Pierluigi Martini

Pierluigi Martini

Nation:	Italy
Formula 1 world championship
First start:	1985 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last start:	German Grand Prix 1995
Constructors
1985, 1988-1991, 1993-1995  Minardi  · 1992  Scuderia Italia
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup eleventh ( 1991 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 119 - - -
World Cup points :	18th
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	1 over 4.35 km

Pierluigi Martini (born April 23, 1961 in Lugo ( RA )) is a former Italian racing driver who competed in 119 Formula 1 races from 1985 to 1995 . Since he never had a competitive racing car, he only scored 18 points in the drivers' championship and never reached a podium. His greatest success in motor racing was the overall victory in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans .

Career

Formula 3 and Formula 2

Martini won the European Formula 3 championship in 1983 in a racing car from the manufacturer Ralt . In the same year he contested a race in the Formula 2 European Championship for Minardi : He finished second in the 1983 Gran Premio dell'Adriatico in Misano and thus achieved the best position for his team that year. With six points from this race, Martini was eleventh in the drivers' standings at the end of the season.

Pierluigi Martini and the modified M189B from last year at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival 2016; with this vehicle he was able to achieve second place on the grid in qualifying at the 1990 US Grand Prix.

Pierluigi Martini in a Minardi in 1994

formula 1

In 1984 he tried to get into Formula 1 in the Toleman team , but failed at the Italian Grand Prix at the qualifying hurdle. In 1985 he entered the premier class together with team boss Giancarlo Minardi , making him the team's first driver in Formula 1. Martini reached three finishings that year, but remained outside the points. At the end of the season he turned his back on Formula 1 and returned to Minardi in 1988 . He stayed with the team until 1991. In 1992 he drove the Dallara BMS192 for Scuderia Italia , but returned to Minardi in 1993 , where he ended his career in 1995 .

Martini drove a total of 119 Grand Prix, 103 of them for Minardi. His best racing results were fourth place each at the San Marino Grand Prix and the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1991 . The Italian also made it to the front row once (at the US Grand Prix in 1990 ). Overall, he was Minardi's most successful driver as he scored almost half of the team's points (16 of 38), the only two fourth places, the only front row position and the only lead lap.

According to Formula 1

Martini celebrated his greatest success in international motorsport in 1999 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . Together with Joachim Winkelhock and Yannick Dalmas he achieved overall victory in a BMW V12 Le Mans Roadster .

After his active career, no one heard from Martini for a long time. It was not until 2006 that his name reappeared in the media when he competed in the Grand Prix Masters series for former Formula 1 drivers. At Silverstone he finished seventh out of 16 participants.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1984	Scuderia Jolly Club	Lancia LC2	Xavier Lapeyre	Beppe Gabbiani	failure	Overheated cylinder
1996	Joest Racing	TWR-Porsche WSC-95	Michele Alboreto	Didier Theys	failure	Electrics
1997	BMS Scuderia Italia	Porsche 911 GT2	Christian Pescatori	Antonio de Azevedo Hermann	Rank 8
1998	Team BMW Motorsport	BMW V12 LM	Joachim Winkelhock	Johnny Cecotto	failure	Wheel bearings
1999	Team BMW Motorsport	BMW V12 LMR	Joachim Winkelhock	Yannick Dalmas	Overall victory

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1999	BMW Motorsport	BMW V12 LMR	Yannick Dalmas	Joachim Winkelhock	failure	accident
2000	Team Rafanelli SRL	Lola B2K / 10	Domenico Schiattarella	Didier de Radiguès	failure	steering

Web links

Commons : Pierluigi Martini  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pierluigi Martini at Racing Sports Cars