Bruno Giacomelli

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Bruno Giacomelli
Andrea de Cesaris and Bruno Giacomelli in front of an Alfa Romeo 182
Born (1952-09-10) 10 September 1952 (age 71)
Poncarale, Brescia, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityItaly Italian
Active years1977–1983, 1990
TeamsMcLaren, Alfa Romeo, Toleman, Life
Entries82 (69 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums1
Career points14
Pole positions1
Fastest laps0
First entry1977 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry1990 Spanish Grand Prix

Bruno Giacomelli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbruno dʒakoˈmɛlli]; born 10 September 1952) is a retired racing driver from Italy.

He won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the 1978 Formula Two championship. He participated in 82 Formula One Grands Prix, competing for the first time on 11 September 1977. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points.

Early career[edit]

Giacomelli began his career in Formula Italia, which he won in 1975. In 1976, he graduated to Formula Three where he competed with March and finished runner up in his first season, to Rupert Keegan,[1] in the B.A.R.C Championship and won the B.R.D.C. title. He also led from start to finish in a March-Toyota in the 1976 Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race. His average speed was 74.84 miles per hour.[2]

Giacomelli moved into Formula Two in 1977, working in close association with Robin Herd and the March factory.[1] He retired from the Formula Two Pau Grand Prix in May 1977, after his car made contact with one driven by Jacques Laffite. However, he managed to score three F2 wins in 1977[1] (at Vallelunga, Mugello and Donington Park) and finished fifth in the championship. He also made his Formula One World Championship debut in 1977 in a third works McLaren M23-Cosworth at the 1977 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, retiring with an engine problem which caused him to spin off.[1]

Giacomelli dominated the following F2 season. Apart from a third-place finish in the Mugello Grand Prix in May 1978[3] and a second-place in Vallelunga, Giacomelli won eight of the twelve races[1] and won the title, beating the runner up Marc Surer by 29 points.[4] Giacomelli became the first Italian to win the European Formula Two Championship.[1]

Formula One[edit]

After his sole F1 race in 1977, Giacomelli entered five races in 1978 for McLaren, when his Formula Two commitments allowed. He achieved his best finish, of seventh place, in the 1978 British Grand Prix. After winning the European F2 title, he switched to Alfa Romeo for their return to building F1 cars in 1979. Alfa only entered their 177 and 179 cars in a handful of events that year, and Giacomelli could only achieve a best of 17th place in the 1979 French Grand Prix.

Giacomelli driving for Alfa Romeo at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix.

However, the following year the team looked more promising. Giacomelli earned a surprise 6th place qualifying position for Alfa Romeo at Brands Hatch for the 1980 British Grand Prix.[5] Giacomelli posted a third-place qualifying time for the 1980 Italian Grand Prix at Imola. Three of his six mechanics sustained injuries on the Friday before the race, when their helicopter crashed en route to the track.[6] He won the pole position for the 1980 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York in his Alfa Romeo. Giacomelli improved on his opening day time by 1.25 seconds, with a time of 1 minute 33.29 seconds over the 3.37 mile track.[7] However, despite these flashes of speed Giacomelli only managed to finish three of the season's fourteen races due to crashes or mechanical breakdowns; although two of his finishes were fifth places at the season-opening 1980 Argentine Grand Prix and the 1980 German Grand Prix, thus netting him four points and placing him 16th in the Drivers' Championship.

In 1981, the car was somewhat more reliable, with Giacomelli being a classified finisher in eight of the season's 15 races - however he struggled to achieve good results until the end of the year, with a fourth and a third in the season-ending Canadian and Caesars Palace Grands Prix respectively - the latter was Giacomelli's only podium finish in F1, and he achieved his best-ever championship finish by ending up 15th in the drivers' standings.

For 1982 Alfa introduced their new Alfa Romeo 182 to replace the ageing 179, however, the new chassis proved to be unreliable in the first half of the season. In the second half, it was reliable enough to allow Giacomelli to finish all but two of the races, however, the year only yielded one points finish for him, with a fifth in Germany. Giacomelli was eliminated at the start of the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder when his Alfa Romeo collided with the two ATS cars of Eliseo Salazar and Manfred Winkelhock.[8] Alfa recruited Mauro Baldi to partner Andrea de Cesaris for the 1983 Formula One season and Giacomelli joined Toleman. Giacomelli was outperformed by his teammate Derek Warwick, though he did manage to pick up a final F1 point at the 1983 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.

Giacomelli was the test driver for the Leyton House March team in 1988 and 1989, as well as in 1990 in its Leyton House incarnation. He was offered a test driver position with McLaren for 1990 but turned it down.

In 1990, Giacomelli returned to F1 with the Life outfit, taking over from Gary Brabham (who left the team two races into the season). The car, saddled with an ineffectual and fragile W12 engine, struggled to get within 20 seconds of the pole time at many circuits and Giacomelli failed to even get out of pre-qualifying at any of the 12 Grands Prix he contested with the team. At the Portuguese Grand Prix the team reverted to a more conventional Judd V8 engine, but the car had not been adapted for the new engine and the team were unable to properly fit the engine cover,[9] leading to them pulling out of the event without completing a single lap. When Giacomelli was able to drive the Judd-powered car in Spain he found himself 18 seconds off the pace despite the new engine. With money in short supply and few hopes of improving their desperately noncompetitive package the team folded before the final two races of the season, ending Giacomelli's F1 career.

