Emanuele Pirro
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Emanuele Pirro (Template:IPA; born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. In endurance racing, Pirro is a five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring with Audi.
Pirro is a two-time Italian Karting Champion (1976, 1979), Formula Fiat Abarth Champion (1980), two-time Italian Superturismo Champion (1994, 1995), and winner of the Super Tourenwagen Cup (1996).
In sportscar racing, he is a two-time American Le Mans Series champion (2001, 2005), three-time winner of Petit Le Mans (2001, 2005, 2008), winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring (1989), and two-time winner of the Macau Guia Race (1991, 1992). He has contested over 500 official national and international races, winning over 90.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Born in Rome, Pirro traces his roots to the small town of Latera near Viterbo through his mother's family. He is married to Marlene, with whom he has two sons, Cristoforo, born in 1993 (Mechanical Engineer, currently Performance Engineer in F1) and Goffredo, born in 1996 (Automotive Engineer specialised in Motorsport). The family is not related to motorcycle racer Michele Pirro.
Career
He began racing cars in 1980 after having raced seven years in go-karts, where he was two time Italian Champion and runner up in both the European and the World Karting Championships. He went on to win races in all the feeder series he competed in including F3, F3000 and Formula Nippon.
Formula One
In 1988 he was contracted by McLaren to become test driver to develop the new Honda powertrain for the MP4/4, staying on in that role for the following 3 seasons.
His racing career in F1 started at the 1989 French Grand Prix for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing Johnny Herbert who was still recovering from injuries sustained in a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons, he raced for BMS Scuderia Italia.
Touring cars
Together with his single seater commitments he raced as a factory driver for BMW in touring car racing up until 1993. He raced and won in ETCC, WTCC, Italian Supertouring and DTM. In DTM he became one of the only drivers to win in his debut in the series. Notably, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the Macau Guia Race twice, and the Wellington 500 four times, with the legendary BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. After leaving BMW in 1993 he joined Audi to win the 1994 and 1995 Italian Touring Car Championships followed by the German Touring Car Championship in 1996. Between the years of 1994 and 1996 racing in the Italian and German Supertouring championships, he contested a total of 70 races finishing only once outside of the top 10 after being taken out at the start in 1994 at the Salzburgring.
Sportscars
After his debut in endurance races at the young age of 19 winning in his class with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Gr.5 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning the Kyalami 9 Hours and a terrible experience at Le Mans the same year, he scarcely participated in these races except sporadic appearances in Japan, first with a Nissan Gr.C at the Fuji 1000 km and with a Porsche 962 Gr.C at the Suzuka 1000 km. That is until his return to Le Mans in 1998 with a McLaren F1 alongside Dindo Capello and Thomas Bscher ending with a retirement. In 1999 Audi unveiled the R8R with which he scored his first of a record breaking nine consecutive podiums at the French classic. In 2000 along with Tom Kristensen and Frank Biela he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the new Audi R8. In 2006 together with Frank Biela and Marco Werner he became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel car, repeating the win in the following year. In 2008 he announced the end of his racing career with Audi sportscars. Between the years of 1999 and 2008 he won five 24 Hours of Le Mans, two ALMS championships, two 12 Hours of Sebring and three Petit Le Mans. After 2008 he competed in a number of additional races including a 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans with Drayson Racing in a Lola-Judd LMP1 car, the 24 hours of the Nürburgring with an Audi R8 GT3, the 2011 Gold Coast 500 in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.
After racing
He regularly competes in historic racing. In 2010 Pirro won the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in the Formula 3 Class.
In roles still linked to motorsport, he serves as a Brand Ambassador for Audi, and is a member of; FIA Drivers’ Commission, FIA Circuits’ Commission, FIA Historic Motorsport Commission, ACI Circuits and Safety Commission. In addition, he is the President of the Italian Karting Commission, and Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Club and the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans. He is also a Steward for F1 races, TV pundit and is a frequent guest speaker at events hosted by multinational companies.
In 2015, he entered the first round of the British Universities Karting Championship alongside his two sons.
