Enrico Platé

Enrico was born in Milan, Italy in 1909. Despite his Italian heritage, Plate became a nationalized Swiss and, in fact, would be officially listed as a Swiss entrant when he started racing. Racing, however, was not what Enrico started out doing. In fact, Enrico began his involvement with motor sports as a mechanic. Not surprisingly, however, Enrico was taken by the idea of being a racing driver instead of just a mechanic. Enrico's first race was in 1936, the voiturette Grand Prix of Milan. Plate drove a Maserati 4CM in the event and started from the 3rd row. The grid was three cars wide and consisted of only 12 entrants. Despite all that is known about Enrico's disappointing racing career, it actually didn't start out all that badly. Although finishing the race three laps down to Trossi, who won the race, Plate crossed the line to finish the race 6th. There have been many world class drivers who had a worse first race. Plate didn't take part in any grand prix or sports car races in 1937, but in 1938, Enrico would experience one of his greatest finishes as a racing driver, but, it would be the only highlight for the Italian/Swiss driver the whole year. Enrico suffered from two DNFs, one at the Grand Prix of Tripoli and, then, another at the Targa Florio. Both races were voiturette races. In August, Enrico competed in another voiturette race at the Swiss Grand Prix. This event was comprised of two heat races followed by a final race. Plate drove a Maserati 6CM for Gruppo Volta in heat 2. Unfortunately, Enrico finished his heat race 10th, two laps down to heat winner Mays in his ERA. This result disqualified Enrico from taking part in the final race. In September of '38, Plate went to Modena to take part in the Modena Grand Prix. Some of the big names of grand prix racing at the time were present: Villoresi, Biondetti and Cortese. Enrico proved he was not truly fast enough to compete as he started the race from second-to-last on the grid. However, it isn't always the fastest who win or do the best. It is about finishing and being fast. While Enrico wasn't fast he finished the race. Enrico was the last running car on the track but it resulted in the best result of his racing career to that point. Plate finished the race 4th, seven laps down to Cortese who won the race. Although Enrico scored the best result of his career the year before, one of his better results took place at the Grand Prix of Tripoli the next year. Twenty-nine entrants took part in the race. No fewer than twenty-two entrants were driving either works or privately entered Maseratis of all types of models, from the 6CM to the 4CL. Alfa Romeo teams brought a total of six 158 Alfetta's. And Daimler-Benz, though greatly outnumbered, brought two Mercedes W165s. A great battle was expected, but due to the oppressive heat, Italian-after-Italian made car began to fail while the outnumbered W165s disappeared into the distance. Ten, out of the original number of twenty-two Maseratis, made it to the finish. And although seemingly not that special of a result, Enrico's 12th place finish, considering the conditions, was a rather good result. He was able to do something other drivers like Farina, Villoresi, Biondetti and Cortese could not do, and that was, finish. The only other highlights for Plate in 1939 came in his next two races. Enrico scored a 6th place finish at the Targa Florio, held in Palermo. After starting the race dead last, Plate drove carefully and consistently around the 3.5 miles circuit in his Maserati 6CM and finished the race two laps down to Ghersi who won the race for Scuderia Torino, also driving a Maserati 6CM. At the Grand Prix of Naples, Plate started the race second-to-last, but was able to finish the race 9th. Enrico took part in three other races throughout the remainder of 1939, including the Coppa Ciano and Acerbo junior races, but suffered from DNFs in each of the three races. Almost immediately the decision by Enrico to concentrate more