GP2 Series

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Category	Single seaters
Country or region	International
Inaugural season	2005
Drivers	26
Teams	13
Constructors	Dallara
Engine suppliers	Renault
Tyre suppliers	Pirelli
Drivers' champion	Romain Grosjean
Teams' champion	Barwa Addax Team
Official website	gp2series.com
Current season

The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore,^[1] while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1.^[2] In 2010 the GP3 Series class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series.^[3]

Designed to make racing affordable for the teams and to make it the perfect training ground for life in Formula One, GP2 has made it mandatory for all of the teams to use the same chassis, engine and tyre supplier so that true driver ability is reflected. All but three races have taken place as support races at Formula One race weekends to boost the series' profile, to give drivers experience on the Grand Prix environment, and to take advantage of the infrastructure (marshalls, medical facilities etc.) in place for a Formula One event. GP2 visited the Bahrain International Circuit in 2005, 2007, and returned again in 2012; all other races were held in European circuits.

Many drivers have used GP2 as a stepping stone into Formula One. The 2005 Champion Nico Rosberg was hired by the Williams team for the 2006 F1 campaign, 2006 GP2 winner Lewis Hamilton made the transition to F1 the following year with McLaren and the 2007 Champion Timo Glock to Toyota for the 2008 F1 season. 2009 GP2 champion Nico Hülkenberg moved up to a Williams F1 race driver in the 2010 Formula 1 season. In addition, all runners up—Heikki Kovalainen (2005), Nelson Piquet, Jr. (2006) and Lucas di Grassi (2007)—became Renault test drivers the following year. All three earned F1 seats, but Piquet Jr has since been replaced. Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov were also granted an F1 seat in 2010. For 2011 Pastor Maldonado was granted the hot seat at Williams due to his sponsorship from PDVSA and the fact he was GP2 champion. This meant that Nico Hülkenberg was deposed by Williams. Sergio Pérez was given the drive alongside Kamui Kobayashi, another former GP2 driver and GP2 Asia Series winner, at Sauber. Jérôme d'Ambrosio got his Virgin Racing drive a few days before Christmas 2010, the Yorkshire team deposed Lucas di Grassi for the driver who often drove in Friday Practice sessions throughout the season's second half.

During 2011 it was announced that in 2012 the GP2 and GP2 Asia Series would combine to make a single, longer GP2 series.

GP2 Series cars[link]

The GP2 Series car is used by all of the teams, and features a Dallara chassis powered by a V8 Renault engine and Pirelli tyres.

Chassis

The 2009 specification GP2 Car has been designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car featured a biplane rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in previous seasons only to be used at the Monaco race. The front upper and lower wishbones have been reinforced, as have the front and rear suspension uprights.

Engine

The 4 litre Renault V8 engine features internal, cartographic and software upgrades designed to improve performance and fuel consumption. The engine produces 612 hp and 500Nm torque @ 8000 rpm. GP2 Series engines are rev-limited to 10,000 rpm and need a rebuild after 4000 to 4500 km. The valve train is a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons are forged aluminum alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The electronic engine management system is supplied by Magneti Marelli, firing a CDI ignition system. The engine lubrication is an Elf Aquitaine dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump.

Gearbox

The 2009 gearbox has been manufactured by GearTek and features an 8-position barrel with ratchet body and software upgrades as well as a new transverse shafts fixing system designed to facilitate improved gear selection.

Tyres

Similar to the 2011 change for Formula 1, Pirelli is now the sole tyre supplier for the series. The GP2 series runs the same compounds as F1.

Other parts

Brembo is supplying monobloc brake calipers and disc bells, which are exclusive to GP2.
The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degazer, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets.

Performance

According to research and pre-season stability tests, the 2005 model can go 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 6.7 seconds. The car has a top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph) meaning that it is the fastest single seater racing car behind Formula One and Indy cars. The cars are predicted to be reliable and should run within ten seconds per lap of the typical Formula One car.