He owns the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort, a 5-star hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Finally he has been a regular player for over 25 years in the Nazionale Piloti football team and the “Star Team for the Children” for Prince Albert of Monaco as well as taking part in other charity events.
He also became the Director of the McLaren Racing Driver Development program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Race results
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Template:Tooltip | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:F2 | Onyx Race Engineering | March 842 | BMW | SIL Template:Small |
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VAL Template:Small |
MUG Template:Small |
PAU Template:Small |
HOC Template:Small |
MIS Template:Small |
PER Template:Small |
DON Template:Small |
BRH Template:Small |
6th | 18 |
| {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | ||||||||||||||||
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Template:Tooltip | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Onyx Racing | March 85B | Cosworth | SIL Template:Small |
THR Template:Small |
EST Template:Small |
NÜR Template:Small |
VAL Template:Small |
PAU Template:Small |
SPA Template:Small |
DIJ Template:Small |
PER Template:Small |
ÖST Template:Small |
ZAN Template:Small |
DON Template:Small |
3rd | 38 |
| 1986 | Onyx Racing | March 86B | Cosworth | SIL Template:Small |
VAL Template:Small |
PAU Template:Small |
SPA Template:Small |
IMO Template:Small |
MUG Template:Small |
PER Template:Small |
ÖST Template:Small |
BIR Template:Small |
BUG Template:Small |
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3rd | 29 | |
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Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Team LeMans | SUZ Template:Small |
FUJ Template:Small |
MIN Template:Small |
SUZ Template:Small |
SUG Template:Small |
FUJ Template:Small |
SUZ Template:Small |
SUZ Template:Small |
3rd | 25 | |||
| 1989 | Team LeMans | SUZ Template:Small |
FUJ Template:Small |
MIN Template:Small |
SUZ Template:Small |
SUG | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 6th | 11 | |||
| 1991 | Team Hayashi | SUZ | AUT | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUG | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ Template:Small |
SUZ | FUJ | NC | 0 |
| {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | ||||||||||||||
Complete Formula One results
(key)
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
1 – A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.
Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete American Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
Macau Grand Prix Guia Race results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | Template:Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Template:Flagicon Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | Group A Division 2 | DNF |
| 1990 | Template:Flagicon Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | Group A Division 2 | 2nd |
| 1991 | Template:Flagicon Watson’s Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | DTM | 1st |
| 1992 | Template:Flagicon Mobil 1 Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | DTM | 1st |
| 1993 | Template:Flagicon Watson’s Team Schnitzer | BMW 318i | FIA Class 2 | 3rd |
- Spa 24 hours : 1st: 1986, 1990
- 4 hours of Jarama: 1st: 1987
- Grand Prix of Nürburgring 1st,1986
References
"Five-time LeMans winner Emanuele Pirro joins APR Motorsport for Rolex 24 at Daytona". Template:Webarchive APR Motorsport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 201 Template:ReflistEmanuel’s Pirro - 2024 and 2025 71 th and 72 th Macau Grand Prix - FIA Formula 4 World Cup race Steward.
Sources
External links
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Template:24 Hours of Le Mans winners Template:24 Hours of Nürburgring winners Template:12 Hours of Sebring winners Template:Dallara
- Pages with broken file links
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- 1962 births
- Living people
- Racing drivers from Rome
- Italian racing drivers
- Italian Formula One drivers
- Italian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
- European Formula Two Championship drivers
- Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers
- Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
- Benetton Formula One drivers
- Scuderia Italia Formula One drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
- American Le Mans Series drivers
- International Formula 3000 drivers
- World Touring Car Championship drivers
- Supercars Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
- Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
- World Sportscar Championship drivers
- Porsche Supercup drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- European Touring Car Championship drivers
- 12 Hours of Sebring drivers
- 24H Series drivers
- Audi Sport drivers
- Team Joest drivers
- Team LeMans drivers
- Schnitzer Motorsport drivers
- Abt Sportsline drivers
- Stone Brothers Racing drivers
- Phoenix Racing drivers
- Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers