Gianni Morbidelli

Early career

Morbidelli was born in Pesaro. His father, Giancarlo Morbidelli, was the founder of the Morbidelli motorcycle company, which had some success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Morbidelli started karting in 1980. He won the EUR-AM championship in 1986, before moving to Italian Formula Three.[2] He became Italian Formula 3 and Formula 3 European Cup champion in 1989, as well as winning two races in Italian Touring Cars.[3] He then moved to the Scuderia Italia Formula One team, doing the first two races of the F1 season as stand-in for Emanuele Pirro, before concentrating on Formula 3000. He won one race and finished fifth in the 1990 championship, as well as undertaking test driver duties for Scuderia Ferrari for that year.[4]

Formula One

Resuming his F1 career at the end of the season, Morbidelli competed in the final two races of the season with Minardi, where he remained until the end of .[2] He briefly joined Ferrari for the 1991 Australian Grand Prix, drafted in after Alain Prost was fired by the team, where Morbidelli earned his first Formula One points, earning half a point for 6th after a rain-shortened race. A lack of sponsorship led to him leaving Minardi to rejoin Italian Touring Cars for 1993, where he drove an Alfa Romeo 155 to two wins for Alfa Corse, before being hired by Footwork Arrows for .[3] He managed four-point-scoring positions in two years with the team, including his only podium place finish in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, earning third place in a race of high attrition. Morbidelli became Footwork Arrows' most successful driver, with a total of eight points for the team.

Morbidelli also competed in the Italian Superturismo Championship for 1995, scoring two race wins, and, after spending a year out in 1996 testing for Jordan, gained another podium that year.[2] Back in Formula One for, he raced in several mid-season events for

Post-Formula One

In 1998, Morbidelli drove for Volvo in the British Touring Car Championship, but was not as competitive as his teammate Rickard Rydell, who won that year's title. His only competitive showing was in the summer meeting at Thruxton, where he charged from near the back of the pack to finish fourth, passing many cars in the process. Morbidelli then spent several years in various European touring car series', with a high point in the 2001 European Touring Car Championship, where he raced the BMW 320i to fifth place in the championship, winning the last race at Estoril.[5] Morbidelli raced in the Italian round of the 2004 season in a SEAT Toledo, but scored no points and did not contest in further meetings. Morbidelli drove a Lamborghini in several grand tourer races in 2005, and moved back to touring cars for 2006. Competing in the World Touring Car Championship for N-Technology, he managed two second places in an Alfa Romeo 156.[6]

Career summary

† Not eligible for points.

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( * signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)