Specifications[link]

2008–2010 Specifications[link]

A typical GP2 Series car (driven by Bruno Senna), during 2008 season at Silverstone.

• Chassis: Dallara GP2/08 Survival cell – Sandwich Carbon/aluminium honeycomb structure made by Dallara. Front and rear wing – Carbon structures made by Dallara. Bodywork – Carbon – Kevlar honeycomb structures made by Dallara.
• Engine Displacement: Mecachrome Built Renault 4.0 L (4,000 cc) (245 in³) DOHC V8.
• Gearbox: GearTek 6-speed paddle shift gearbox and one reverse.
• Power Output: 612 hp (456 kW; 620 PS) @ 10,000 rpm.
• Fuel: Elf 100 RON, no refuelling.
• Fuel Tank: FIA homologated rubber safety tank.
• Fuel Capacity: 33 US gal (125 L; 27 imp gal).
• Fuel Delivery: Fuel injection.
• Aspiration: Naturally aspirated.
• Electronics/ECU: Magneti Marelli.
• Length: 4,867 mm (192 in).
• Height: 1,047 mm (41 in) (including FOM roll hoop camera).
• Width: 1,805 mm (71 in) (bodywork 1,500 mm (59 in)).
• Wheelbase: 3,119 mm (123 in).
• Weight: 688 kg (1,517 lb) (without driver).
• Steering: Rack and pinion and manual, power assisted banned.
• Drivetrain: 2WD only.
• Brakes: Hitco racing.
• Tires: Pirelli P Zero racing slicks and rain tires.
• Wheel rims: O.Z. Racing.
• Safety equipment: HANS device, Seat belt 6-point supplied by Sabelt.
• Prohibitings: Traction Control only

2011 also sees change as Dallara has built the 3rd generation chassis for all the teams the Gp2 11.

Race weekend[link]

On Friday, drivers have a 30-minute free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying session. The qualifying session decides the grid order for Saturday's race which has a length of 180 kilometres.

During Saturday's race, each driver has to make a pit stop in which at least two tyres have to be changed.

On Sunday there is a sprint race of 120 kilometres. The grid is decided by the Saturday result with top 8 being reversed, so the driver who finished 8th on Saturday will start from pole position and the winner will start from 8th place.

Point system[link]

2005–2011

• Pole for Saturday races: 2 points

• Fastest lap: 1 point in each race. Driver recording fastest lap has to drive 90% of race laps. The driver must now also start the race from his allocated grid position and as of 2008 must finish in the top ten of the race to be eligible for the fastest lap point.

With this points system, the most number of points anyone can score in one round is 20 by claiming pole position, winning both races with the fastest lap in each race. This feat has only been achieved twice in GP2 racing's short history. By Brazilian Nelson Piquet, Jr. in the 9th round of the 2006 season in Hungary and by German Nico Hülkenberg in the 5th round of the 2009 season in Germany.

2012 onwards

From the 2012 season the GP2 series will change its scoring system.^[4] Feature races will be run with a scoring system similar to the one used in Formula One:

The top eight finishers in a sprint race receive points as follows:

Pole position for the feature race will now be worth 4 points, and 2 points will be given for the fastest lap in each race. Therefore, the maximum number of points a driver can score at any round will be 48.

Champions[link]

Season	Champion	Second	Third	Team Champion
2005	Nico Rosberg (ART Grand Prix)	Heikki Kovalainen (Arden International)	Scott Speed (iSport International)	ART Grand Prix
2006	Lewis Hamilton (ART Grand Prix)	Nelson Piquet, Jr. (Piquet Sports)	Alexandre Prémat (ART Grand Prix)	ART Grand Prix
2007	Timo Glock (iSport International)	Lucas di Grassi (ART Grand Prix)	Giorgio Pantano (Campos Grand Prix)	iSport International
2008	Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering)	Bruno Senna (iSport International)	Lucas di Grassi (Barwa Int. Campos Team)	Barwa International Campos Team
2009	Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix)	Vitaly Petrov (Barwa Addax Team)	Lucas di Grassi (Fat Burner Racing Engineering)	ART Grand Prix
2010	Pastor Maldonado (Rapax)	Sergio Pérez (Barwa Addax Team)	Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix)	Rapax
2011	Romain Grosjean (DAMS)	Luca Filippi (Super Nova/Scuderia Coloni)	Jules Bianchi (Lotus ART)	Barwa Addax Team

