Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian

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 ...

who has raced in

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, ...

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

s and in endurance races such as 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 race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion (1976, 1979), Formula Fiat Abarth Champion (1980), two times Italian Touring Car Champion (1994, 1995), two times Italian Overall Champion (1995, 1996) and German Touring Car Champion (1996), he also achieved records in endurance racing that place him amongst the best in the discipline, including; five wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007), two times

ALMS Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread practice in a numbe ...

Champion (2001, 2005), two times winner of 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 rou ...

(2000, 2007), three times winner of

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

(2001, 2005, 2008), winner of the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalle ...

(1989), two times winner of the Macau Guia Race (1991, 1992) and two times winner of the Goodwood RAC Historic TT. He has taken part in over 500 official national and international races.

Personal life

He was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, however he traces his roots to the small town of Latera near

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

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).

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 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) a ...

Formula One

In 1988 he was contracted by

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...

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 The 1989 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on 9 July 1989. It was the seventh race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship. The 80-lap race was won from pole position by local driver Alain Prost, driving a McL ...

for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

who was still recovering from injuries sustained in a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons, he raced for

BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Scuderia Italia SpA (sometimes referred to as simply Scuderia Italia) is an Italian auto racing team founded by Italian steel magnate and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini in 1983. Initially named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS) the team bri ...

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

, the Macau Guia Race twice, and the

Wellington 500 The Wellington 500 was a street race for touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. The final running of the race wa ...

four times, with the legendary BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. After leaving BMW in 1993 he joined

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

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 Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but its ...

Gr.5 at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

, winning the

Kyalami 9 Hours The Nine Hours of Kyalami is an endurance sports car race contested at Kyalami, Midrand, South Africa. The first races were held from 1958 to 1960 at a circuit at the Grand Central Airport near Midrand before moving to Kyalami in 1961. The even ...

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 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

with a McLaren F1 alongside Dindo Capello and

Thomas Bscher Thomas Bscher (born 2 April 1952) is an automobile race car driver and banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be ...

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 Frank Stanley Biela (born 2 August 1964 in Neuss) is a German auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990. Career Biela started his care ...

he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the new

Audi R8 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. The car is exclusively designed, developed, and manufac ...

. In 2006 together with Frank Biela and

Marco Werner Marco Werner (born April 27, 1966 in Dortmund) is a professional racer from Germany. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. In his early career, Werner finished runner-up in the Formula Opel Euroseries in 1989 and runner-up in t ...

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

, two

championships, two

and three

. 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 Nuerburgring 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. He owns the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort, a 5-star hotel in

Cortina d’Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and '' comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpi ...

. 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 Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

as well as taking part in other charity events.

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.)

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

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

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 Touring Car 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

Spa 24 hours 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 ...

: 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".
APR Motorsport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 201

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirro, Emanuele 1962 births Living people Racing drivers from Rome Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers Italian expatriates 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