| Career Summary | Picture Index |
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| Last updated: 22-November-2001 | |
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1970-76
Hangs around, in F1 for eight years, in Italian F3 for five |
The spirit of competition, supposedly, lies in doing your best, and not necessarily winning. But as an example of sheer dogged perseverance in the face of adversity and a singular lack of success, look no further than Italian driver Piercarlo Ghinzani, from Riviera d'Adda near Bergamo. Here is a man with 111 F1 entries to his name, 76 starts, 53 DNFs, 31 failures to qualify, 3 exclusions, 1 DNS, a best qualifying position of 13th, and only 2 points to show for it at the end of all that!
Ghinzani's perseverance was evident right from the start of his career. A relatively late starter, he only took to Italian Formula Ford 1600 in 1970 and Formula Italia in 1971 before graduating up to Italian F3 in 1972. While the young hotshots climb up the ladder as quickly as possible, Piercarlo initially spent a five-year stint in the category from 1972 to 1976. |
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1975-77
Becomes European F3 Champion for Pavanello's team |
What's more, results were very slow in coming. In 1975, in his CRS 001 Toyota, he was only equal 7th in the championship with 6 points. In the same car, competing in the European F3 championship, he scored a solitary 5th place at the Lotteria di Monza, and those two points left him equal 20th in the series. It was only in 1976 that he started going places, finishing 2nd in the Italian F3 title behind Riccardo Patrese for the Scuderia Angeleri team.
There was also improvement in the European championship, where Ghinzani came 6th with 11 points, after finishing 3rd at Enna and Vallelunga and 4th at Kassel-Calden. However, in 1977, a switch to the AFPM team run by Paulo Pavanello to concentrate on the European series paid rich dividends. In his March 763 Toyota, and later a March 773, he won three times at the Nurburgring, Zolder and Imola, and with 61 points became convincing European F3 champion. |
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1978-79
Mediocrity in F2 sees him back down the ladder, but winning again! |
Seemingly having finally reached the top of F3 in Europe after spending so long in that category, in 1978 Ghinzani stayed with Pavanello's Euroracing team but moved into the F2 championship with a March 782 BMW. Unfortunately the learning curve proved too steep, and Piercarlo was no better than a high-midfield runner. Only a 4th at Enna late in the season saw him score 3 points, which left him a lowly equal 16th in the title chase.
Dispirited, Ghinzani returned to the familiarity of F3 for 1979. Not European F3, mind you, but right back to Italian F3, driving a Euroracing March 793 Alfa Romeo. Being so experienced, it would have been unthinkable for him to do anything but win the championship, and that he did, but not without something of a fight, scoring 63 points over Michele Alboreto's 47. |
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1980-81
Takes to sportscars in a big way driving with a who's who for Lancia |
His single-seater career going nowhere, in 1980 he turned to sports cars, driving a Lancia Beta Montecarlo for both the works Lancia team and the Jolly Club team in six rounds of the World Championship for Makes, with drivers such as Eddie Cheever, Markku Alen, Gianfranco Brancatelli, Martino Finotto, Bernard Darniche and Andrea de Cesaris. Ghinzani recorded a few 5th and 6th places, but retired at Le Mans.
Although he would make his F1 debut in 1981, that year he was still committed to sports cars, again piloting the Lancia Beta Montecarlo for the works Martini team and the GS Tuning team. In seven rounds of the World Championship for Drivers and Makes, again with a bevy of co-drivers including Alboreto, de Cesaris, Patrese, Beppe Gabbiani and Hans Heyer, retirements constantly blighted his efforts, including at Le Mans, with 4th at the Nurburgring leaving him a somewhat distant equal 262nd overall with 9 points. |
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1982-83
Retires in every race but one, at Mugello where he takes a great win! |
1982 saw Ghinzani driving in the World Endurance Championship full-time in the works Martini Lancia LC1 sports prototype, his car shared by Teo Fabi, Patrese, Heyer and Alboreto at various times. Unfortunately, reliability was terrible, and Piercarlo's car retired at every race but one, including Le Mans. But at that one other race, at Mugello, Ghinzani and Alboreto took a storming victory, Piercarlo recording the fastest lap of the race. That meant he finished 15th overall on 21 points.
