Bruno Senna drives a Dallara F304 Formula Three Car during a support race at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix

Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993. Dallara also produces the chassis used by the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, GP2 Series, World Series by Renault, GP3 Series and ADAC Formel Masters and is one of the manufacturers in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Early years[link]

The company was founded by designer Gian Paolo Dallara in 1972, near Parma, Italy, and started building chassis for sports car racing and hillclimbing, racing in the smaller engine classes. Dallara designed his first Formula 3 car for Walter Wolf Racing in 1978. Dallara also had a brief involvement in Formula 3000 in the mid-1980s.

Formula Three[link]

The first F3 car under the Dallara name came in 1981, and the cars became particularly successful in Italy. Since 1985 Dallara drivers have taken the Italian Formula 3 Championship every year except 1990. The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw Dallara make inroads into the German and French markets, winning the German title in 1987 and the French in 1987 and 1992.

1993 was the first year that Dallaras were entered in the British Formula 3 Championship and was the beginning of the company's dominance of Formula 3. The new F393 featured major aerodynamic changes compared to its predecessor and introduced a monodamper front suspension layout. The F393 won every race in the Italian, French and German championships that year. A Reynard would win the British championship in 1993, but several teams switched to Dallaras over the course of the year. TOMS would win the Japanese championship with its own cars in 1993 and 1994 before switching to Dallara chassis. From then on Dallara would dominate the Formula 3 market, although Martini had some success in France and Germany in the late 1990s, including Sébastien Bourdais winning the French title in 1999. Since then Dallara have won every major Formula 3 title, although Ho-Pin Tung won the 2006 Recaro F3 Cup in a Lola against a field that included several current Dallaras.

Formula One[link]

A Dallara 191 Formula One car from the 1991 season.

In 1988 the company became a Formula One constructor, after being hired by BMS Scuderia Italia to build their chassis. The relationship between the Italian constructor and Beppe Lucchini's racing outfit endured until 1992, with their best result being two third places: one at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix with Andrea de Cesaris; the other at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix, thanks to JJ Lehto. The Constructors Championship results were : no classification in 1988, 8th in 1989 (with 8 Points), 15th (without Points) in 1990, 8th in 1991 (with 5 Points) and 10th in 1992 (with 2 Points) by Pierluigi Martini.

Dallara returned briefly to F1 in 1999, building the test-chassis for Honda's planned and aborted return to the series.

The Dallara-designed Hispania F110 chassis being driven by Bruno Senna at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.

During 2004, Dallara recruited ex-Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar F1 designer Gary Anderson, leading to speculation that the Italian company was working on another F1 project. Late in 2004 the nascent Midland team announced that Dallara would be designing and building their Formula One chassis which was due to be entered for the 2006 season. Following Midland's purchase of the Jordan team for early entry to F1 in 2005, Dallara continued co-operating with the team technically. However, the relationship fizzled out as Midland focussed its resources on developing the existing Jordan infrastructure, and a new Dallara F1 chassis never appeared.

Dallara built the cars for the Hispania Racing F1 Team team's entry in the 2010 Formula One season.^[1] The Hispania team's financial problems—which delayed payment of money owed to Dallara and the completion of the cars—and the alleged low quality of the F110 chassis resulted in the two parties officially ending their partnership in May 2010. The car was used in all 2010 races without any development except the graphics. They had only one aerodynamic configuration, used for all races, including Monte Carlo and Monza.^[2] Geoff Willis, who joined Hispania in March 2010, criticized the F110, saying that he was disappointed at the quality and level of engineering in the car and that the design of the car was missing a lot of practices commonly employed in the process of building a Formula One car those days.^[3]

IndyCar[link]

A Dallara practicing for the Indianapolis 500

First generation[link]

Dallara was one of the original three chassis constructors when the Indy Racing League debuted its own chassis formula in the 1997 season. The first model year (1997) was named the IR7. The cars were most notably differentiated from the competing G-Force chassis by the ovoid shape of the air intake inlet, while the G-Force's was triangular. The IR8 (1998) and IR9 (1999) were essentially 1997 model year chassis with update kits.

Second generation[link]

A new model chassis was introduced for the 2000 season. When updated for 2001 the chassis was referred to as the IR-01 and for 2002 it was referred to as the IR-02.

Third generation (IR-03)[link]

For the 2003 season, Dallara rolled out the new IR-03 chassis. This chassis would become the de facto "spec car" in the series. An aerodynamic update kit was released for 2005, which changed its designation to IR-05.

For the 2006 season, over 80% of the field began the season with a Dallara, a possible symptom of Panoz (manufacturer of the G-Force chassis) perceived lack of interest. This was around the time Panoz began delivering the DP01 chassis to the rival Champ Car series. Since 2007, all IndyCar teams have used the Dallara IR-05 chassis, although a few teams entered a Panoz/G-Force chassis into the 2007 Indianapolis 500 singly.

Dallara cars have won seven of the eleven Indianapolis 500's they have contested.

Fourth generation (DW12)[link]

Starting in 2012, Dallara will provide the common monocoque and suspension parts for the new IndyCar formulae - known as the IndyCar Safety Cell - with the bodywork and aero parts being provided by other manufacturers. The cars will be branded by the make who provides the body and aero parts, which means that none of the cars will be known as a "Dallara", unless the body and aero is designed and build by Dallara themselves. The body and aero parts will not be in effect until 2013, so for 2012 all teams must use the same identical aero package.

On 18 October, Italian manufacturer Dallara confirmed that the 2012 series car would be named after the late IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon (DW12) in honour of his work testing the car before his death two days prior at Las Vegas, with the new bumper/nerf bar section being featured, it was designed to prevent many similar single-seater crashes such as the one that killed Wheldon.^[4] The nomenclature is similar to that of the old Formula One team Ligier, whose cars were labeled JSxx in memory of French F1 driver Jo Schlesser after his death at the 1968 French Grand Prix.

Other formulae[link]

In 2002 Dallara became the exclusive supplier for World Series by Nissan, a move that allowed them to gain the contract for the World Series by Renault in 2004. Dallara was also appointed by the FIA to be the sole supplier of the GP2 Series and the new GP3 Series, giving them a near-monopoly of every motorsport series used as a direct entry point into F1.

In 2007 Dallara created a new car model, called "formulino" in order to fill the gap between karts and Formula 3. The first series to use the new concept was the ADAC Formel Masters in 2008.

Sports car racing[link]

Rollcentre Racing's Dallara SP1 (ex-Chrysler/Oreca) at the 2005 1000km of Spa.

In the early 1980s, Dallara was responsible for the construction of the Lancia LC1 Group 6 prototype as well as the later LC2 Group C car, along with Lancia's partner Abarth. It would not be until 1993 that Dallara returned to endurance racing, although very few chassis would take their name. The first project was the Ferrari 333 SP, made for the new WSC regulations in the IMSA GT Championship. The 333 SP, manufactured at Michelotto, won a great number of races both in North America and Europe. Ferrari also hired Dallara to develop the racing version of the Ferrari F50, financed by French racing driver Fabien Giroix, but the project was aborted before it got off the ground, in 1998.

As a consequence, the company secured other contracts and built chassis for Toyota (GT-One), Audi (various incarnations of the R8) and Chrysler (the Oreca-run Chrysler LMP). Later, the Chrysler LMP would become Dallara's customer car available to privateers, known as the Dallara SP1, which has also served as a test mule for Nissan's aborted return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All these cars were competitive in prototype sports car racing, with the Audi R8 in particular becoming the most dominant chassis in modern times at the 24 Hours and the American Le Mans Series.

In March 2008 the first Dallara Daytona Prototype appeared, built in collaboration with Doran for Wayne Taylor's SunTrust Racing team.

X-Bow and partnership with KTM[link]

In 2007, Dallara and KTM produced the KTM X-Bow, a sports car with two seats, which was presented in its final version at the Bologna Motor Show.

