Nicola Larini

Nicola Larini

Nation:	Italy
Formula 1 world championship
First start:	1987 Spanish Grand Prix
Last start:	1997 Monaco Grand Prix
Constructors
1987 Coloni • 1988–1989 Osella • 1990 Ligier • 1991 Modena • 1992, 1994 Ferrari • 1997 Clean
statistics
World Cup balance:	WM-14. ( 1994 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 49 - - -
World Cup points :	7th
Podiums :	1
Leadership laps :	-

Nicola Giuseppe Larini (born March 19, 1964 in Lido di Camaiore ) is an Italian racing driver .

Between 1987 and 1997 he competed in 49 Grand Prix races in the top motorsport class, Formula 1 . From 1993 to 1996 Larini was also active in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM), where he won the title in 1993. From 2005 to 2009 he took part in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Racing career

Start time

Larini began his motorsport career in 1983 in Formula Italia . In 1984 he switched to Formula Abarth and also drove in Italian Formula 3 . In 1986 he became Formula 3 champion in the Coloni team and the following year he switched to Formula 3000 , where he also drove for Coloni.

Formula 1 and touring car career

His Formula 1 debut he celebrated on 6 September 1987 , as Coloni at the last two European Formula 1 race ( Italian Grand Prix , Spanish Grand Prix ) took part. He was unable to qualify at the Italian Grand Prix, however, and dropped out early in the race at the Spanish Grand Prix.

In the following year he switched to the Osella team and was able to achieve some notable successes in the severely inferior car, with his ninth place at the Monaco Grand Prix being his best result.

He stayed with Osella the next season. In a significantly improved car he was even able to move up to third place at the Canadian Grand Prix , until an electronic defect forced him to give up.

In the 1990 season he competed for the French Ligier team, but this year too he only had a mediocre car with which he could only take a few seventh places, which were the first non-points places according to the regulations at the time . However , he was able to clearly outshine his team mate Philippe Alliot .

In 1991 he started for the new Modena team , which not only started with an inferior car, but also had financial problems.

The following year , Larini did not receive a Grand Prix cockpit and instead became a test driver at Ferrari . He also competed in the Italian Touring Car Championship and became champion with Alfa Romeo . In Formula 1, he was allowed the last two races of the season ( Grand Prix , Australian Grand Prix driving for Ferrari), replacing Ivan Capelli . He looked good but had to start from the back row for technical reasons.

In 1993 , a deployment in the newly founded Spanish Formula 1 team Bravo España was planned; However, nothing came of it because Bravo ceased operations before the first race of the year. Instead, Larini tested again for Ferrari and also drove for Alfa Romeo in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM), which he won straight away.

In the next season he was again Ferrari test driver and was even allowed for two races ( Pacific Grand Prix , Grand Prix of San Marino ) behind the wheel when he injured Jean Alesi replaced. He scored points for the first time in Imola (2nd place), but the Grand Prix was overshadowed by the tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger in qualifying and Ayrton Senna in the race. For the rest of the season, Larini competed in the DTM for Alfa Romeo again, and at the end of the year he was third in the overall standings.

Nicola Larini on a 2009 Chevrolet Cruze

In 1995 and 1996 he also competed for Alfa Romeo and finished sixth in the DTM in 1995 and eleventh in the championship now held internationally as ITC in 1996 . This series came to an abrupt end at the end of 1996 after the manufacturers withdrew for cost reasons.

Larini was the only Alfa Romeo driver who theoretically had a contract for a 1997 season. This gave him a regular place in the Swiss Sauber team, which used Ferrari engines, for the 1997 season . At the Australian Grand Prix , he finished sixth and took a point, but left after the fifth race of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix , due to disagreements with his team boss Peter Sauber , his team. The 1997 season was also to be his last Formula 1 season. He participated in a total of 75 Grand Prix in his entire career, achieved seven points and a podium.

From 2005 to 2009 he drove in the FIA - World Touring Car Championship for Chevrolet in a Lacetti . He ended his WTCC engagement with the last race of the season of the 2009 season in Macau.

Since 2012 Nicola Larini has been the official driver of the "P 4/5 Competizione" team from Jim Glickenhaus, alongside Fabrizio Giovanardi , Luca Capellari and Mika Salo , which competes in various endurance races (including the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring ) want.

Web links

Commons : Nicola Larini  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )