Durango (racing team)

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The Durango LMP1 used by Durango at the 2003 Le Mans 24-hour race

Durango is an Italian motorsport team that is currently competing in the GP2 series and the GP2 Asia series , the Euroseries 3000 , the Italian GT series and the karting Formula Azzura. The team was founded in 1980 by Ivone Pinton and Enrico Magro and is based in Mellaredo .

The team has competed in a number of racing series since it was founded. From 1987 to 1992 Durango was active in the Italian Formula 3 . In 1991 the team competed for the first time in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and also drove in the international Formula 3000 and the British Formula 2 . Starting in 1994, the Renault Formula 2000 (until 2006) and the Euroseries followed. In 2003 Durango took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race for a second time.

GP2 series

In 2005 the team decided to take part in the newly formed Formula 1 junior racing series GP2 as a successor to the Formula 3000, which was discontinued in 2004 and in which Durango was also represented until the end. Already in the 2005 season a victory was achieved by Clivio Piccione . Another victory was achieved in the 2007 season by Karun Chandhok and in the 2008 season by Davide Valsecchi .

In the 2008/2009 season of the GP2 Asia Series, Valsecchi was able to record another victory for Durango on the first race weekend in Shanghai . The second car, in the cockpit of which Alberto Valerio sat in the past season of the GP2 series , was driven by Carlos Iaconelli in the Asia series .

In the 2009 Formula GP2 season , Valsecchi stayed with Durango for the first six races of the year, then was replaced by Stefano Coletti ; Durango's second car was consistently driven by Nelson Panciatici in 2009 . Valsecchi achieved the best result of the year with third place in the main race in Turkey. Coletti only finished in the main race in Belgium; he did not participate in the sprint race. At the last two races of the year in Italy and Portugal, Durango did not participate again due to financial problems. A fine of 70,000 euros was imposed on the team for skipping these runs. At the 2010 season Durango did not participate.

Failed promotion to Formula 1

In 1996 Durango published plans for its own Formula 1 car, which should be used in the 1997 Formula 1 World Championship. Enrique Scalabroni was planned as the designer, and Christian Pescatori was to be one of the drivers . The engine supplier should be Hart Racing Engines . In the spring of 1996, only sketches and basic plans were made; parts production was not started. Realization of the project failed in autumn 1996 due to a lack of funding.

Durango competed in April 2010 alongside Stefan Grand Prix and Epsilon Euskadi for 13th place on the grid in the 2011 Formula 1 season , which, however, was not awarded after a decision by the FIA. In the summer of 2010, the former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was discussed as a partner in Durango. However, the project could not be implemented.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Valsecchi wins the sprint in Shanghai motorsport-total.com on October 19, 2008
  2. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 32/2010, p. 3
  3. ↑ Description of the project with images on the website www.unracedf1.com (accessed on November 14, 2017).
  4. ↑ FIA decides: No further team for 2011 , motorsport-total.com on September 8, 2010
  5. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 32/2010, p. 3.