Complete World Championship Formula One results[link]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	WCC
1988	Scuderia Italia	3087 188	Ford DFR 3.5 V8	G		BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS				0	NC
					Alex Caffi	DNPQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNPQ	8	12	11	15	Ret	8	Ret	7	10	Ret	Ret
1989	Scuderia Italia	189	Ford DFR 3.5 V8	P		BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS				8	8th
					Alex Caffi	DNPQ	7	4	13	Ret	6	Ret	DNPQ	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	9	Ret
					Andrea de Cesaris	13	10	13	Ret	8	3	DNQ	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	7	10	Ret
1990	Scuderia Italia	190	Ford DFR 3.5 V8	P		USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS				0	NC
					Emanuele Pirro			Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret
					Andrea de Cesaris	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	DSQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
					Gianni Morbidelli	DNQ	14
1991	Scuderia Italia	191	Judd GV 3.5 V10	P		USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS				5	8th
					Emanuele Pirro	Ret	11	DNPQ	6	9	DNPQ	DNQ	10	10	Ret	8	10	Ret	15	Ret	7
					JJ Lehto	Ret	Ret	3	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	12
1992	Scuderia Italia	192	Ferrari 037 3.5 V12	G		RSA	MEX	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS				2	10th
					JJ Lehto	Ret	8	8	Ret	11	9	9	9	13	10	DNQ	7	11	Ret	9	Ret
					Pierluigi Martini	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	6	Ret	8	10	15	11	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	10	Ret
2010	HRT F1	HRT F110	Cosworth CA2010 V8	B		BHR	AUS	MAL	CHN	ESP	MON	TUR	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	BRA	ABU	0	11th
					Karun Chandhok	Ret	14	15	17	Ret	14	20	18	18	19
					Bruno Senna	Ret	Ret	16	16	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	20		19	17	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	14	21	19
					Sakon Yamamoto										20	Ret	19	20	19		16	15
					Christian Klien															Ret			22	20

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Dallara website (English)
• Dallara's Profile on Historic Racing
• History of Dallara in Formula 3

v t e Dallara Founder: Gian Paolo Dallara Drivers: JJ Lehto | Andrea de Cesaris | Alex Caffi | Emanuele Pirro | Pierluigi Martini | Gianni Morbidelli Formula One cars: 3087 • 188 • 189 • 190 • 191 • 192 • F110 Other cars: SP1 • DW12

Andrea de Cesaris

Born	(1959-05-31) 31 May 1959 (age 53)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1980–1994
Teams	Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Ligier, Minardi, Brabham, Rial, Scuderia Italia, Jordan, Tyrrell, Sauber
Races	214 (208 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	5
Career points	59
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	1
First race	1980 Canadian Grand Prix
Last race	1994 European Grand Prix

Andrea de Cesaris (born May 31, 1959) is an Italian former race car driver. He started 208 races but never won; his is the longest career without a race victory. A string of accidents early in his career earned him the nickname 'Andrea de Crasheris',.^[1] Though the nickname stuck, he became a more reliable driver in his later career.

In 2005 and 2006 he competed in the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired F1 drivers.

Driving career[link]

Pre-Formula One[link]

De Cesaris was born in Rome on May 31, 1959. A multiple karting champion, he graduated to Formula 3 in Britain, winning numerous events before his tendency to make careless mistakes cost him dearly, and he finished 2nd in the championship to Chico Serra. A wheel banging incident with Nigel Mansell broke the Briton's neck, and did little to improve Andrea's wild reputation. From Formula 3, he graduated to Formula 2 with future McLaren boss Ron Dennis' Project 4 team.

Formula One[link]

Alfa Romeo (1980)[link]

Related article: Alfa Romeo in Formula One

In 1980, de Cesaris was then picked up by Alfa Romeo for the final events of the 1980 World Championship, replacing Vittorio Brambilla who had, in turn, replaced Patrick Depailler when he was killed testing at Hockenheim. At just 21 years old, his first race in Canada ended after eight laps because of engine failure. In his second race, at Watkins Glen in the United States, he went off at the Ninety corner on the first lap at the start and crashed into some catch fencing at the Junction corner on lap two.