Drivers graduated to F1[link]

Driver	GP2				F1					Other major titles
	Seasons	Races	Wins	Podiums	Seasons	First team	Races	Wins	Podiums
Rosberg, NicoNico Rosberg	02005-09-30September 30, 2005 2005	23	5	12	02006-03-12March 12, 2006 2006–2012	Williams	114	1	7
Kovalainen, HeikkiHeikki Kovalainen	02005-09-30September 30, 2005 2005	23	5	12	02007-03-18March 18, 2007 2007–2012	Renault	96	1	4	World Series by Nissan
Speed, ScottScott Speed	02005-09-30September 30, 2005 2005	23	0	5	02006-03-12March 12, 2006 2006–2007	Toro Rosso	28	0	0	FR 2000 Eurocup
Hamilton, LewisLewis Hamilton	02006-09-10September 10, 2006 2006	21	5	14	02007-03-18March 18, 2007 2007–2012	McLaren	96	17	45	Formula One, FR 2.0 UK, F3 Euro Series
Piquet, Jr., NelsonNelson Piquet, Jr.	02006-09-10September 10, 2006 2005–2006	44	5	13	02008-03-16March 16, 2008 2008–2009	Renault	28	0	1	F3 Sudamericana, British F3
Glock, TimoTimo Glock‡	02007-09-30September 30, 2007 2006–2007	42	7	15	02008-03-16March 16, 2008 2004, 2008–2012	Jordan	81	0	3
Nakajima, KazukiKazuki Nakajima†	02007-09-30September 30, 2007 2007	21	0	6	02007-10-21October 21, 2007 2007–2009	Williams	36	0	0
Senna, BrunoBruno Senna	02008-09-14September 14, 2008 2007–2008	41	3	9	02010-03-14March 14, 2010 2010–2012	HRT	32	0	0
Buemi, SébastienSébastien Buemi	02008-09-14September 14, 2008 2007–2008	31	2	5	02009-03-29March 29, 2009 2009–2011	Toro Rosso	55	0	0
Grosjean, RomainRomain Grosjean†	02009-07-26July 26, 2009 2008–2011	54	9	21	02009-08-23August 23, 2009 2009, 2012	Renault	13	0	1	F3 Euro Series, GP2 Asia, Auto GP, GP2 Asia
Hülkenberg, NicoNico Hülkenberg	02009-09-20September 20, 2009 2009	20	5	10	02010-03-14March 14, 2010 2010, 2012	Williams	25	0	0	A1 Grand Prix, F3 Euro Series
Petrov, VitalyVitaly Petrov	02009-09-20September 20, 2009 2006–2009	69	4	11	02010-03-14March 14, 2010 2010–2012	Renault	44	0	1
di Grassi, LucasLucas di Grassi	02009-09-20September 20, 2009 2006–2009	75	5	21	02010-03-14March 14, 2010 2010	Virgin	19	0	0
Kobayashi, KamuiKamui Kobayashi†	02009-09-20September 20, 2009 2008–2009	40	1	2	02009-10-18October 18, 2009 2009–2012	Toyota	46	0	0	Eurocup FR 2.0, GP2 Asia
Chandhok, KarunKarun Chandhok	02009-09-20September 20, 2009 2007–2009	61	2	5	02010-03-14March 14, 2010 2010–2011	HRT	11	0	0	Formula V6 Asia
Maldonado, PastorPastor Maldonado	02010-11-14November 14, 2010 2007–2010	73	10	18	2011–2012	Williams	25	1	1
Pérez, SergioSergio Pérez	02010-11-14November 14, 2010 2009–2010	40	5	9	2011–2012	Sauber	25	0	1
d'Ambrosio, JérômeJérôme d'Ambrosio	02010-11-14November 14, 2010 2008–2010	58	1	7	2011	Virgin	19	0	0	International Formula Master
Pic, CharlesCharles Pic	02010-11-14November 14, 2010 2010–2011	38	3	8	2012	Marussia	6	0	0

