Gabriele Ciuti

Gabriele Ciuti contested his first sports car races on an Osella PA3

Gabriele Ciuti is a former Italian racing car driver .

Racing career

Gabriele Ciuti was active as a sports car driver and mountain racing driver in the 1970s and 1980s . He became known in 1977 through a serious accident at the Targa Florio .

Ciuti had some successes in the Italian Group 6 Championship when he started on May 15, 1977 at the Targa. The event, launched by Vincenzo Florio in 1906 , was the last road race in Italy. The lack of safety equipment on the Piccolo circuito delle Madonie had been known for years and after the 1973 race (winners Herbert Müller and Gijs van Lennep in the Porsche Carrera RSR ) led to the loss of the world championship status . Ciuti started the race on an Osella PA4 and had an accident on the first lap. The Osella hit a wall and damaged the engine cover, on which the rear wing was also mounted. Ciuti drove on and a little later lost the cover including the rear wing, which he also did not have the boxes replaced. On the third lap, on the fast section of the route near Buonfornello , he lost control of the damaged car and collided with a group of six people standing on the edge of the track. The 30-year-old, from Termini Imerese Dating, Giuseppe Miccichè still died at the accident site. Another accident victim, Giuseppe Cirà , died hours after the accident in a hospital. Four other people were seriously injured. The 48-year-old Salvatore Settecase had to have a leg amputated . Ciuti was also seriously injured and drove to the pits by fellow racing driver Nicola Gitto in his Fiat 124 Spider . From there an ambulance followed by helicopter to a hospital in Palermo . The race was not canceled, which led to severe criticism of the organizers and ushered in the end of the event.

After a long convalescence, Cuiti made a comeback as a driver in 1980. In addition to repeated appearances in the Italian Group 6 Championship , he was also registered a few times in the World Sports Car Championship. He was overall sixth in the 6-hour race of Pergusa in 1981 and achieved third place in the 1000 km race of Monza in 1982 , his best placement in an international endurance race .

statistics

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	16	17th
1977	Jolly Club	Osella PA4	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
						5
1981	Luigi Colzani	Osella PA7	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
						DNF					6th
1982	Escolette	Osella PA7	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
			3

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
• Pino Fondi: Targa Florio - 20th Century Epic. Giorgio Nada Editore Vimodrone 2006, ISBN 88-7911-270-8 .

Web links

• Gabriele Ciuti at Motorsport Magazine
• Gabriele Ciuti at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Targa Florio 1977
2. ^ Report at Motorsport Memorial
3. ↑ Comprehensive illustrated report on the accident