26 May 2023
Four days before his death, Alberto Juan Manuel Ascari said to Juan Manuel Fangio, ‘My game is going wrong; the star is setting.’
Ascari was the son of Antonio Ascari, who was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing champion. He won four Grands Prix before his premature death at the 1925 French Grand Prix.
Alberto was known for his carefully considered and executed driving but was incredibly superstitious.
However, in almost identical circumstances, he died at precisely the same age as his father on the same day of the month.
On 26 July 1925, the senior Ascari died after crashing heavily during the French Grand Prix at L’autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, seven weeks before his 37th birthday. He had lived for 13,463 days.
Alberto died at Monza on 26 May 1955; he had lived for 13,466 days – just three more than his father – and was seven weeks short of his 37th birthday.
Uncanny or what?