Notes:

• Only Lewis Hamilton has subsequently become Formula One World Champion.
• Drivers are listed by their last year in GP2 Series. Usually they started in Formula One at the start of the following season.
• Gold background denotes GP2 champion.
• Drivers marked with a † started Formula One on mid-season.
• ‡ Glock had four Grand Prix starts in 2004 for Jordan; his first Formula One team since driving in GP2 2006–07 was Toyota.
• Romain Grosjean returned to GP2 after losing his 2010 Formula One seat. He signed a contract with Lotus Renault for 2012 and returned to Formula One.
• 2008 GP2 champion Giorgio Pantano drove the 2004 season in Formula One for Jordan before driving in GP2. He had previously driven in F3000.
• Sakon Yamamoto raced in F1 with Super Aguri in 2006. For the next year, he moved down to GP2, before returning to F1 with Spyker mid-season.

Seasons[link]

2005[link]

The 2005 Season was the first of the series, it succeeding the now defunct Formula 3000 championship. Arden International won the last F3000 titles, thus starting as one of the favourites.

The 2005 season began on April 23, 2005 on the weekend of the San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. In the pre-season test to decide the inaugural season's car numbers, the iSport International and HiTech/Piquet Racing teams showed a competitive edge. The latter team was largely funded by the former Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet in order to aid his son's route to the premier Formula sport.

The championship lasted 23 rounds, two races occurring a weekend with the exception of a single race in Monaco. It was won by German Nico Rosberg, who was subsequently hired by the WilliamsF1 Team.

2006[link]

The 2006 Season was the second of the series. After championship holder Nico Rosberg's move to the WilliamsF1 team, and runner-up Heikki Kovalainen's move to be reserve driver at Renault F1, Nelson Piquet, Jr. in the Piquet Sports car was installed as the early title favourite, though the ART Grand Prix cars of Alexandre Prémat and Lewis Hamilton also had fairly short odds, given ART were reigning champions.

For the first time, the season began on a calendar separate to the 2006 Formula One calendar, starting out at the Circuit de Valencia, in Valencia, Spain on April 8, 2006 with Piquet, Jr. the first victor.

Piquet raced into an early lead, before Lewis Hamilton came back into the fray. A dominant run by the Briton took him into the championship lead, before the balance came back into Piquet Jr.'s favour.

After an exciting championship battle lasting 20 races, Hamilton claimed the title in the penultimate race, at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, in Monza, Italy, and celebrated with a second place in the 21st and final round.

2007[link]

The 2007 GP2 Series season began on 13 April at the Bahrain International Circuit, and completed on 30 September at the Circuit de Valencia. Eventual champion Timo Glock was a driving force throughout the series, but came under stiff competition from Lucas di Grassi in the closing stages- however, with a convincing win at the last race in Valencia, Glock sealed the championship.

2008[link]

The 2008 GP2 Series season featured the same teams as in previous seasons.^[5] It was the first season to feature a new car design from Dallara, the GP2/08, the only non-F1 car to pass the 2007 FIA crash test in full.^[6] In the United Kingdom, the 2008 GP2 Series season was exclusively aired on ITV4^[7] from April 2008. It was won by Giorgio Pantano for Racing Engineering, with Bruno Senna finishing distant runner-up.

2009[link]

The 2009 season began and ended on the Iberian peninsula, with the first race weekend at Circuit de Catalunya (9–10 May) and ending in the stand-alone headline event (i.e. not supporting a corresponding Formula One event) at Portugal's Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (19–20 September). The title was won by German rookie Nico Hülkenberg at the penultimate round of the championship at Monza, the first time the series had been won before the final round.

