Johnny Cecotto

Johnny Cecotto

Nation:	Venezuela
Formula 1 world championship
First start:	1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last start:	1984 USA Grand Prix
Constructors
1983  Theodore 1984  Toleman
statistics
World Cup balance:	WM-19. ( 1983 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 18th - - -
World Cup points :	1
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto Persello (born January 25, 1956 in Caracas , Venezuela ) is a former Venezuelan motor sportsman . He won the motorcycle world championship and several touring car titles once in his career .

Career

Johnny Cecotto began motorcycling at the age of 16 and was signed to a Yamaha team shortly afterwards . In the following two years he won the title of Venezuelan champion in the 350cc class. In 1975 he started his international career in the motorcycle world championship and immediately won the title in the 350cc class. In the following years he achieved other good placements and won a few races, but he had to pause again and again due to injuries. In 1978 Cecotto won the Formula 750 World Championship on a Yamaha .

Johnny Cecotto 1976 on a Yamaha

Johnny Cecotto in the Toleman TG184 at the 1984 USA Grand Prix

In 1980, Cecotto got into a formula car for the first time and drove for three years in Formula 2 , where he won several races, in 1983 he got a contract with the Theodore Ford team in Formula 1 . However, he could not achieve success in an inferior car and only one year later he moved to Toleman , where he became a teammate of Ayrton Senna . In qualifying for the British Grand Prix , Cecotto broke both legs in an accident in the TG184 , which meant the end of his Formula 1 career and made him pause for a long time. After that he drove a few years individual races or championships in Europe.

In 1988, Cecotto's career began in Germany when he was given a DTM cockpit at Mercedes . In 1989 he won the Italian Touring Car Championship in a BMW M3 and from that year until 1992 he also drove in the DTM for BMW. In 1992 he won the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring with his two team-mates Christian Danner and Marc Duez, also with BMW. A year later, he won the ADAC GT Cup for the Bavarian automobile company. Just one year later, Cecotto celebrated his next title for BMW, this time in the newly introduced Super Touring Car Cup . He was able to win this title again four years later after having driven in other series in the meantime. After this success he withdrew more and more from racing and only contested individual races. Since 2001 he has been driving again for Irmscher in the new V8 Star series. There he secured the title in the first two years. In 2003 he finally ended his professional career and since then has only competed in invitation or charity races .

Johnny Cecotto is a second married and has a daughter and two sons. Today he lives with his family in Italy. His son Johnny Jr. , who was born in 1989, started motorsport himself in 2002.

Others

In honor of Cecotto, BMW built the M3 “Cecotto” in a special edition of the E30 limited to 505 units . The car had an increased output of 215 hp instead of 195 hp (Switzerland 211 hp) and some additional equipment.

statistics

successes

• 1973: Venezuelan motorcycle champion
• 1974: Venezuelan motorcycle champion
• 1975 : Victory in the Imola 200 mile race
• 1975 : 350 cm³ world champion
• 1976 : 350 cc vice world champion and victory at the Daytona 200
• 1978 : Victory in the Imola 200 mile race and Formula 750 world champion
• 1978 : 500 cm³ World Cup third
• 1979 : Third in the Formula 750 World Championship
• 1980: Victory in the Imola 200 mile race
• 1986: Victory at the Macau Grand Prix in a BMW M3
• 1989: Italian touring car champion
• 1992: Overall winner of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring
• 1993: Overall winner in the ADAC -GT-Cup
• 1994: Overall winner in the Super Touring Car Cup
• 1998: Overall winner in the Super Touring Car Cup
• 2001: Overall winner of the V8 STAR series
• 2002: Overall winner of the V8 STAR series
• 14 Grand Prix victories in the motorcycle world championship
• 14 wins in Formula 750

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1981	BMW France	BMW M1	Philippe Alliot	Bernard Darniche	Rank 16
1996	Team Bigazzi SRL	McLaren F1 GTR	Nelson Piquet	Danny Sullivan	Rank 8
1998	Team BMW Motorsport	BMW V12 LM	Pierluigi Martini	Joachim Winkelhock	failure	Wheel bearings

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2002	Team Olive Garden	Ferrari 550 Maranello	Domenico Schiattarella	Emanuele Naspetti	failure	drive shaft
2003	Team Olive Garden	Ferrari 550 Maranello	Domenico Schiattarella	Emanuele Naspetti	failure	Gearbox damage

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th
1981	BMW Italia BMW France	BMW M1	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
					DNF					16

Awards

• ADAC Motorsportman of the Year 1994

Web links

Commons : Johnny Cecotto  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Johnny Cecotto on the official website of the motorcycle world championship (English).