Vittorio Brambilla

Vittorio Brambilla

Nation:	Italy
Automobile world championship
First start:	1974 South African Grand Prix
Last start:	1980 Italian Grand Prix
Constructors
1974–1976  March  1977–1978  Team Surtees  1979–1980  Alfa Romeo
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup eleventh ( 1975 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 74 1 1 1
World Cup points :	15.5
Podiums :	1
Leadership laps :	32 over 150.863 km

Vittorio Brambilla in a March-Ford 761 during training for the 1976 German Grand Prix

The BMW drivers Henri Pescarolo (yellow shirt) and Vittorio Brambilla in conversation during the technical inspection in 1973 at the Nürburgring

Vittorio Brambilla (born November 11, 1937 in Monza ; † May 26, 2001 there ) was an Italian racing car driver and Formula 1 driver . He competed in 74 Grand Prix races from 1974 to 1980 and achieved one Grand Prix victory, once each for pole position and the fastest lap as well as 15.5 world championship points. His brother Ernesto , who was three years older, was also active in racing, but not as spectacular and successful.

life and career

Brambilla grew up not far from the Monza circuit, where his father ran a garage, where he, like his brother, did an apprenticeship and became a mechanic. Ernesto began motorsport at the age of 19. Vittorio followed about five years later and gave up downhill skiing, which had become too dangerous for him. In 1959 he won the go-kart world championship. From 1962 he drove motorcycle races and was the Aermacci factory driver winner of the Italian road championship in 1967. He also worked as his brother's racing mechanic. He took over Ernesto's older Formula 3 car, with which he became Italian runner-up in 1968 and 1969.

Formula 2 and touring cars

After Ferrari withdrew from Formula 2 in mid-1969, the “Ala d'doro” (“golden wings”) team was founded with a team manager named Angeleri, Ernesto Brambilla as coordinator, driver number 1, test pilot and mechanic all rolled into one Person and Vittorio Brambilla as driver number 2. The vehicles were two Brabham BT30s . Both drivers stood out for their often inconsiderate and rough driving style, and Vittorio Brambilla in particular was prone to many accidents and collisions. B. 1971 at the Eifelrennen on the Nürburgring , when he went off the track in the Kallenhard section and fatally injured a spectator who had been in a restricted zone. The two tried to clarify the question of guilt immediately after an accident in a physical dispute with the other party.

When there was no funding for the Formula 2 project in 1972, Vittorio Brambilla switched to the motorcycle again for a short time as a works driver from Moto Guzzi , but in 1973 drove a March 732 BMW in Formula Two with the support of the tool manufacturer Beta. He was also active in the European Touring Car Championship on a BMW Schnitzer CSL . As a partner of Henri Pescarolo , he competed in the touring car Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in July. In training, he finished 7th after hitting the guard rails a few times and having to take a longer break to repair the car. In the race he retired after an accident in the Metzgesfeld section.

formula 1

In 1974, Vittorio Brambilla, at the age of 36, joined March in Formula 1. He soon made a name for himself in Formula 1 as a fast driver who, however, continued to have many accidents. Vittorio the Terrible ”. In the 1976 season there are said to have been 40 crashes in training and racing runs. He was given the nickname "Gorilla of Monza" because of his strong build. Away from the racetracks, Brambilla was a calm, balanced person and very popular in the paddock .

Brambilla's big hour came at the rainy and abandoned Grand Prix of Austria in 1975 in Spielberg , which he won completely surprisingly after abandoning it prematurely. As he crossed the finish line, he threw both arms up, crashing into the guardrail and completing the lap of honor with a battered car. In 1977 he moved to John Surtees ' team for two years , for whom he contested some great races. In 1978 he was a victim of the collision at the start of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, which killed the Swedes Ronnie Peterson . Brambilla was hit in the head by a wheel flying through the air and was critically injured. Nevertheless, in 1979 and 1980 he sporadically returned to Formula 1 for Alfa Romeo , for which he had previously tested, before retiring after the 1980 Italian Grand Prix in Imola . After his retirement, he continued to run his garage in Monza and worked for years as a motorcycle escort at the Giro d'Italia .

Outside of Formula 1, he participated in sports and touring car races and won in 1977 on the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33SC12 the World Sportscar Championship .

Private

Vittorio Brambilla died of a heart attack at the age of 63 while mowing the lawn in his garden. He had been married since 1962 and had a daughter and two sons.

Others

The Austrian experimental pop band Gelée Royale dedicated a song entitled Vittorio Brambilla to Brambilla on their CD Wir schießen nicht besides (2002) , the lyrics were written by Martin Amanshauser .

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

These statistics include all of the driver's participations in the World Automobile Championship, which is now known as the Formula 1 World Championship .

Grand Prix victories

• 1975 Grand Prix of Austria ( Spielberg ) 

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1974
			10	DNS	9	DNF	10 *	10	11	DNF	13	6th	DNF	DNQ	DNF
1975
	9	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	DNF	1	DNF	7th
1976
	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	7th	14th	DNF	DNF
1977
	7 *	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	8th	4th	DNF	13	8th	5	15th	12 *	DNF	19th	6 *	8th
1978
	18th	DNQ	12	DNF	DNQ	13 *	7th	DNF	17th	9	DNF	6th	DSQ	DNF
1979
													12	DNF	DNQ
1980
											DNF	DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

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
1969	Corrado Manfredini	Porsche 907	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
						DNF
1974	Osella Autodelta Coombe Autoracing	Abarth-Osella PA2 Alfa Romeo T33 March 74S	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
			DNF					5		18th
1975	Jolly Club Kauhsen Racing	Lola T282 Lola T380 Alfa Romeo T33	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SPA	BY	ONLY	ZEL	WAT
						DNF			DNF	2
1976	Lancia Autodelta	Lancia Stratos Alfa Romeo T33	MUG	VAL	ONLY	MON	SIL	IMO	ONLY	ZEL	BY	WAT	MOS	DIJ	DIJ	SAL
				DNF				2								DNF
1977	Autodelta Jolly Club	Alfa Romeo T33 Porsche 934	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
					DNF	1	7th		1			2	DNF		1	1
1978	BMW Italia	BMW 320	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
									12
1980	Torino Corse	Osella PA8	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
						DNF	DNF		DNF	DNF							DNF	DNF

literature

• Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8

Web links

Commons : Vittorio Brambilla  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Erich Kahnt: The car goes out and - bang! In: Curbs , No. 37, Medien Bonn, Bonn 2020, pp. 78–85.
2. ↑ Statistics on pro-steep section
3. ↑ Michael Behrndt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC Eifelrennen . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2009, ISBN 978-3-86852-070-5 .
4. ↑ Per steep stretch: 1973 Touring Car Grand Prix . Retrieved June 20, 2020.