CART[edit]

He made 11 starts in CART in 1984 and 1985, 10 of which were for Patrick Racing. His best finish was a 5th place on the Meadowlands street course in 1985. He attempted but failed to qualify for the 1984 Indianapolis 500.

Racing record[edit]

Career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
1974 Formula Italia ? 1 ? ? ? 0 NC
1975 Formula Italia Cevenini ? 5 ? ? ? 45 1st
1976 BARC BP Super Visco British Formula Three March Engineering 12 5 5 4 9 71 2nd
BRDC Shellsport British Formula Three 5 2 5 ? 5 79 1st
FIA European Formula 3 Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1977 European Formula Two AFMP Euroracing / March Engineering 13 3 3 3 3 32 4th
CASC Formula Atlantic Ecurie Canada 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Formula One Marlboro Team McLaren 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1978 European Formula Two Polifac BMW Junior Team 12 8 8 6 10 78 1st
Formula One Marlboro Team McLaren 5 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Japanese Formula Two 1 0 1 1 0 0 NC
1979 BMW M1 Procar Championship Osella Squadra Corse 8 0 0 0 1 6 19th
Formula One Autodelta 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1980 Formula One Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 14 0 1 0 0 4 16th
1981 Formula One Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 15 0 0 0 1 7 15th
1982 Formula One Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo 16 0 0 0 0 2 22nd
1983 Formula One Candy Toleman Motorsport 14 0 0 0 0 1 19th
1984 CART PPG Indy Car World Series Theodore Racing 1 0 0 0 0 5 32nd
Patrick Racing 1 0 0 0 0
1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series Patrick Racing 9 0 0 0 0 32 19th
World Sportscar Championship Porsche Kremer Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC‡
1986 World Sportscar Championship Sponsor Guest Team 2 0 0 0 0 10 44th
Porsche Kremer Racing 2 0 0 0 0
1987 World Touring Car Championship Pro Team Italia/Imberti 5 0 0 0 0 42 31st
World Sportscar Championship Britten – Lloyd Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Mussato Action Car 1 0 0 0 0
1988 World Sportscar Championship Porsche Kremer Racing 4 0 0 0 0 20 37th
All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship Leyton House Racing 2 1 0 0 1 30 10th
24 Hours of Le Mans Kenwood Kremer Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th
1989 World Sportscar Championship Mussato Action Car 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Porsche Kremer Racing 2 0 0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
1990 World Sportscar Championship Spice Engineering 3 0 0 0 1 6 17th
24 Hours of Le Mans Richard Lloyd Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship Davey Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Formula One Life Racing Engines 0 0 0 0 0 0 NC
1995 BPR Global GT Series Freisinger Motorsport 3 0 0 0 0 15 115th

‡ Not eligible for Championship points.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results[edit]

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos. Pts
1977 AFMP Euroracing March 772 Hart SIL
Ret 		THR
Ret 		HOC
Ret 		NÜR
6 		4th 32
March Engineering March 772P BMW VAL
1 		PAU
Ret 		MUG
1 		ROU
Ret 		NOG
4 		PER
7 		MIS
10 		EST
14
March 782 DON
1
1978 Polifac BMW Junior Team March 782 BMW THR
1 		HOC
1 		NÜR
Ret 		PAU
1 		MUG
3 		VAL
2 		ROU
1 		DON
Ret 		NOG
1 		PER
1 		MIS
1 		HOC
1 		1st 78

Complete Formula One results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts
1977 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M23 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA
Ret 		USA CAN JPN NC 0
1978 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M26 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL
8 		ESP SWE FRA
Ret 		GBR
7 		GER AUT NED
Ret 		ITA
14 		USA CAN NC 0
1979 Autodelta Alfa Romeo 177 Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL
Ret 		MON FRA
17 		GBR GER AUT NED NC 0
Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 ITA
Ret 		CAN USA
Ret
1980 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179 Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 ARG
5 		BRA
13 		RSA
Ret 		USW
Ret 		BEL
Ret 		MON
Ret 		FRA
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		GER
5 		AUT
Ret 		NED
Ret 		ITA
Ret 		CAN
Ret 		USA
Ret 		16th 4
1981 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179C Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 USW
Ret 		BRA
NC 		ARG
10 		SMR
Ret 		BEL
9 		MON
Ret 		ESP
10 		ITA
8 		CAN
4 		CPL
3 		15th 7
Alfa Romeo 179B FRA
15 		GBR
Ret 		GER
15 		AUT
Ret 		NED
Ret
1982 Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 179D Alfa Romeo 1260 3.0 V12 RSA
11 		22nd 2
Alfa Romeo 182 BRA
Ret 		USW
Ret 		SMR
Ret 		BEL
Ret 		MON
Ret 		DET
Ret 		CAN
Ret 		NED
11 		GBR
7 		FRA
9 		GER
5 		AUT
Ret 		SUI
12 		ITA
Ret 		CPL
10
1983 Candy Toleman Motorsport Toleman TG183B Hart 415T 1.5 L4t BRA
Ret 		USW
Ret 		FRA
13 		SMR
Ret 		MON
DNQ 		BEL
8 		DET
9 		CAN
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		GER
Ret 		AUT
Ret 		NED
13 		ITA
7 		EUR
6 		RSA
Ret 		19th 1
1990 Life Racing Engines Life F190 Life F35 3.5 W12 USA BRA SMR
DNPQ 		MON
DNPQ 		CAN
DNPQ 		MEX
DNPQ 		FRA
DNPQ 		GBR
DNPQ 		GER
DNPQ 		HUN
DNPQ 		BEL
DNPQ 		ITA
DNPQ 		NC 0
Judd CV 3.5 V8 POR
DNPQ 		ESP
DNPQ 		JPN AUS

