Gilles Panizzi (born 19 September 1965) is a former French

rally driver Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. Panizzi was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes. Like many of his fellow rally racing countrymen, Panizzi spent a great deal of his developmental driving years participating in asphalt rally events throughout his native land. Gilles Panizzi

In 1996 and 1997, Panizzi won the French Championship title in a

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

-backed (funded)

306 __NOTOC__ Year 306 ( CCCVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 105 ...

kit car. It was at that point that he was nominated to drive for Peugeot as their resident asphalt (tarmac/sealed-surface) expert. Between 1999 and 2003 Panizzi had great success in his role as

's tarmac expert. He won a total of seven

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

rounds in this period - all on tarmac. However, Panizzi's inability to match his rivals pace on gravel, mud, and snow precluded him from challenging for the world title while at

. Panizzi had an embarrassing moment during the 2000 Safari Rally, where he and his brother and co-driver Herve were behind the slower car of Argentine driver Roberto Sanchez, who had not moved over despite being ordered to do so was kicking up dust and blinding the irate Panizzi, who picked up two punctures thanks to the stones thrown up by Sanchez's car. The Panizzi brothers were so furious that after the end of the stage they both ran up to Sanchez's car, opened the door and started physically assaulting the Argentine driver, both trying to pull Sanchez out of his car. The Panizzi brothers actions landed them both a $50,000 fine. He is the only WRC driver to do a (famous) 360 spin at the Viladrau hairpin, which he did at the 2002 Rally Catalunya.Archived a
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In 2004, Mitsubishi Motor Sports recruited Panizzi and his co-driver and brother, Hervé, to lead the company's charge back in the

. In the 2005 season, Panizzi was replaced in the lead car by

Harri Rovanperä Harri "Rovis" Rovanperä (; born 8 April 1966) is a Finnish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 2006. He drove for SEAT (1997– 00), Peugeot (2001– 04), Mitsubishi (2005) and Red Bull Škoda Team ( ...

, and guested in the second car with

Gianluigi Galli Gianluigi Galli (born 13 January 1973), better known as Gigi Galli, is an Italian rally driver, best known for his spectacular driving style. He comes from, and lives in Livigno, Italy. Career Galli debuted in the World Rally Championship at the ...

. He finished third at the Monte Carlo Rally, the first event of the season, but only scored points in one other event. In 2006, he was signed by the semi-privateer Red Bull Škoda team. Despite a strong performance in the opening rally of the season in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, he expressed his dissatisfaction at the performance of his car, and after a disappointing showing in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, he announced his departure from the team, and was replaced by his former Peugeot teammate

. Panizzi later participated in 2

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international ral ...

events - the 2007 Rallye Sanremo with the

Peugeot 207 S2000 The Peugeot 207 S2000 is a Super 2000 rally car developed by Peugeot Sport. It is based upon the Peugeot 207 road car. Drivers Enrique García Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz and Kris Meeke won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental ...

and 2010 Rallye Sanremo with

Proton Satria Neo S2000 The Proton Satria is a hatchback automobile produced by Malaysian manufacturer Proton from 1994 to 2005 in the first generation model and from 2006 to 2015 in the Satria Replacement Model (SRM), known as the Proton Satria Neo. The name ''Satria'' ...

, finishing respectively 8th and 22nd. The 2021 Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine saw Panizzi's one-off rallying return. He used a

Hyundai i20 R5 The Hyundai i20 R5 is a rally car built by Hyundai Motorsport and based upon the Hyundai i20 road car. It is built to R5 regulations. The i20 R5 made its competitive début at the 2016 Tour de Corse, where it was driven by Kevin Abbring and S ...

, finishing 15th overall.

WRC victories

Complete WRC results

References

Sources

WRC.com
- the official World Rally Championship website.
Official Website
- note: inactive as of April 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Panizzi, Gilles 1965 births Living people People from Roquebrune-Cap-Martin French people of Italian descent French rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers Sportspeople from Alpes-Maritimes Peugeot Sport drivers