Luigi “Gino” Valenzano was born in Asti on 08-24-1920, he attended the Liceo d'Azeglio, in the same class as Gianni Agnelli, the "Lawyer", and made friends with Gianni Lancia, son of Vincenzo Lancia. Since childhood he has been attracted to cars. During the Second World War he was deported to Mauthausen and Schwechat before being liberated by the Americans on May 5, 1945. He began his career with uphill racing, first using a small single-seater with a trellis frame, then Enrico Nardi entrusted him with a single-seater with BMW motorcycle engine. Very soon he was noticed by Carlo Abarth and became the official driver of the Marca dello Scorpione. One day he meets his former schoolmate Gianni Lancia, who offers him to race with his cars, it's time for the Aurelia B20s, which amaze the world with their performance. He participates in the most prestigious races such as the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Rally del Sestriere, the 6 Hours of Pescara and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Following Lancia's decision to retire from racing, Gino switched to Maserati in 1955 while racing at Le Mans. The death of his brother Piero during the Coppa delle Dolomiti in 1955 is a severe blow and Gino immediately decides to retire from sports. After that he is involved in another passion of his: the film industry, and will successfully deal with the distribution of films and the management of its cinemas in Turin and Piedmont. Luigi “Gino” Valenzano, died on 28-5-2011 at the age of 91.

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