McLaren (1981)[link]

Related article: McLaren

However, the pair of races was the start of a 14-year Formula One career, thanks in large part to family connections with the Marlboro cigarette brand. Having ready access to what, for many years, was Formula One's most lavish paymaster helped sustain the Italian's career through some depressing troughs. Only during his time with Ligier and Brabham (as well as his 1993 with Tyrrell) was Andrea's helmet free from the bright red Marlboro chevron.

His reputation within the sport was cemented in his early years. Driving for McLaren in 1981, the paddock rumour of the time was he was causing so much damage to his cars that his mechanics refused to repair them. In the 14 races he started crashed or spun off eight times, a single point at Imola was not enough to convince the resurgent McLaren team to keep him on. The one race he did not start, at Zandvoort in Holland, after he qualified 13th his car was withdrawn because the team was worried that he would crash the car again.^[2] It was at this point that the nickname "Andrea de Crasheris" was coined. De Cesaris touched wheels with the Alfa Romeo of Mario Andretti at the start of the 1981 Monaco Grand Prix. Both cars retired.^[3]

In July 1981 de Cesaris and Henri Pescarolo finished second to the team of Riccardo Patrese and Michele Alboreto in a 6-hour endurance race at Watkins Glen, New York. Both teams drove Lancia cars with de Cesaris and Pescarolo finishing two laps behind.^[4]

Alfa Romeo (1982-1983)[link]

Related article: Alfa Romeo in Formula One

Moving back to Alfa Romeo in 1982, de Cesaris showed to be more capable than his latest result would have suggested. He became the youngest man ever at that point to take pole position, at the Long Beach Grand Prix. De Cesaris was also only the second Alfa Romeo driver to capture a pole since 1952.^[5] But his immaturity was also on display. Lapping the slower car of Raul Boesel, de Cesaris waved his fist wildly, only to miss a gear and let Niki Lauda get past. He crashed out later on the fifth of twelve turns near the midway point of the race. De Cesaris was not injured but flames emanated from the rear of his Alfa Romeo as he climbed out of its battered cockpit.^[6]

From this point onwards, de Cesaris was nearly always seen by most in the paddock as prone to occasional brilliance but more often than not, erratic behaviour. 1982 saw a podium finish at Monte Carlo and another point in Canada. At the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix Didier Pironi retired on the final lap with electrical trouble on his Ferrari. De Cesaris ran out of fuel at the same point, allowing Riccardo Patrese to win his first Formula 1 race in 71 starts.^[7] At the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, de Cesaris, concentrating on trying to pass the car in front of him, veered across the entire width of the track and rammed his teammate Bruno Giacomelli into the wall, taking both out.

His reputation began to improve in 1983, when his Alfa Romeo now used a turbo engine. He took two second places to improve on his career-best results - at Hockenheim in the 1983 German Grand Prix. .^[8] (his first points of the season) and to Riccardo Patrese in the season-closing 1983 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, 9.319 seconds behind.^[9] De Cesaris came close to winning at Spa-Francorchamps, after leading for much of the race before a botched pit stop delayed him and a blown engine put him out of the race.

Ligier (1984-1985)[link]

Related article: Ligier

De Cesaris driving for Ligier in the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

De Cesaris moved to Ligier in 1984, where, despite the car's promising Renault turbo engine, he did not build on his earlier success. He scored only three points during the season.

The 1985 season was worse for de Cesaris. A strong fourth place at Monaco showed early promise but the season turned into a dismal one. At the Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring, de Cesaris crashed heavily after 13 laps. He left the track at the Texaco-Chikane, a fast double left-hander. On a corner without tyre walls or armco-barriers, Andrea hit a sloping grass bank still very wet from overnight rain, dug in, and tumbled end over end. He emerge from the wreck covered in mud, but without serious injury. Still stiff and sore, he was off-form in the next race in Holland. Team boss Guy Ligier lost patience and de Cesaris was fired.