For 1983, Ghinzani would combine his sports car duties with a full-time F1 ride, the only time he would do so. Although the Martini team had a new LC2 chassis for him and his usual various team-mates, his season (which also included a one-off outing with the Scuderia Mirabella team in their Lancia LC2 with Giorgio Francia and Paolo Barilla), proved even more miserable and retirement-ridden than 1982, with his best finish a lowly 11th at Spa. |
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1981 Osella A couple of outings, nothing special but it put him on the scene |
As mentioned above, Ghinzani had in fact had his first outing in F1 as early as 1981. The fledgling Osella team had originally signed Miguel Angel Guerra to partner Gabbiani in their two cars, but after the Argentine was injured, they wanted to sign Francia, only for the Italian's credentials to prove unsatisfactory for FISA's liking. So Ghinzani was given two drives in the FA1B chassis with a Cosworth engine in Belgium and Monaco.
At Zolder, Piercarlo did respectably enough just to qualify, and he achieved 24th spot on the grid. But perhaps the occasion overawed him a little, and in the race he spun and had to pit, losing valuable time. He ended up finishing 13th, but he was four laps down. Then on the streets of Monaco, it came as no surprise that he failed to qualify. Francia was given the OK to drive after that, but in the end he only had one bite of the cherry before being replaced for the rest of the season by Jean-Pierre Jarier. |
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1983 Osella Only one classified finish in a tough year of DNQs and DNFs |
As we said, for 1982 it was back to sportcars, but Ghinzani's F1 debut had put him on the scene, and Osella offered him a full-time ride for 1983, and Piercarlo jumped at the chance to make the year a busy one, with him also juggling some sportscar drives. For him and his team-mate Corrado Fabi, Osella rolled out a new FA1D chassis, again to be coupled with a Cosworth engine, but by this stage turbo engines were fast becoming dominant, and Ghinzani failed to qualify in the first three events at Rio, Long Beach and Paul Ricard.
By round 4, Osella had done a deal to run Alfa Romeo V12 engines, and come out with yet another new car, the distinctive FA1E. But Ghinzani still found qualifying a tough ask, and missed out three more times before finally making it in round 7 at Detroit. After that, he again DNQed in Canada and Holland, but in other races scrambled onto the grid at the tail end, his best being 23rd spot at Monza. But engine, gearbox and throttle problems meant that his only classified finish all season was 11th in Austria. |
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1984 Osella Piercarlo secures the priceless 2 points after a brilliant drive to 5th |
Licking their wounds, for 1984 Osella scaled back to a one-car entry, and Ghinzani was their man. A new FA1F chassis and lighter 1.5 litre Alfa Romeo V8 turbo provided fresh hope, and indeed it proved to be something of a step up. Only once at Imola did the car fail to qualify, but usually could be found in and around 20th place on the grid. Piercarlo qualified 19th at both Monaco and Montreal, and started 18th at Dallas. That race at Fir Park would also prove to be his highlight of the season, if not of his F1 career altogether.
In a race of severe attrition, Ghinzani kept the car on the track and came home a fabulous 5th, even if two laps down, to score two precious points. He even finished ahead of Nigel Mansell in the Lotus. Tom Prankerd tells us, in fact, that MotorSport called Piercarlo's drive "one of extraordinary skill and determination". There were also 7ths at Monaco and Monza, but the rest of the season saw a litany of accidents and gearbox problems in particular, and Ghinzani ended up in 19th place in the World Championship. |
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1985 Osella Toleman Cashflow issues force Ghinzani out; moving to Toleman he qualifies well |
1985 saw Osella keep the Alfa Romeo V8s, and for the first two races of the year retained the FA1F before introducing the FA1G. Still reliability was poor, still Piercarlo got caught up in a few too many accidents for his liking, and otherwise the Osella was still far from a competitive package. Ghinzani failed to qualify at Monaco, but finished 15th in France, 12th in Brazil, and 9th in the teeming rain of Portugal, although he was 6 laps behind winner Ayrton Senna.
