Romolo Tavoni

Romolo Tavoni (30 January 1926 – 20 December 2020) was an Italian sports executive best known for his work at Ferrari.

Tavoni was born on 30 January 1926 in Formigine, a small town in the province of Modena. He began his career as a bank accountant, working at Credit Italiano in Modena. In January 1950, the bank manager introduced Tavoni to Enzo Ferrari, who was a client of the bank. Shortly after their meeting, Ferrari hired Tavoni as his private secretary.

In 1957 Tavoni was promoted Scuderia Ferrari's sporting director, overseeing the racing team's activities in Formula One, sports car racing and the European Hill Climb Championship. One of Tavoni's early races in this capacity was the 1957 Mille Miglia, an event marked by the fatal accident involving Ferrari drivers Alfonso de Portago and Edmund Nelson and that resulted in the cancellation of the race.

Tavoni's most successful years as sporting director at Ferrari were 1958 and 1961, when Mike Hawthorn and Phil Hill won the Formula One World Championship.

At the end of the 1961 season, Tavoni was fired by Enzo Ferrari during the "great walkout" together with Carlo Chiti, Giotto Bizzarrini, Enzo Selmi, Ermanno della Casa, Girolamo Gardini, Federico Giberti and Fausto Galassi. Eugenio Dragoni succeeded him as team manager. He subsequently became the director of racing at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

After retiring, Tavoni lived at Casinalbo, near Modena. He died on 20 December 2020 at the age of 94.