2010[link]

2010 season contained ten rounds, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Catalunya and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.

Pastor Maldonado won the title in his fourth season in the series. He won a record-breaking six successive feature races mid-season. Sergio Pérez was his closest rival, but the title was sealed already in the penultimate round at Monza.

2011[link]

2011 season contained nine rounds and a final tenth round with no points, all of which were supporting F1 World Championship. The series started in May at Istanbul and concluded at Abu Dhabi in November.

The championship was won by reigning GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at the penultimate round of the series. Following a three-year cycle, the previous GP2 chassis was replaced by a brand new car, the GP2/11, built by Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara. The series will change tyre supplier from Bridgestone to Pirelli for 2011–13. The 2011 season saw the addition of two new teams to the grid, Carlin and Team AirAsia. Meanwhile, DPR was not selected to continue in the series.

2012[link]

The 2012 season will contain twelve rounds, eleven of which will be supporting the F1 World Championship and one stand alone round in Bahrain. The series started on March 24th in Malaysia and will conclude in Singapore on November 23rd.

Television rights[link]

The television rights are held by the Formula One Management, which also manages the rights to Formula One. In the UK, races were being shown on Setanta Sports until the channel ceased broadcasting in June 2009.^[8] Setanta took up coverage of the series from ITV, who had shown GP2 in all four seasons to date (highlights only for 2005–2007, live coverage for 2008). However, by the German GP, Setanta GB had gone into administration so UK viewers could have been left without a GP2 broadcaster, but British Eurosport subsequently picked up the UK rights to GP2 for the next two and a half years.^[9] Setanta Ireland continues to operate for the Irish market and retain GP2 rights for that country. The races are also broadcast in Canada and USA on SPEED channel before the Formula One races, while in Brazil its broadcast by cable TV channel SportTV, in Venezuela are broadcast by MeridianoTV; in the rest of Latin America, the races from 2012 are shown on delayed in South Cone and live in North Cone on Fox Sports + and live on SPEED. About other European countries: In Spain, races are broadcasted by MarcaTV, Antena 3 and TV3. In Germany PayTV Channel Sky broadcast all races Live and in Finland Pay-TV-channel MTV3 MAX broadcasts all races and qualifying live. RAI broadcasts only the races. In February 2012, it was announced that Sky Sports F1 had secured the broadcasting rights to the GP2 series and will broadcast every race live in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[10]

See also[link]

• List of GP2 Series drivers
• GP2 Asia Series
• GP3 Series
• Formula One
• Formula 3000
• Formula Three
• Formula Two

References[link]

External links[link]

• GP2 Series site

Luiz Razia
Razia at Moscow City Racing 2011
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1989-04-04) April 4, 1989 (age 23) Barreiras (Brazil)
2012 GP2 Series
Debut season	2009
Current team	Arden International
Car no.	23
Former teams	Scuderia Coloni Rapax Team Team AirAsia
Starts	66
Wins	3
Poles	1
Fastest laps	5
Best finish	11th in 2010
Previous series
2005 2005–06 2006 2007–08 2007 2008–09–2011	Brazilian Formula Renault SudAm Formula Three F3000 Int. Masters Euroseries 3000 Formula Renault 3.5 Series GP2 Asia Series
Championship titles
2006	SudAm Formula Three

Luiz Tadeu Razia Filho (born April 4, 1989 in Barreiras) is a Brazilian racing driver.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Razia began his single seater career in 2005 in the South American Formula 3 championship. Driving for Dragão Motorsport, Razia finished sixth in the championship taking six podium finishes, including two race wins. During the season he also took part in the Brazilian Formula Renault 2.0 series, finishing the year tenth in the standings.

For 2006, Razia remained in South American Formula 3, taking eleven podium places and seven race wins to win the title ahead of Mario Moraes and Diego Nunes. He also contested three races in the Formula 3000 International Masters series for Charouz Racing, winning all three of them to finish eighth in the championship. He also became a rookie driver for A1 Team Brazil in the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season.