De Cesaris was in a minor collision with Philippe Alliot on the 10th lap of the 1985 Canadian Grand Prix. Alliot was forced to withdraw his RAM Racing car on the 33rd lap, after he spun into a wall.^[10]

Minardi (1986)[link]

Related article: Minardi

Trying to rebuild his career, in 1986 de Cesaris paid to drive for Italian minnows Minardi. In an overweight car with the underpowered Motori Moderni engine, Andrea did little to improve a fast growing reputation as a blocker when being lapped. Worse still, he was more often than not outpaced by his team mate, fellow Italian and F1 rookie Alessandro Nannini. For the first time in his career, de Cesaris went an entire season without scoring a point.

Brabham (1987)[link]

Related article: Brabham

At the time, the reason Brabham-BMW took on de Cesaris was said to extend into seven figures, a massive amount of sponsorship for a driver to bring to a team at the time. But it was with the Bernie Ecclestone-owned team that Andrea began to show his raw speed. At the 1987 Belgian Grand Prix, at Spa, Belgium, de Cesaris placed third behind Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson, his first points in nearly two years.^[11] He wouldn't finish another race that season. He usually qualified well, but the super-powerful BMW turbo would often end its races by exploding in flames, making a consistent points haul impossible.

Rial (1988)[link]

Related article: Rial

For 1988 Brabham pulled out of Formula One and de Cesaris was again looking for a new home. He found it at the new Rial team, run by volatile German Gunter Schmidt, the former boss of the ATS outfit. The car was extremely slimline, with de Cesaris looking awfully exposed. But, with Cosworth power and brave driving, Andrea often qualified well, and took an outstanding fourth place in the Detroit Grand Prix. He also twice ran out of fuel in the last laps while running in the points, in Canada and Australia.

Dallara (1989-1990)[link]

Related articles: Dallara, BMS Scuderia Italia

For 1989, de Cesaris moved to a team where he looked most at home: the red and white Marlboro-sponsored Dallara squad. Early results were again promising. A Monaco expert, Andrea was on course for a podium position in Monte Carlo, before being taken out by triple world champion Nelson Piquet at the Lowes Hairpin. De Cesaris lost his cool in a massive way. As the cars were locked together, he screamed and waved wildly, before berating Piquet's Lotus team upon returning to the pits. Two races later it was Andrea's turn to play the villain. After an early delay he was being lapped by Dallara team-mate Alex Caffi when he ran his fellow Italian into the wall, robbing the team of another podium. He made amends at the next race in Canada, finishing third behind Williams drivers Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese in a rain-soaked race. It would be the last time de Cesaris stood on the Formula One podium.

Dallara's promise wasn't repeated in 1990. With a number of teams now using either Ford or Judd customer V8s, the midfield had become much tighter. He was involved in a number of hairy incidents during that season, including crashing out at the start of the first lap at Interlagos, and at Imola, he forced off Alessandro Nannini during practice at Curva Villeneuve and the Italian shunted his Benetton, and was lucky to escape unhurt. He also nearly took off 2nd-placed Nigel Mansell while being lapped during the race. Reliability was a problem, and he again failed to score a point all season, even failing to qualify for the German Grand Prix.

Jordan (1991)[link]

Related article: Jordan Grand Prix

It seemed after a decade of erratic endeavour that the writing was finally on the wall for Andrea de Cesaris. Dumped for JJ Lehto at Dallara, he was signed by Eddie Jordan for his team's first season in Formula One. Always a talent spotter, Jordan had run de Cesaris in Formula 3, but was typically direct in his reason for signing the Italian: experience and Marlboro money.

The Jordan 191 was one of the most striking and attractive cars seen in Formula One. Its beauty was complemented by its mechanical simplicity and speed. Sadly at the season's first race in Phoenix de Cesaris selected the wrong gear in the short pre-qualifying session, buzzed the engine and was out.

That result was no indication of what was to come. De Cesaris was again strong at Monaco, forcing his way past the Benetton of Roberto Moreno and was running in the points when the Jordan's throttle cable snapped.

In the next race in Canada he delivered finishing a strong fourth. De Cesaris then rebuffed anyone who thought this was a fluke by repeating the result next time out in Mexico. The following race in France he finished sixth. Suspension failure in Great Britain led to a massive crash but the Italian bounced back to qualify seventh and finish fifth in Germany.

