Umberto Grano
Umberto Grano (born April 13, 1940 in Venice ) is a former Italian racing driver .
Career in motorsport
Umberto Grano's career in motorsport spanned nearly three decades. When he first attracted international attention in 1967 at the Vienna Prize on the airfield course in Aspern with an eighth place, he was 27 years old. He contested his last race at the age of 46 at Silverstone in 1986 . In between there were a number of sports and touring car races and, above all, three European touring car championships .
Grano drove the first races in small racing classes; with racing vehicles up to 1 liter displacement like the Fiat-Abarth 1000 . At the beginning of the 1970s, the vehicles increased their displacement and he began regularly to compete in various races of the European Touring Car Championship. In 1975 he and Martino Finotto finished third in the Jarama 4-hour race . A year later he finished second in this race.
At the end of the 1970s he became one of the top drivers in touring car racing and in 1978 won his first European championship in a BMW 3.0CSL . With his teammates Tom Walkinshaw , Markus Höttinger and Toine Hezemans , he won six championship races this year. He won the second title in 1981 together with Helmut Kelleners on a BMW 635CSi belonging to the Swiss Eggenberger team . The third championship followed a year later; again on a BMW, this time the 528i .
In his career Grano celebrated 28 overall and 10 class wins; he achieved 46 podium positions and started the race 20 times from the best starting position .
statistics
Individual results in the sports car world championship
Web links
Individual evidence
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Grano, Umberto |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian racing driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 13, 1940 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Venice |