The following year, Razia moved to Europe to race in the Euroseries 3000 championship. He began the season with Fisichella Motor Sport, but made a mid-season change to ELK Motorsport following the departure of Alx Danielsson. During the season, he took four podium places to finish third in the Euroseries standings and fourth in the Italian championship, which ran as part of the main series. Razia also contested four races in the World Series by Renault when he replaced Ricardo Risatti at GD Racing.^[1]

In 2008, he remained in Euroseries 3000 with ELK Motorsport, partnering Frenchman Nicolas Prost, the son of four-time Formula One World Champion Alain Prost.^[2] In the Italian Formula 3000 standings he once again finished the season in fourth place, taking three podiums including his first race win at Misano.

Razia driving for Fisichella Motor Sport at the Catalunya round of the 2009 GP2 Series season.

Towards the end of 2006, Razia tested a GP2 car at Jerez for the Racing Engineering team, and in September 2008 he tested again for the team at the Paul Ricard circuit in Southern France.^[3] It was confirmed on October 2, 2008 that Razia will race for Trust Team Arden in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season.^[4] He scored his first championship points in Qatar, with an 8th in the feature race and a 6th in the sprint race. In the final race of the season in Bahrain, Luiz claimed his first win, having started from the pole – due to the series' reverse-grid system – as he had finished 8th in the feature race the day before.

He signed for Fisichella Motor Sport to compete in the main GP2 Series in 2009.^[5] After taking his first point at Autodromo Nazionale Monza during the feature race, Razia led from pole to take his first GP2 win, in a similar way to his win in Bahrain during GP2 Asia.

Razia joined Max Chilton in the Barwa Addax Team for the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season,^[6] but both drivers were replaced before the second round of the championship, with Chilton moving to Ocean Racing Technology. Razia returned for the final round in Bahrain, replacing Daniel Zampieri at the Rapax Team.^[7]

He remained with Rapax for the 2010 GP2 Series season. He started strongly, finishing the first six races in the points (including two podiums), but then endured a barren run until the final round of the season, eventually finishing eleventh in the drivers' championship. His team-mate, Pastor Maldonado, became the series champion, whilst Razia helped Rapax to claim the teams' title.

As part of his Formula One testing deal with the Lotus team, Razia signed to drive for the new AirAsia team in 2011, alongside fellow Lotus tester Davide Valsecchi. He scored no points in the Asia series, but finished sixth in the first race of the main series season, to earn the team three points in its inaugural main series start. He later took his first series pole position at the Hungaroring, and finished 12th in the championship.

For the 2012 season, he moved to the Arden International team alongside Simon Trummer, and won the feature race in Malaysia to lead the championship after the first round of the championship, although Davide Valsecchi has since moved ahead.

Formula One[link]

Razia made his first appearance in a Formula One team when he joined Virgin Racing, one of the new teams for the 2010 season, as a test driver.^[8] Razia drove the car during the Young drivers test at the end of the season,^[9] but did not participate in any Formula One sessions. Team Lotus hired him as a reserve and test driver for 2011, in conjunction with competing in the GP2 series with the Fernandes-owned Caterham AirAsia team.^[10] Luiz drove in the first Free Practice session at the Chinese Grand Prix, in place of regular driver Jarno Trulli, setting the twenty-third time. Luiz also competed in the Young Driver test for Team Lotus.

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

* Season in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season in progress.

Complete GP2 Asia Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One participations[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Luiz Razia

• Luiz Razia official site
• Luiz Razia career details

Johnny Cecotto Nationality Venezuelan Born (1956-01-25) 25 January 1956 (age 56) Caracas, Venezuela Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1975 - 1980 First race 1975 250cc French Grand Prix Last race 1980 500cc German Grand Prix First win 1975 250cc French Grand Prix Last win 1980 350cc Nations Grand Prix Team(s) Yamaha Championships 1975 - 350cc 1978 - Formula 750 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 48 14 26 22 7 Formula One World Championship career Active years 1983 - 1984 Teams Theodore, Toleman Races 23 (18 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 1 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix Last race 1984 British Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1981, 1996, 1998 Teams Team Bigazzi SRL, Team BMW Motorsport Best finish 8th (1996) Class wins 0

Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto (born January 25, 1956 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver.^[1] The son of Italian immigrants, he is one of the few people to have competed in both motorcycle and Formula One Grand Prix.