He did not score again after this midseason purple patch, but his day of days came during the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Franchorchamps. The Belgian circuit is widely recognised as the greatest test of driver skill in modern racing. It was a place de Cesaris has always excelled. Despite the pressure of being outqualified by debutant team-mate Michael Schumacher de Cesaris was on a mission all weekend. While Schumacher's inexperience resulted in a burned out clutch on lap one, de Cesaris moved through the field to take second position. He was in second position when his car's Ford HB V8 blew. A communication problem between Ford and the Jordan team meant the oil tank in the car was too small to service a new type of piston ring which used more lubricant.

de Cesaris finished the season 9th in the standings was his best since 1983, and it was more than anybody expected of the package. His speed had never been in doubt, but de Cesaris was now driving with his head much more than his heart, and a restraint that had been missing during much of his first ten years in Formula One. A fast and friendly car helped, but Andrea's new-found maturity behind the wheel was now in no doubt.

Tyrrell (1992-1993)[link]

Related article: Tyrrell Racing

Despite Eddie Jordan's desire to keep de Cesaris for the 1992 season, financial realities meant it wasn't possible. Jordan had built up significant debts in his debut season. He was able to secure sponsorship from Barclay Cigarettes, but the brand was in direct conflict with Andrea's Marlboro backing. Something had to give, and the Italian left the team where he'd driven his strongest season yet.

Ken Tyrrell was quick to snap up Andrea and his sponsorship and his faith was quickly repaid when de Cesaris took a fifth in the second race of the season in Mexico. The drive was spectacular. After being caught up in early spin, he battled through the field, even slip-streaming past the factory Ferrari of Jean Alesi.

The Ilmor V-10 powered Tyrrell 020 was a handy machine, and de Cesaris was in the points three more times during the season culminating in an impressive fourth place in the Japanese Grand Prix.

1993 was very different. The Ilmor engine had been replaced with free Yamaha V10s which changed the dynamics and reliability of the car. The 020 was by then very old and was replaced mid-season by the 021. This car, featuring active suspension, was not a success. For the third time in his career, de Cesaris failed to score a point and left Tyrrell at the end of the season.

Jordan and Sauber (1994)[link]

Related articles: Jordan Grand Prix, Sauber

In 1994, for the first time since 1980, de Cesaris started the season without a Formula One drive. Talks with several small teams came to nothing and as the circus left for Brazil, Andrea was on the sidelines. But it was an event during the Brazilian Grand Prix that revived his career. Irishman Eddie Irvine was blamed for starting a massive accident which saw Jos Verstappen barrel roll over the top of Martin Brundle. On appeal, Irvine was banned for three races. At the Pacific Grand Prix, Aguri Suzuki drove Irvine's vacated Jordan. But for the next race, the San Marino Grand Prix, Eddie Jordan brought de Cesaris back to the team where he had earned his best results back three seasons earlier.

The return didn't start well when de Cesaris wrote off a chassis during testing. He crashed again during the tragic event at Imola due to poor fitness having not driven a race distance in six months.

But, ever the Monaco specialist, he bounced back in Monte Carlo. In a mature drive, de Cesaris stayed away from trouble and away from the barriers to take a superb fourth place. Irvine returned for the next race but Sauber had noticed the Italian's form, and signed him to replace the injured Karl Wendlinger in the Mercedes-powered machines.

Andrea's first race for Sauber was his 200th Grand Prix in Canada. Although he retired after 24 laps, he was again in the points at the next event, the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. However the emergency changes to technical regulations made the Sauber a handful to drive.

The career of Andrea de Cesaris then ended much as it began, when he retired with throttle problems during his last race, the 1994 European Grand Prix. After this, Sauber kept his promise to return the car to Karl Wendlinger if he was fit enough. In the end he wasn't, but de Cesaris was unreachable on holiday, so JJ Lehto replaced him for the final two Grands Prix. De Cesaris ended his career second all-time in Grand Prix starts with 208, behind only Riccardo Patrese.