Osella's lack of improvement always had something to do with a lack of funds, and after the British GP the team replaced their stalwart driver with Huub Rothengatter. But after sitting out the German GP, Ghinzani was thrown a lifeline by midfielders Toleman, who entered a second TG185 for him, with a Hart 1.5 litre turbo. This propelled the Italian to as high as 14th and 13th on the grid at Brands Hatch and Kyalami, but 4 engine failures in 7 entries meant he never recorded a finish. |
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1986 Osella Struggles around saddled with the FA1G, but wins again at Fuji in sportscars! |
Toleman's sponsors Benetton bought the team for 1986, and promptly replaced Ghinzani with Gerhard Berger, so for Piercarlo it was back to the familiar surrounds of Osella for 1986. Really running low on cash now, Osella struggled on with the FA1G and the thirsty and unreliable Alfa turbos. Though he only missed the grid at Monaco, yet more engine failures, suspension breakages and driver errors meant he again only finished once all year, in 11th place in Austria, where he was 6 laps down.
With such awful returns, it was no surprise that Ghinzani was tempted back into a few sports car outings that year. He drove a Joest Porsche 956 with Kris Nissen and 'John Winter' at the Nurburgring, and a Techno Racing Alba AR3 with Luigi Taverno and Giampiero Lauro at Spa. But the highlight was at Fuji, where in a Joest Porsche 956 with Barilla, Ghinzani recaptured his old magic and won the race, those 20 points earning him equal 22nd place in the World Sportscar Championship. |
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1987 Ligier PR blunder by teammate causes serious engine issues for the JS29B |
On the back of that, in 1987 one could be forgiven for thinking that at the age of 35 Ghinzani's career was getting a late boost. He left Osella and joined Ligier, which in 1986 had had their best season for a very long time. The French team had also scored a works Alfa Romeo turbo deal, unlike the customer deal Osella had. There was every reason to be hopeful, until, during pre-season testing, new team-mate Rene Arnoux publicly criticised the new engines, and Alfa withdrew immediately.
The team was left in a lurch, and after sitting out the first round in Brazil, managed to secure a source of second-string Megatron 1.5 litre turbos for their JS29B chassis. But a new dilemma appeared when the new engines upset the handling of the car, and caused a number of worrying and potentially catastrophic suspension failures at Imola. Instead of being on the up, Ghinzani's career was now lurching from disaster to disaster. He would have had every right to be livid with Arnoux. |
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1987
An out-of-fuel 7th the best in a bad year, which included obtrusive decals! |
Ligier eventually got its act together, but the rest of the season, which had started with so much hope, was now a bit of a lost cause. Piercarlo was left wallowing in the lower midfield again, qualifying 8 times in the 17-20 range. Again there was an endless stream of mechanical failures, and Ghinzani only ended up with two 12th place and two 8th place finishes to show for his year, although he was classified 7th in Belgium despite having run out of fuel.
During the year Ghinzani also had a brush with officialdom. In Britain, he stopped on the track during Saturday qualifying, out of fuel. The Ligier mechanics rushed out onto the track, refuelled him and gave him a push-start. This was, of course, totally illegal. Worse still, Ghinzani then failed to see the end-of-session chequered flag and pressed on. He, in turn, blamed this on the decals stuck onto his visor! Nonetheless Ligier were fined $US2,000 and Ghinzani banned from starting. |
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1988 Zakspeed Two 14ths the highlight of yet another F1 venture mirage, with 7 DNQs |
1987 had also seen Piercarlo's last outing in sports cars, in a Joest Porsche 962C at Monza with Klaus Ludwig. But for 1988, he was once again on the move, leaving Ligier and joining Zakspeed, the German team which planned to run its own 1.5 litre turbo in their 881 chassis. Ghinzani found himself paired next to Bernd Schneider. While at some tracks the Zakspeed could prove moderately competitive, at some other places it could also be hopelessly off the pace.
