where cars did not fit in. For him, the goal wasn’t Alfa Romeo or Auto Union, it was a different world altogether.

That world was of two-wheel competition, as Dorino Serafini had indeed began his career focusing on motorcycle racing. With Italy undergoing something of a motoring revolution during the 1920s as with the advent of the AIACR’s European Championship it was locked in a war with Germany for mechanical supremacy on the racetrack. Serafini was one of many who saw to turn an initial love of speed into a career. In his day the choices ranged from Moto Guzzi, Bianchi (with whom Tazio Nuvolari claimed a title with in 1925) to Britain’s own Sunbeam. Serafini, a Pesaro native, instead stayed loyal to his roots and began his career on a bike built in his hometown.

Founded in 1911, the Benelli company was run by six brothers who turned what was originally a simple repair shop based out of the family’s garage into a makeshift manufacturing facility. By 1919 their first motorcycle, named the 75 in honour of its eponymous engine displacement in the small, two-stroke engine was on sale. For the next decade the brothers honed their craft, and when Dorino was of age enough to begin competing locally, their partnership formed.

Naturally it was through a series of local events that Dorino made his name on what was now a Benelli with increased power and precision; they had progressed to building 175cc bikes by this point in time, and it was on the these bikes that Serafini competed for four years. A talent of his level was only ever going to attract offers from further afield, and so it was that the promise of manufacturer backing and endorsement from Bologna’s Morini and Mossetti company (who also threw in a free jumper for the Italian to wear during his races) finally drew Dorino away. It proved the right call, as at just 22 years old the Italian was a national champion in the 175cc class in 1933.

For such talent, there was now but one place left to conquer: Europe.

And just like the AIACR motorcycling’s own governing body, the F.I.M, had their own european championship attracting the continent’s best racers and builders, and Serafini was headed for his toughest competition yet.

It took two years for Serafini to graduate to the top class of competition, at the time for bikes of strictly 500cc displacement, and he made the jump aligned with the the aforementioned Bianchi. Not that they had an easy time keeping what was now one of the most sought-after commodities in European motorcycle racing on their books.

This move proved the beginning of Serafini’s peak, as victories soon followed. While his rookie year saw just one victory, at the Circuito De Laro, it wasn’t long before Dorino began truly establishing himself as one of the Italy’s pre-war greats. A year later his stock rose to boiling point after taking the prestigious Coppa Acerbo at Pescara – a road-based track five kilometres longer than the Nurburgring – and a second Italian title to boot. A dominant performance at the 1937 Circuito del Giardini, and yet more silverware in 1938 set the stage for a ruthless bidding war between two Italian giants, Guzzi and Gillera. The latter won at the cost of 2,000 lira a month – a hefty sum at the time – but no doubt worth it. In his first season racing for Gillera, Dorino took three victories at the German, Swedish and Ulster Grand Prix to take the 1939 500cc European title.

What could have been achieved next we will never know, as the outbreak of war put and untimely end to Serafini’s motorcycle career.

No sooner had peace been re-established did Dorino satisfy his five year starvation of motorsport, but this time it would be on four wheels as opposed to two. His legacy and legend already more than secure in the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, after a brief flirtation with sportscar racing Dorino set his sights on a Formula One Grand Prix scene slowly peeling off its the many plasters and getting back on track.

Fledgling company CisItalia’s D46 model was a popular choice amongst his contemporaries, and it was in Egypt where Serafini made his Grand Prix debut. Competing in the first Sehab Almaz Bey Trophy in a field comprised solely of D46s driven by the likes of Alberto Ascari, Pierro Taruffi and Louis Chiron, Dorini finished last of the runners, one lap down from eventual winner Franco Cortese.

It may not have been the explosive start his reputation might have commanded, but it was a start nonetheless.

