Emanuele Naspetti (born 24 February 1968) is a

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

and entrepreneur from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Career

Karting

He made his racing debut at the age of 12 and spent seven years in karting (1980-1986), participating in more than 200 races and achieving success in Italian and international events.

Formula 3

In 1987 he joined the

Forti Corse Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades. ...

Team to compete in the

Italian Formula 3 The Italian Formula Three Championship was the Formula Three racing competition in Italy. History Formula Three has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone for F1 hopefuls - it is typically the first point in a driver's care ...

Championship. In 1988, again with the

Dallara Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

of Forti Corse, he was crowned Italian Formula 3 Champion.

Formula 3000

In 1989 he competed in the FIA

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...

Championship with the Roni Motorsport Team. He enjoyed an extremely good debut season, resulting in him joining the

Eddie Jordan Racing Eddie Jordan Racing was a British racing stable founded by Irish racing driver Eddie Jordan in 1980. The team won Formula 3000 the drivers' championship in 1989 with Jean Alesi. The team competed in Formula 3 and Formula 3000. After great success ...

team for the following year to replace the reigning champion

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, ...

, who had moved to Formula 1. In 1991 he rejoined Forti Corse and came very close to winning the title, taking four race wins. In the meantime he won his debut race (Varano, Class S2) in the

Italian Superturismo Championship The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is Italy's national Auto racing, motorsport series for Touring car racing, touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drive ...

with the official Peugeot 405 racer.

Formula 1

In 1992 he made his debut in Formula One at the wheel of a

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...

, an important decision that forced him to abandon the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship while leading it a few races before the end. His Formula 1 career continued in 1993 with

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...

, as the team's official test driver. In the same year he took part in some races of the

Japanese Formula 3000 The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

Championship.

Touring and GT cars

From 1994 Naspetti focused on racing saloon cars in

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

championships. With 27 wins he became the symbol of BMW's sporting heritage and in 1997 he won the Italian Superturismo Championship. In the same year he participated in the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their a ...

, winning the diesel classification and finishing third overall. In 2000 he participated in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

driving a Lola-Judd, while his GT career began in 2001 with a

Ferrari 550 Maranello The Ferrari 550 Maranello (''tipo'' F133) is a front-engine V12 2-seat grand tourer built by Ferrari from 1996 to 2001. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for its 2-seater 12-cylinder model, 23 ye ...

run by the Rafanelli Team in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. In 2002 and 2003 he raced in the U.S. in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

driving a Ferrari 550 Maranello. In 2004 he returned to Europe, again in the FIA GT Championship, at the wheel of a

Ferrari 575 The Ferrari 575M Maranello (Type F133) is a two-seat, two-door, grand tourer manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. Launched in 2002, it is essentially an updated 550 Maranello featuring minor styling changes from Pininfarina. ...

run by the GPC Team. In 2005, a call from the legendary

Don Panoz Donald Panoz ( or ; February 13, 1935 – September 11, 2018) was an American entrepreneur who founded various pharmaceutical companies. Early life Panoz was an Italian-American. His father, Eugene Panunzio, immigrated to the United States f ...

, brought him back to the American scene, driving a Panoz in the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...

. In 2006 he was at the wheel of a BMW in the reborn Italian Superturismo Championship, taking five wins and finishing second in the overall standings, while in 2009 he took part in the Porsche Carrera Cup in Italy, winning the race in Adria.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Complete Formula One results

(

)

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results

(

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

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

(

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

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

Le Mans 24 Hours results

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naspetti, Emanuele Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Jordan Formula One drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers 1968 births Living people International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers BMW M drivers