The result was yet another virtually fruitless year. Ghinzani qualified 18th in Mexico and 16th in Italy, but otherwise failed to make the grade 7 times, including three in a row late in the season. Once again he was excluded from a race meet, this time in France, where he missed a weight check. Yet again engine problems were a recurring nightmare in races. In the end the Italian could record no more than a 15th place finish in Mexico, and two 14ths in Canada and Germany. |
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1989 Osella Both he and Larini are forced to pre-qualify, but Ghinzani was not happy about it! |
Even if he had been well regarded as an able and not untalented driver, the fact was that Ghinzani had never been in a good car. Keeping this record intact, for 1989 it was back to Osella, who were, it seems happy to have him once more. He piloted their brand new FA1M with a Cosworth V8 engine, turbos having been banned. However, both he and his team-mate Nicola Larini were consigned to pre-qualifying. Notably, this system of weeding out slower cars early in the weekend was something Ghinzani was bitterly and vocally opposed to.
In the first nine events of the year, despite the developing quality of Pirelli's qualifying tyres, Ghinzani never survived the pre-qualifying chop, and in Mexico he was excluded yet again for missing a weight check. Having said that, he only missed the cut in Monaco by 0.021 of a second, and in San Marino and Germany, despite pre-qualifying only 7th and 8th respectively, he set times which would have put him on the grid had he actually been in qualifying proper - a ridiculous set of circumstances. |
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1989
Best showing of the year comes in his final race, but Piquet give him a going-away present |
Finally, in Hungary he pre-qualified 2nd, and then proceeded to make it onto the grid in 22nd spot, although electrical problems cut his race short. He then recorded another 3 DNPQs, but in Italy, he yet again set a time which would have been good enough to make the race, in 25th spot. He then made it through pre-qualifying in Spain, and qualified 25th before succumbing to a gearbox failure in the race. Another DNPQ in Japan was followed by the announcement that he would retire at year's end.
And in Adelaide, he managed to go out with a bang. He pre-qualified 3rd, and then qualified a sensational 21st, an achievement which saw him doused by champagne by his crew. But in the race, held in heavy rain, he was slammed from behind by Nelson Piquet's Lotus. Ghinzani's rear-right wheel climbed up the Lotus' nose and hit Piquet in the helmet. When his Osella came to a stop, he got out gingerly, and hopped to the side of the track, his ankle injured. Not a nice way to go out. |
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1992-97
Forms his own team to run in Italian F3 with some success |
With his F1 record for the fewest points per entry (0.018pts) not looking under threat for a very very long time, Ghinzani hung up his helmet and embarked upon a new venture that kept him involved in motor racing. In 1992 he set up Team Ghinzani, to run in the Italian F3 championship, and help to bring up new talented Italian drivers. It made its debut in 1994 and set new standards of professionalism. The team used Dallara chassis and, variously, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, BMW and Mugen Honda engines.
In six years in Italian F3, the team scored 58 podium finishes. In 1994, Luca Rangoni was 4th overall, and Danilo Tomassini 20th. The next year, Maurizio Mediani was 9th, and Paolo Ruberti 13th. Ruberti continued with the team into 1996 and 1997, coming 4th and 3rd respectively, while Niki Cadei was 17th in 1996 and 5th in 1997, with Michele Gasparini also coming 9th in 1997. |
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1998-2001
Unhappy with Italian F3, Ghinzani now runs both German F3 and Euro3000 |
In 1998, Ghinzani driver Paolo Montin finished 2nd overall, losing out to Donny Crevels by just 12 points. Three different drivers shared the other car. Then in 1999 Michele Spoldi was 4th and Davide Uboldi was 7th. But by this stage, Ghinzani was disappointed with the coverage his sponsors were getting from the Italian F3 series, started to look elsewhere, and at the end of the year, he ran Ruberti in the last round of the Italian F3000 series, where Paolo came 3rd.
That was enough to entice Ghinzani to enter that championship in 2000 with a number of different drivers. Meanwhile he also entered the German F3 championship, where Alexander Müller came 2nd and Bjord Wirdheim 14th. For 2001, Müller graduated up to the new Euro3000 championship for Ghinzani alongside Armin Pörnbacher, while the team continued in German F3, running Gottfried Grasser and Fabrizio del Monte. |
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