Legacy[link]

He participated in 214 grands prix, debuting on September 28, 1980. He achieved 5 podiums, one pole position, and scored a total of 59 championship points, but remains the driver with the most GP starts (208) to his name without a win. He also holds records for the most consecutive non-finishes, 18 across 1985 and 1986 (although many of these were mechanical failures), as well as the most successive non-finishes in a single season, 12 in 1987. Similarly, no driver has had more than his 14 DNFs in a 16-race season [1]. He scored points for 9 out of 10 teams he raced for: McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Brabham, Rial, Tyrrell, Jordan, Ligier, Scuderia Italia and Sauber; failing to do so for Minardi only.

Retirement[link]

Since retiring from motor-racing, de Cesaris has become a successful currency broker in Monte Carlo. It has been reported that he spends six months of the year in this occupation, the other on windsurfing around the world.^[12] In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and subsequent tsunami, de Cesaris gave a substantial donation to a sail manufacturer whose factory in Sri Lanka had been destroyed in the disaster.^{[citation needed]}

Helmet[link]

De Cesaris' helmet was white with three diagonal lines resembling the Italian flag running across the top until the sides, and a red line between two green lines in the chin area.

Racing revival[link]

Long absent from the Formula One paddock, Andrea appeared at the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, and was welcomed back with a warm hug from former Brabham team boss and Formula One czar Bernie Ecclestone. A few months later it was announced de Cesaris would race in the new Grand Prix Masters series for retired Formula One drivers. While some drivers had spent their retirement years accumulating kilos, Andrea is still in top physical condition. And in October he proved he had lost none of his speed, setting fastest time in the first Grand Prix Masters test at the Silverstone South circuit in England. Autosport magazine Grand Prix editor Mark Hughes predicted that de Cesaris would be one of the strongest drivers in the Masters field.^{[citation needed]} In the first race at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, de Cesaris qualified well and raced to fourth, after a fierce battle with Briton Derek Warwick.

Complete World Championship Formula One results[link]

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

References[link]

Mitchell Evans
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1994-06-24) 24 June 1994 (age 18) Auckland (New Zealand)
2012 GP3 Series
Debut season	2011
Current team	MW Arden
Car no.	4
Starts	20
Wins	2
Poles	2
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	9th in 2011
Previous series
2010 2009 2009 2008–09 2008 2007–08 2007	Australian Drivers' Champ. Formula Ford Australia Formula Ford Fiesta Series Formula Ford New Zealand FFord Manfeild Winter Series Formula First New Zealand FFirst Manfeild Winter Series
Championship titles
2010, 2011 2010, 2011 2011	Toyota Racing Series TRS International Trophy New Zealand Grand Prix
Awards
2011	Jim Clark Trophy

Mitchell Evans (born 24 June 1994), is a motor racing driver from New Zealand who won the 2010 and 2011 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand and was runner up in the 2010 Australian Drivers' Championship despite missing three races. When he won the New Zealand Grand Prix in February 2011, it is believed he became the youngest driver to win an international grand prix anywhere in the world.^[1]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Born in Auckland, Evans was a champion karter in both restricted 100cc karts, and also won the CIK Trophy of New Zealand at JICA level. He moved to Formula First for the 2007 season, competing in three races of the Winter Series at Manfeild Autocourse, and ending the season eighteenth in the championship. He contested the full New Zealand championship in 2007–08, finishing ninth overall and recording a fastest lap.

Formula Ford[link]

He returned to Manfield for the 2008 Winter Series, but in Formula Ford, winning seven of 12 races he contested to take the championship. In his national Formula Ford campaign in 2008–09, Evans battled with Tauranga's Richie Stanaway who came out on top by just over 100 points. Evans won six races during the season, including doubles at Taupo and Manfeild.

For 2009, Evans moved to the Australian Formula Ford Championship, and competed in the Victorian state championship. Evans was runner-up in the standings, losing out to CAMS Rising Star Luke Ellery in the state championship, and in the national championship to his team-mate at Sonic Motor Racing Services, Nick Percat. During the season, Evans became the youngest round winner in the championship's history, when he won at Sandown Raceway in August.^[2] As well as that win, he won five other races including a weekend sweep at Queensland Raceway, and a double win at Surfers Paradise.