Motorcycle racing history[link]

Cecotto had won the Venezuelan road racing national championship in 1973 and 1974 before he rose to international prominence at the 1975 Daytona 200 motorcycle race with one of the more inspired rides in the history of the event.^[2][3] Competing as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodified Yamaha TZ750 sponsored by Yamaha's Venezuelan importer, he qualified in pole position but, a last minute mechanical glitch forced race officials to relegate him to the last row on the starting grid. Cecotto showed impressive riding ability by passing almost the entire field while working his way up to third place by the end of the race.^[2][3][4]

Johnny Cecotto at the Nürburgring in 1976

Following Daytona, Cecotto arrived in Europe to compete in the Grand Prix series where, he continued his meteoric rise at the season opening round in France by winning the 250cc and 350cc races in his first ever Grand Prix.^[1] He went on to become the youngest World Champion ever at nineteen years of age when he defeated the defending champion, Giacomo Agostini for the 1975 350cc World Championship.^[1][5]

In 1976, Cecotto returned to Daytona, now with full support from the Yamaha factory racing team. This time, he was victorious, coming out on top after a race-long battle with American Champion Kenny Roberts.^[6][7][8] In the 1976 Grand Prix season, he lost his 350cc crown in a tight battle with Harley-Davidson mounted Walter Villa.^[1] At the beginning of the 1977 season, he was badly injured in a deadly four rider accident at the Austrian Grand Prix that claimed the life of Swiss rider Hans Stadelmann.^[9] Cecotto never seemed to come to grips with the 500cc Yamaha, having had a series of crashes which hindered his progress.^[5] Cecotto finished third in the 1978 500cc title chase and added the Formula 750 World Championship to his titles.^[1][10] He suffered a badly broken kneecap at the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring and missed half the season. Cecotto soldiered on through the 1980 Grand Prix season but his numerous injuries curtailed his motorcycle racing career. After the 1980 season, he decided to quit motorcycling to pursue an auto racing career. He retired with twelve 500cc pole positions in 27 starts, giving him one of the highest pole position per start ratios in motorcycle Grand Prix history.

Automobile racing history[link]

Cecotto made his four wheeled debut with Minardi in the 1980 Formula Two Championship. In the 1982 Formula Two season, driving for the March-BMW team, he won three races and finished the season tied for first place with his team-mate Corrado Fabi but, was relegated to runner up by the tie breaker system.^[11] Nevertheless, his performance garnered enough attention that he was offered a seat in Formula One.

Cecotto at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, his last Formula One race.

In Formula One, Cecotto participated in 23 races, debuting on March 13, 1983 for the Theodore Racing team.^[12] He had a promising start as he scored a sixth place in only his second race, however, the team suffered from lack of funding and he was forced to sit out the final two rounds.^[12] For the 1984 season, he joined the Toleman racing team with Ayrton Senna as his team mate.^[13] While qualifying for the British Grand Prix, he crashed heavily, breaking both of his legs which effectively ended his Formula One career. His sixth place at Long Beach stood as the best result for a Venezuelan driver until Pastor Maldonado's victory in the Spanish Grand Prix 29 years later.

After recovering from his injuries, Cecotto returned to competition in the flourishing Touring Car category, driving a Volvo 240T to victory at the 1986 Guia Race held during the Macau Grand Prix.^[14] Cecotto competed in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship driving a CiBiEmme BMW M3 alongside Gianfranco Brancatelli. They won the French round at Dijon-Prenois and the Australian round at the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Mount Panorama.^[15][16] In 1989 he captured the Italian Touring Car Championship.^[17][18]