Seven people were killed during the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix when a competitor lost control of his car and crashed into a crowd of spectators. Dozens more were injured and the race was called off, though the driver survived. A few days earlier a fellow competitor had not been so lucky: Diego Veguillas lost his life in a pre-race practice session when he crashed and his car burst into flames.
But the loss of life that took place in Havana that February weekend is not the reason for the event's enduring place in history. The real headlines were made off the track when a small band of revolutionaries kidnapped the most famous driver of the day.
A Cuban Grand Prix during the late '50s matches Formula 1's penchant for travelling to locations other sports would not dare (see also Apartheid South Africa and Bahrain amidst its early 21st century uprising). The country was beset by unrest as Fidel Castro's July 26th Movement looked to wrestle power from President Fulgencio Batista, who ruled a violent and repressive dictatorship that had killed thousands of its own citizens.
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