Hernano da Silva Ramos has been recognised as our oldest Club member, and today ( December 7), he celebrates his 100th birthday, the first of our members to do so.
“Nano”, as he is usually called, has, until relatively recent years, been a regular attender at Club events and has lived in Paris for most of his life, but started racing in Brazil, where he was born before moving to France. He drove an MG in his first event, but once in Europe, he became a great friend and member of what could be called the “ Paris Set” of the 1950s that included drivers like Harry Schell and the Marquis de Portago.
After rallying with an Aston Martin, he was helped greatly by Amedee Gordin, who brought the young Brazilian/Frenchman into the Gordini team in October 1954 when he drove a factory T15S in the Coupe des Salon at Montlhery.
He made his grand prix debut in the Dutch Grand Prix in a Gordini T16 and finished 8th, the highest placed Gordini driver. A month later he and his friend Mike Sparken were entered by Gordini but “Nano” retired the underpowered and relatively unreliable Gordini when the engine expired after 27 laps of Aintree That year, 1955, he competed in his first Le Mans 24 hour race and was originally entered in the new Gordini T32S but it was not ready in time for the race so he was switched to a T15S with Frenchman Jacques Pollet.
“Nano” stayed with Gordini in 1956, finishing 5th at the Monaco Grand Prix, but clearly Gordini were finding it financially difficult to be competitive. The team made a brave effort and entered four Formula 1 cars for the 1957 Pau Grand Prix, with da Silva Ramos being given the new T32 but the fourth member of the team, Georges Burgraff, a former French motorcycle racer, was actually banned from racing as being to dangerous! As for “Nano”, he finished sixth.
A week later, Gordini entered just one car for “Nano” in the Naples Grand Prix, but he had to retire when the brakes faded. This was the last race in which Gordini competed as their entries for two sports car races later that year at Forez, and Le Mans saw the cars withdrawn. It was also a tragic year for “Nano” as his good friends, the Marquis de Portago and his co-driver, were killed in the 1957 Mille Miglia, and he retired from motor racing.
The President and all the members not only wish “Nano” a happy and peaceful birthday but also celebrate him as the Club’s first member to reach the age of 100 and also to mark the fact that he is the oldest living Formula 1 driver.