Three more races in the Italian and French Formula Two championships with the D46 brought no success, yet he demonstrated enough skill behind the wheel to find brief stints of employment with OSCA and Maserati throughout 1948-9 alongside competing in some of the most prestigious races around. A 12th place finish at the 1948 Targa Florio would prove his best result of year – and the only time he’d finish the race in his two attempts – while retirements from both the Targa and the Mille Miglia in 1949 would be par for the course of his career thus far.

So far, it was a pretty disastrous attempt at conquering two disciplines and hammers home just how difficult it is to achieve. But despite his abysmal finishing record, the talent was still there. A fourth place finish on his return to Pescara in a four-hour sportscar race was testament to that. Little did the racing world know just what the mechanical woes were supressing though.

After more retirements at that year’s Grand Prix de Leman – held by the titular lake in Lausanne, Switzerland and not at the Circuit De La Sarthe – and Madrid Grand Prix brought Dorino back to earth. It seemed for all the world he just couldn’t escape the mechanical gremlins, and would struggle on as a privateer until the funds dried up.

Then came the arduous, 723 kilometre gauntlet that was the Giro delle Calabria. It may not have attracted the highest profile of field, yet this played into Dorino’s hands perfectly. Finally he showed his true skill behind a four-wheeled machine, blitzing the competition and winning by over 19 minutes from one of Italy’s finest pre-war drivers, Luigi Fagioli.

Two races later, Serafini committed his future to Ferrari as a works driver. That was how seizmic the victory proved.

The races then came thick and fast in time for 1950, and the first ever Formula One World Championship season. Immediately posted to Argentina to contest the nation’s Formula Libre series at the hands of Ferrari’s 125C, his best result saw him finish second at Palermo, just 20 seconds behind winner Luigi Villoresi. There was a silver lining though, as he’d beaten the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Giuseppi Farina and Alberto Ascari on his way to that podium.

Dorino’s Argentine detour complete, he headed back to Europe and the race he’d never finished thus far.

The Mille Miglia had not proved welcoming for him, but this time he was equipped with the growling 2.3 litre V12 of their latest sportscar, the 195 S. An evolution of the Le Mans winning 166MM, it was the arguably the best machinery Dorino had ever got his hands on. Dorino being Dorino, he took full advantage of its reliability and actually found himself involved in the battle for the lead. Incredibly, partnered with navigator Ettore Salani Dorino hassled and jockeyed them right the way through the near 14 hour drive and finished a superb second, just seven minutes behind winners Gianni Marzotto and Marco Crosara. Victory or not, it certainly bolstered his popularity amongst Enzo as Ferrari took an impressive 1-2, beating the Alfa Romeo of Fangio and Augusto Zanardi once more.

Having contested Formula Libre and now proved his exception talent in sportscars, Formula Two and Le Mans now beckoned as Serafini contested non-championship F2 races and returned to the Italian championship with a 166F2. Once again the Italian demonstrated his talent, beating numerous F1 stars of the day with two podiums at Monza and Geneva.

After such excellence shown at the Mille Miglia, Le Mans really should have been another brilliant display as not only was Dorino back at the wheel of the 195 S for the 1950 Grand Prix of Endurance, not only was he entered in a car engineered by former winner Luigi Chinetti; he was partnered with Raymond Sommer, who won the race consecutively in 1932 and 1933. Their car was always going to be one of the quickest in the field, as proven when Sommer took the fastest lap of practice, setting a time of five minutes exactly, a blistering time for the day.

With Raymond Sommer having contested the race some eight times previously, he was the inevitable choice to start the car. More than vindicating the decision, after taking the traditional start he stormed past a dozen cars to lead at the end of the first lap. And what’s more, he held that lead for the opening hours of the race with ease, in part due to the fact he chose not to compromise on his pace. In the days when teams would mandate target lap times so as to reduce wear on critical components, Sommer was truly racing. In fact he broke a long-standing barrier, and exploiting the cars’ pace to become the first man to lap the Circuit De La Sarthe with an average speed of over 100mph. Perhaps if the Frenchman had not given in his to his eagerness, the car would have run untroubled. As it transpired, the 195 S soon lost a cylinder before electrical issues dropped them further, the duo falling to fifth by sundown. Try as they might to manage their maladies, when the headlights gave up the ghost at midnight it was game over. Once again, Dorino Serafini had come up short – and incredibly unlucky.

