Maserati celebrated the 80th birthday of Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman ever to get behind the wheel of a Formula One racing car. For the event a dinner had been organised at the Ristorante Bianca in Modena, where Mrs de Filippis - with her husband Theo Huscheck by her side - greeted her friends and former “colleagues” from the racetracks.

For this important occasion the House of the Trident bestowed a homage to her career in the most prestigious of motor sports, where she had made her debut at the Belgian Grand Prix in the year 1958, behind the wheel of a Maserati 250F. Among the guests present were Tony Brooks, a Formula 1 racing driver of the 50s and 60s, who came especially to Modena from England; while another former racing driver present at the event was Odoardo Govoni, who scooped numerous victories with the legendary Maserati Tipo 60 Birdcage. Other guests at the cocktail party included Ermanno Cozza, the brain regarding the history of Maserati and who recently celebrated his 55th year of work for the House of the Trident.
 

Also present was Matteo Panini, owner of the Museum Panini with historical cars from Maserati, Don Sergio Mantovani, the driver’s priest, and last but not least Adolfo Orsi, Ernesto’s son and owner of the car manufacturer in Viale Ciro Menotti from 1937 to 1967.

The relationship between Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to ever drive an F1 car, and the Maserati brand has remained very strong over the years. Last July she was reunited with a glorious Maserati 250F car which she had raced during her Grand Prix career on the occasion of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Showing no signs of slowing down despite her age, she also drove a Maserati GranSport Spyder up the famous "Goodwood Hill" during the supercar batch run. The GranSport Spyder was making its UK debut at the event.