The history of motorsport is rife with near mythical characters that, with time, have become seemingly well-known names, yet very little is actually known about their life and story. One of the more exotic and colorful of these characters is the Marquis Alfonso “Fon” de Portago. While many know of his tragic accident in the 1957 Mille Miglia that killed himself, co-driver Ed Nelson and, to some extent, the Mille Miglia itself, few know the true story of this Spanish aristocrat and sportsman, who excelled as a horseman and competed in, and nearly won, the 1956 Olympic Two-man Bobsled despite very little previous experience. Of course, with the money and the sportsman’s lifestyle came the women, adding a very complicated, but interesting, additional dimension to Portago’s history and legend.
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