But there was still one more opportunity for Dorino. An incredibly historic one, that would see him join the most exclusive club in F1 history.

Because he’d be the only member.

With the Italian Grand Prix serving as the curtain closer on Formula One’s inaugural season, and the title on the line to be fought between Fangio and Farina, Ferrari knew how significant a home win would be. And with Alfa having won every race thus far outside of the Indy 500, they were also anxious to deny Alfa a home win and interrupt their neighbours backyard party. And so they brought in a brand new 4.5 litre engine to hopefully power their 375 to victory, and in place of the injured Luigi Villoresi, Serafini was signed on to compete. He would form a trio of Ferrari drivers spearheaded by Alberto Ascari who’d take second place on the grid, splitting the two title rivals of Fangio and Farina. On his F1 debut meanwhile Serafini would qualify the most powerful car he’d ever driven on a circuit he’d only competed once at in sixth place.

When it came to the decisive Sunday, mechanical troubles for Fangio and Ascari left Farina unchallenged to take the World Championship – and become the only driver to do so in their own country – while Serafini spent the first 34 laps of his race running consistently but with slower machinery than Ascari, and with his teammate’s retirement Enzo made the call. Dorino, in his first F1 start was in no position to disobey his boss, and so it was he pulled into the pits and swapped places with Ascari. In total, his offical F1 career lasted 34 laps, but Ascari’s incredible pace saw him – and by the rules of the day them – take a podium finish at the Temple of Speed.

That would be the last race of his World Championship career, and with it he would hold an as yet unmatched record of being the only driver in the history of F1 to finish on the podium in every race they entered.

He would go on to compete in one more Formula One race in that year, but once again finished runner up, this time to Ascari himself at the Penya Rhin Grand Prix in Spain before another two second places in consecutive Italian Formula Two races at the Circuito del Garda and the Syracuse Grand Prix. On those occasions it was Ascari and Villoresi who beat him to the flag. One more non-championship F1 race beckoned at the San Remo Grand Prix, a race he’d retired from the previous year, where Ascari outmuscled him to victory.

Really, the man must’ve been wondering when that win was going to come. But as fate would cruelly decree at the Mille Miglia of that year, it would never arrive.

Returning to the sight of his greatest four-wheel performance with Ettore Salani once again his navigator aboard the Ferrari 340 Barchetta Touring, their reunion would not go as hoped. Searching to finally take a significant win on four wheels, Serafini crashed hard. We don’t know where, and we don’t know how it happened but whatever the case while both driver and navigator survived, Serafini saw fit to end his career.

And for the second time in his career, he left the motoring world to wonder whether or not he would’ve won something, anything, if not for that career-ending crash. What is not to be disputed is that he certainly had the talent for such a victory to be possible.

When we think of the greats who had the talent to tame machines of two wheels and four, the headlines are dominated by the names of Mike Hailwood and John Surtees. The latter of course was a World Champion on both, Hailwood himself a has a European Formula Two title, an overall podium finish at Le Mans and two F1 podiums to go alongside his 14 – count them, 14 – Isle of Man TT victories and nine World Championships in two wheels. Even Serafini’s Italian contemporaries have experienced success, with Tazio Nuvolari and Piero Taruffi taking European Motorcycle titles in 1925 and 1932 respectively. And I can’t not throw Valentino Rossi in the ring what with his recent successes in GT racing.

It is surely a disservice to his incredible talents then, that Dorino Serafini never finds himself in amongst that particular discourse to which I find him most suited. Yet it remains that as he found himself so unlucky on so many occasions, the praise his skills warranted have never really arrived.

No doubt Dorino Serafini deserves to be more than one of motorsport’s greatest bridesmaids.

But alas, despite coming so close so many times, fate decreed he should never be the bride.