Pierluigi Martini

Pierluigi Martini

Born	23 April 1961 (1961-04-23) (age 50)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1984–1985, 1988–1995
Teams	Toleman, Minardi, Scuderia Italia
Races	124 (119 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	18
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1984 Italian Grand Prix
Last race	1995 German Grand Prix

Pierluigi Martini (born April 23, 1961 in Lugo) is an Italian former racing driver.

Career

Martini driving for Minardi at the 1994 British Grand Prix.

Martini driving for Minardi at the 1995 British Grand Prix.

Martini's uncle, Giancarlo, raced during the 1970s, including some non-championship races in a Ferrari 312T entered by Scuderia Everest, a team owned by Giancarlo Minardi. Pierluigi's younger brother, Oliver, is also a racing driver.^[1]

Martini participated in 124 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 9, 1984 substituting for Ayrton Senna at the Toleman team. He scored a total of 18 championship points and was synonymous with the Minardi team (run by the same Giancarlo Minardi who had previously owned Scuderia Everest). Indeed, aside from a single outing with Toleman and a one-season dalliance with Scuderia Italia, Martini's entire career was spent with the Italian outfit. He raced with the minnow team in three different stints, drove for them on their debut in 1985, scored their first point in the 1988 Detroit Grand Prix, their only front-row start at the 1990 United States Grand Prix (aided by special Pirelli tyres; several of their other drivers had surprise qualifying results that day), their only lap leading a race in the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix, and their joint-best F1 result of 4th.

After Formula One, Martini started a successful sportscar career. His first race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 1996 with a Porsche run by Joest Racing. 1997 brought a fourth place finish in a Porsche 911 GT1 which he also raced in the FIA GT Championship that year. In 1998, he joined the brand new Le Mans program of BMW Motorsports.

In 1999, Martini, Yannick Dalmas and Joachim Winkelhock won the Le Mans 24 Hours.^[1] The trio drove for BMW. The team had to fight both Toyota and Mercedes works cars and won the race by a lap from the runner-up Toyota.

Martini returned to motorsports in 2006, competing in the Grand Prix Masters series for retired Formula One drivers.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
						Engine
1984	38 DNF	C1	6	BP Résidences Malardeau Scuderia Jolly Club	Xavier Lapeyre Beppe Gabbiani	Lancia LC2	D	117
						Ferrari 308C 3.0 L Turbo V8
1996	26 DNF	LMP1	8	Joest Racing	Michele Alboreto Didier Theys	TWR Porsche WSC-95	G	300
						Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
1997	8	GT1	27	BMS Scuderia Italia	Christian Pescatori Antônio Hermann de Azevedo	Porsche 911 GT1	P	317
						Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6
1998	42 DNF	LMP1	2	Team BMW Motorsport	Joachim Winkelhock Johnny Cecotto	BMW V12 LM	M	43
						BMW S70 6.0L V12
1999	1st	LMP	15	BMW Motorsport	Joachim Winkelhock Yannick Dalmas	BMW V12 LMR	M	365
						BMW S70 6.0L V12

Sources

• ^ DRIVERS: PIERLUIGI MARTINI, GrandPrix.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pierluigi Martini

• F1 Rejects article
• Driver Database Stats
• Racing Reference Stats