Racing driver Roberto 'Bitito' Mieres has died aged 87 in his adopted home of Uruguay. The Argentinian was often dismissed as a gentleman driver, but he was far more than just a talented amateur, scoring 13 points in his 17 GP starts.
Having won a sports car championship in Argentina he first travelled to Europe with Fangio and Gonzalez in 1950 and made his F1 debut in 1953.
He will be best-remembered, however, for his performance at the 1955 British GP at Aintree (main image), a race which he didn't even finish.
Before retiring, however, he drove fantastically to get his Maserati in among the totally dominant Mercedes and threatened to cause a major upset.
Like Fon de Portago, Mieres was multi-talented, participating in a wide variety of sports including tennis and rugby as well as being an Olympic standard sailor.
For the full story on Roberto Mieres, see Doug Nye's excellent article in the November 1998 issue of C&SC.
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car