The room named after Emilio Materassi, Bugatti racing driver born in Borgo San Lorenzo. Two single beds on the first floor, shared bathroom, perfect for friends travelling together.
Book now →Emilio Materassi was born in Borgo San Lorenzo on 27 October 1894. At fourteen he worked as an apprentice in a rope-making shop; at eighteen he volunteered for the army. After the front, he was hired as a bus driver on the SITA Florence–Borgo San Lorenzo line.
According to Cesare De Agostini's biography Emilio Materassi (Giorgio Nada Editore, 2007), he was dismissed for driving too fast on the Apennine bends. He moved to motor racing. In 1927, at the wheel of a Bugatti 35B, he won the Targa Florio — the Madonie mountain road race — in 7h 35′ 55″. In the same year he founded Scuderia Materassi, one of Italy's first private racing teams.
He died on 9 September 1928 during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. His Talbot 700 went off the main straight, broke through the fencing and hit the crowd: 22 spectators were killed, along with Materassi. It was the worst accident in motorsport history up to that date. In Borgo San Lorenzo the main square bears his name.
The Mugello International Circuit, built in 1974 at Scarperia, named its Turn 4 after Materassi: a right-hand bend taken in fifth gear at around 230 km/h. The circuit has hosted the Italian MotoGP Grand Prix since 2008. It is about 12 km by car from the house.
Ten dry laps at Mugello are worth a thousand in Abu Dhabi.— Mark Webber, Formula 1 driver