Giorgio Francia
| Nation: |
 Italy
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| DTM | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First race: | Hockenheim II 1984 | ||||||||
| Last race: | Sing 1994 | ||||||||
| Teams (manufacturers) | |||||||||
| 1984 private • 1993–1994 Schübel (all Alfa Romeo) | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
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| Podiums: | 7th | ||||||||
| Overall wins: | - | ||||||||
| Points: | 197 | ||||||||
Giorgio Francia (born November 8, 1947 in San Giorgio di Piano ) is a former Italian racing driver .
Francia was involved in formula racing and also took part in numerous sports and touring car races. In 1974 he won the Polifac Formula 3 Trophy . In the 1980s, Francia was closely associated with the Italian Osella Squadra Corse . Francia made two attempts to take part in a Formula 1 race. Both attempts failed because he had to give his car to his teammates.
Career
Beginnings
Between 1964 and 1968 Francia drove kart races before he was involved in the national Formula Italia junior class for four years from 1969 . In 1973, at the age of 25, Francia switched to the British Formula 3 Championship ; he finished the year 23rd overall. In 1974 he registered for the Italian team Scuderia Mirabella Millemiglia in the Polifac Formula 3 Trophy . This year he won six of eight races and thus the championship title at the end of the season ahead of Hans Binder . In 1975 Francia drove a few more races in German Formula 3, but his main focus was on Formula 2 .
Formula 2
In 1975 Francia appeared with the Osella Squadra Corse in the Formula 2 European Championship . It was the first year that the Turin team took part in this racing series. Unlike most of its competitors who relied on March chassis , Osella had built its own chassis, the Osella FA2 . Francia finished the debut season with 16 points in seventh place in the drivers' standings.
In 1976 he initially continued his engagement with Osella. This year, the Turin team, which suffered from significant financial problems, was no longer competitive. Osella initially ended his Formula 2 involvement after the sixth race of the year. Francia switched to Trivellato Racing. Here he scored his only point of the year in the last race. He finished the season as a tied 17th.
In 1977 Francia ended his Formula 2 involvement. He became a full-time test driver for Alfa Romeo . In the following years he was involved in the development of Alfa Romeo's Formula 1 program . At the same time, he drove sports prototypes for Osella.
formula 1
1977
In 1977 Francia made an attempt to take part in a Formula 1 race. It came about through his employer Alfa Romeo, who had exclusively supplied the British Brabham team with engines since 1976 . Brabham's regular drivers in the second half of the season were John Watson and Hans-Joachim Stuck . For the Italian Grand Prix , Brabham was ready, in the interests of Alfa Romeo, to bring a third car to the grid to be driven by Francia. In the first practice session for the Italian Grand Prix, Francia was the slowest driver. There was no further participation in training and a possible improvement in his times: Since Stuck had damaged his car during training, Francia had to give Stuck the third car originally intended for him. Francia is listed as a non-qualifier in the statistics of this race.
1981
Further attempts to take part in Formula 1 races followed in 1981 . Osella, for which Francia continued to drive sports car races, had meanwhile founded its own Formula 1 team. In 1980 , in its debut year, Osella had only used a car that had been driven by Eddie Cheever . In 1981 Osella wanted to compete with two Osella FA1B vehicles . Beppe Gabbiani received a cockpit . For the second car, team boss Enzo Osella initially planned his long-time sports car driver Francia; shortly before the start of the season, however, he gave the second cockpit to the Argentinean Miguel Ángel Guerra , who had more sponsorship funds.
Guerra failed to qualify in the first three races of the year. At the Grand Prix of San Marino he made the first qualification. Guerra had an accident on the first lap of the race. In the accident, he broke his hand so that he was not available for the rest of the year. Osella tried in the following weeks to give Guerra's cockpit to Francia, but the FISA initially refused Francia the super license . In the following two races Osella therefore used Piercarlo Ghinzani .
Francia ultimately received a super license for the Spanish Grand Prix , and Osella entered him for the second cockpit in this race. Francia didn't race here either: his team-mate Gabbiani damaged his Osella so badly in a training accident that the car was no longer operational that weekend. Since Osella only had two vehicles available, Francia had to give his car to Gabbiani, who took it for qualification training. Gabbiani did not qualify; but since Osella had withdrawn Francia's report in the meantime, Francia could not attempt any further qualification. Francia is also listed as a non-qualifier for this race.
Francia was no longer registered for the following races; Osella gave the second cockpit instead to Jean-Pierre Jarier , who stayed with the team for two years.
More racing activities
After this Grand Prix, Francia, now 33 years old, gave up his Formula 1 efforts. However, he remained a test driver for Alfa Romeo's Formula 1 team until 1985. Francia initially continued to drive sports car races for Osella and won the Mugello 6-hour race in 1981 . From 1982 to 1995 he was involved in touring car racing for Alfa Romeo. Here he drove sports versions of the Alfa Romeo GTV , the Alfa Romeo 75 and the Alfa Romeo 155 , including in the DTM .
In 1982 , he and Henri Pescarolo won the 1000 km race in Monza on a Rondeau M382 .
In 1993 and 1994 Giorgio Francia took part in the Schübel team in an Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI in the German Touring Car Championship . He achieved a total of three second and four third places and ended the seasons in seventh and thirteenth place respectively in the overall standings.
Web links
- Biography of Giorgio Francias on the website www.f1rejects.com (English)
- Brief presentation of Francias Formula 1 commitment on the website 8w.forix.com (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Francia, Giorgio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Giorgio di Piano , Italy |