Guido Forti (10 July 1940 – 11 January 2013) was the founder and team manager of the now-defunct

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team

Forti 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 ...

. Forti co-founded his "Forti Corse" racing team with businessman Paolo Guerci in the late 1970s, initially running in Italian and European

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

. The team made the step up to

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, but only participated in half of the races. For his debut season in the formulae, Forti had

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...

and

Nicola Tesini Nicola Tesini (born April 19, 1962) is an Italian race car driver and journalist, a promoter of motor events and a driving instructor. Son of Danilo Tesini – Tazio Nuvolari's mechanic, racer and builder of Sport cars – he started his career ...

driving his cars, supplied by fellow newcomers

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 ...

. The team's first of nine wins in Formula 3000 came in 1990, with

Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the T ...

driving. Forti opted at the start of the 1994 season that it would be the last for his team in the category, as he had engineered a move into

organised by Carlo Gancia with the financial support of wealthy

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian driver

Pedro Diniz Pedro Paulo Falleiros dos Santos Diniz (born 22 May 1970) is a Brazilian businessman and former racing driver. Diniz began karting at the age of eighteen and achieved minor success, before progressing to car racing in the Brazilian Formula Ford ...

. Forti continued with the team throughout its short stint in F1 from to . However, in the middle of the 1996 Formula One season, the team were struggling to secure funding due to Diniz's departure to the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...

team at the start of the year. As a result, a financial deal was struck with the Shannon Group, which announced that it now owned 51% of the team. However, as Forti's financial situation worsened further despite the deal, Guido took Shannon to court to try to get back the 51% of the team he had lost. After an initial loss to Shannon in a court case, Forti managed to regain control of his team, but at this stage the outfit had already missed several Grands Prix and did not return to the sport. Forti was last involved in motor racing in 2003, when he was employed by a

Euro Formula 3000 Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

team. He died in January 2013, at the age of 72, in his home city of

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

References

Formula One team owners Formula One team principals 1940 births 2013 deaths Italian motorsport people People from Alessandria {{Italy-autoracing-bio-stub