In a time when you could simply buy yourself a seat within a team, there were drivers that left the grid quicker then they appeared on. There are drivers you probably never heard of, drivers with dreams of Formula One. Some of them fulfilling their dream in the British Formula One Championship (Shellsport Championship). However, some drivers appeared on the official entry lists for Grand Prix’s only to vanish. One of the biggest mysteries is Antonio Bernardo. He appeared on the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix entry list. Entering the Grand Prix with an Ensign N174 only to disappear before his Formula One debut would happen. Who was Antonio Bernardo? The entry list said he was Tunisian, the other said Italian. Time to reveal the story behind this interesting driver.
I believed it would be an easy research topic for this article. I have done before research on mysterious drivers. However, this was one was a case to crack which is still no 100% completed earlier 60% if you ask me. Antonio Bernardo was born the 17th of January 1939 in Viganello-Lugano in Switzerland. Interestingly is that there have always been questions about his nationality. If you look up the first entry list for the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix his nationality is Tunisian. While others state that, he is an Italian driver. While he is Swiss, he probably had an Italian license to race. Another possibility, while his Father was Italian and his mother Swiss, he obtained the nationality of his father.
Little to nothing is known about his race career. Prior the moment he appeared on the entry list for the Belgian Grand Prix. There were some leads. In the Motorsport Aktuell from 18 May 1976, prior the Belgian Grand Prix, Clay Regazzoni and Arturo Merzario were quoted about Antonio Bernardo.
Clay told there that he drove with him in the Formula Three, where he drove with Tecno’s on the track. Looking into this Regazzoni appeared in the Formula Three in the late 60s for Tecno where he was one of their works drivers. Diving into the registers there is no mention about Bernardo. His name doesn’t pop up either in the books from Paul Sheldon. Looking online in the F2 register neither did his name pop up.
Interestingly, Little Art was quoted in that same article that Antonio drove with Carlo Facetti in some races with the Porsche 917. It is Carlo Facetti that appears on the entry lists for several Formula Three races in the time Regazzoni was active for Tecno. Carlo himself also drove around with a Tecno. The first time they both appeared at the start of a Formula Two race was Gran Premio de Barcelona at Montjuich the 31th of March 1968. Regazzoni appears there as well with a Tecno PA68. During the 1968 season and 1969 season they encountered each other a couple of times. Could it be Regazzoni was confused with Facetti? It is a possibility.
How about the lead regarding Carlo Facetti and the Porsche 917? As I did the research I did not found anything about Facetti and Bernardo racing together on a Porsche 917. Facetti did race a couple of times in his career with Porsches. The first time was in 1967 with a Porsche 906 during the Targa Florio. That same year he would race with a Porsche 910 at Vallelunga. The years to follow he would appear a couple of times with the Porsches. However, up to May 1976 there is no link between Facetti and Bernardo. There was a Bernardo between 1964 and 1968 in the endurance. This was Alain Bernardo he appeared with the Porsche 356 and Porsche 906 during the years at hill climbs. It could be that Alain Bernardo was recalled instead of Antonio.
While researching there was another coincident. It seems that Antonio had a link with Scuderia Piccionaia. This team was active in 1968 and 1969 in the World Sportscars. Interestingly Carlo Facetti and Antonio Nicodemi are teammates for the team who do appear with a Porsche 907. Could it be, again, that it was Antonio Nicodemi that Merzario mentioned? Besides some rumours of being the president of a local karting club near Lugano there isn’t much known about his career prior the Formula One entry. While said to have raced in the Formula Three, there is no documentation available for it. According to an article on TenTenths.com he purchased a Brabham BT23 from Rees at Albi in 1967. The car was shortly used by Enzo Corti in 1968. From 1970 on the car was stalled in a shed.
You could assume that there has had to be some race experience on a professional level as his entry for the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix was approved. It seems that the first attempt was to be for the Spanish Grand Prix that year. However, he wasn’t able to race due to a traffic accident. Looking at the entry list for the Spanish Grand Prix there is no Antonio Bernardo on it. In early may he appeared on the entry list for the Belgian Grand Prix. You may ask, if you read all of the article so far how he obtained his a-license to appear at the start of a Formula One race.
For the Spanish Grand Prix Bernardo was on the entry with the Ensign N174(MN02) this was the oldest Ensign at that time. It is interesting to see as there were new regulations introduced for safety. The rollbar and airbox were renewed. It seems the team did update the parts for the Grand Prix. The Ensign N175(MN04) was raced by Larry Perkins for the Boro team. This was car was originally constructed in combination with HB Bewaking. However, the both were in dispute and as a result HB took the car away. The Ensign M176(MN06) was for Chris Amon.
The question is, besides the a-license, if Antonio was really serious about his entry. While this has been questioned by many there is proof that he did a seat fitting in the Ensign prior the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix at Ensign’s factory. In this case it is a serious attempt. Still, with zero to null career it is interesting he was allowed to enter. Plenty of stories of drivers that were told they were not able to start.
Time for a little reconstruction prior the Belgian Grand Prix and after. In May 1976 Antonio Bernardo is on the entry list for the Belgian Grand Prix with number 23. He is to race that weekend with the Ensign N174(MN02), interestingly about this is that the car must have been upgraded due to several changes in the regulations. A week orso before the start of the Weekend Antonio appeared at the Ensign shed/factory for a seat fitting. Photographical proof for this exists, as well are there some bits and pieces around the web confirming this. What happened afterwards is guessing. He did not appear at Zolder, nor did his Ensign, some reports state that his license was revoked at the last moment. In a reaction Mo Nunn stated that Bernardo would appear at the Swedish Grand Prix.
Obviously, he would not appear at Anderstorp for the Swedish Grand Prix. However, Bernardo appeared on the entry list for the seventh round of the Shellsport G8 International Series at Mallory Park. For those who don’t know this series, it was the predecessor in 1976 and 1977 from the British Formula One Championship. In this series a colourful field with Formula One, Formula Two, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic were present on the British circuits.
Prior his debut in this series it seems he tested a couple of times with the Ensign, it is not sure on which track. His first entry was the Ninth round at Brands Hatch the 30th of August 1976. He appeared on the track with the Ensign N174(MN02) for Team P.R. Reilly. However, he did not appear on the grid that weekend. This had to do with Mike Wilds (his teammate) who’s Shadow DN3B had technical issues in the free practice. Therefore he used the Ensign. Photo’s exist of Antonio sitting in the Ensign with Mike Wild his son on his lap.
The next race he was on the entry list for was Round 10 at Thruxton the 12th of September that year. Again with the Ensign however he did not appear at the circuit as Mike Wilds was again using the Ensign due to the technical problems that occurred on his Shadow. The last time he would appear on the entry list was for Round 12 at Brands Hatch the 24th of October. Once again on the entry list with the Ensign N174(MN02). While he did appear at the track he did not enter the race. It seems that he disappeared from the grid after this race.
His racing records are a mystery, it isn’t even sure if he did race at all in his career. No information is available, the leads that are there don’t bring up any information as you could read. It is known that he was entered for the Belgian Grand Prix and according to photos he did appear at races in the Shellsport series. However, he didn’t race. He might be the driver that never races at all!
