The accident occurred on 43rd of the 60-lap Circuito di Firenze Formula 2 Grand Prix, held at the Cascine 4.250-kilometer circuit of Florence, on 26 September 1948.
While travelling at about 160 km/h on the main straight, Pasquale Ermini, who was born and lived in Florence, aimed his car towards the first 90-degree right bend, a spot where he knew there should not have been spectators. Unfortunately this was not the case. Ermini lost control of his Ermini - Fiat 1100 Sport, plunged over the straw bales and crashed against the fence, ending into a crowd standing behind it in a prohibited area. Four young spectators were killed and 16 other were injured, some seriously. Two of them died the in the following hours at hospital. The first newspaper reports indicated that the car had steering failure, according to Ermini's statement the accident happenedin consequence of brake failure.
The names of the victims were: Rialto Argetti or Rialto Argante, depending on the source, aged 14, Michele Cinello or Ciriello, 13, Vittoria Camelli or Cammelli, 35, Benito Dumini, 13, Renzo Fedi, 25 and Corrado Magnelli, 56.
Since three of the six casualties were war refugees, along with the young age of some of the victims that deeply shocked people, reaction from the local press was rather subdued. After this tragedy the Circuito di Firenze was definitively stopped and never more organized. Ermini was charged of causing six deaths by dangerous driving, of which he was acquitted several years later.
Winner of the 1948 race was Raymond Sommer at the wheel of a Ferrari 125/166GP, from his team mate Clemente Biondetti, and Guido Scagliarini, third in a Cisitalia D46 - Fiat.
Pasquale Ermini, "Pasquino" as he was known, escaped with very minor cuts and bruises. A talented mechanic and a well known driver from Florence, Ermini started his career in the 1920s working for Emilio Materassi's team, then he opened a workshop specializing in racing cars, which he also drove personally. In 1937 he was involved in a huge accident during the XIII Coppa Acerbo at Pescara, when he crashed at the wheel of a Maserati and killed a policeman and three spectators. Ermini was also so severely injured that some accounts reported of his death. He returned to racing after the end of World War II, at the wheel of his extremely successful 1100 cm3 Ermini - Fiat, mainly in open road races and hillclimbs. He won sportscar races at Genoa and Modena in 1946 and at Novara and Senigallia in 1947.
After the 1948 tragedy at Florence, Ermini never raced again, but kept on developing his sportscar, until 1958 when the marque disappeared after Ermini's untimely death.
R.I.P