Complete BMW M1 Procar results[edit]

(key)

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Pts
1979 Osella Squadra Corse BMW M1 ZOL
Ret 		MON
Ret 		DIJ
10 		SIL
Ret 		HOC
8 		ÖST
9 		ZAN MNZ
Ret 		19th 6

Complete World Touring Car Championship results[edit]

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

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts
1987 Pro Team Italia Maserati Biturbo MNZ
17 		JAR
DNS 		DIJ
Ret 		NÜR
Ret 		SPA BRN
24 		SIL BAT CLD WEL FUJ 31st 43

American Open-Wheel racing[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART PPG Indy Car World Series[edit]

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos. Pts Ref
1984 Theodore Racing Theodore T83 Cosworth DFX V8t LBH
27 		PHX
DNS 		32nd 5 [10]
Theodore T84 INDY
DNQ 		MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MDO SAN MCH PHX
Patrick Racing March 84C LAG
8 		CPL
1985 Patrick Racing March 85C Cosworth DFX V8t LBH
18 		INDY MIL POR
10 		MEA
5 		CLE
10 		MCH ROA
22 		POC MDO
6 		SAN
16 		MCH LAG
6 		PHX MIA
14 		19th 32 [11]

Complete World Endurance/World Sports Protype Championship results[edit]

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

Year Entrant Class Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts
1985 Porsche Kremer Racing C1 Porsche 956B MUG MNZ
8 		SIL LMS HOC MOS SPA BRH FUJ SHA NC 0‡
1986 Sponsor Guest Team C1 Lancia LC2 MNZ SIL LMS NOR
Ret 		BRH
Ret 		JER NÜR 44th 10
Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 962C SPA
12 		FUJ
4
1987 Britten – Lloyd Racing C1 Porsche 962C GTi JAR JER MNZ
Ret 		SIL LMS NC 0
Mussato Action Car Lancia LC2 NOR
DSQ 		BRH NÜR SPA FUJ
1988 Porsche Kremer Racing C1 Porsche 962C JER JAR MNZ
6 		SIL 37th 20
Porsche 962-CK6 LMS
9 		BRN BRH NÜR
10 		SPA FUJ
16 		SAN
1989 Porsche Kremer Racing C1 Porsche 962-CK6 SUZ
Ret 		DIJ
18 		JAR NC 0
Mussato Action Car Lancia LC2 BRH
Ret 		NÜR
NC 		DON
Ret 		SPA
DSQ 		MEX
Ret
1990 Spice Engineering C Spice SE90C SUZ
Ret 		SIL
3 		SPA DIJ NÜR DON
5 		CGV MEX 17th 6
Team Lee-Davey Porsche 962C MNZ
DSQ

‡ Not eligible for Championship points

24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 Germany Kenwood Kremer Racing Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi
Japan Hideki Okada 		Porsche 962CK6 C1 370 9th 9th
1989 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi
Italy Giovanni Lavaggi 		Porsche 962C C1 303 DNF DNF
1990 United Kingdom Richard Lloyd Racing United Kingdom John Watson
Canada Allen Berg 		Porsche 962C C1 335 11th 11th
Source:[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 156. ISBN 0851127029.
  2. ^ Auto Racing, Syracuse Herald-Journal, May 30, 1976, Page 72.
  3. ^ Auto Racing, Syracuse Herald Journal, May 29, 1978, Page 21.
  4. ^ Sports Briefs, Syracuse Herald Journal, June 19, 1978, Page 25.
  5. ^ French teams dominate, Syracuse Herald Journal, July 13, 1980, Page 46.
  6. ^ Andretti May Drive for a New Team, Syracuse Post Standard, Page 15.
  7. ^ Formula Ones Go crazy at the Glen, Syracuse Herald-American, October 5, 1980, Page D13.
  8. ^ Watson Wins Grand Prix, Syracuse Post Standard, May 10, 1982, Page 25.
  9. ^ "Life - Profile". f1rejects.com. 13 January 2001. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Bruno Giacomelli – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Bruno Giacomelli – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Bruno Giacomelli, Italy". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Monaco Formula Three
Race Winner
1976 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 British Formula 3 Championship
BRDC Series Champion
1976 		Succeeded by
Preceded by European Formula Two
Champion
1978 		Succeeded by
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