Gilles Panizzi (born 19 September 1965) is a French former rally driver. Panizzi was born in

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (; or ; ; ), simply Roquebrune until 1921, is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region, Southeastern France, betw ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

. 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 automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

-backed (funded) 306 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 an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

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

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, 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, and guested in the second car with Gianluigi Galli. He finished third at the Monte Carlo Rally, the first event of the season, but only scored points in one other event. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, he was signed by the semi-privateer Red Bull Škoda team. Despite a strong performance in the opening rally of the season in

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

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, he announced his departure from the team, and was replaced by his former Peugeot teammate Harri Rovanperä. Panizzi later participated in 2

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...

events - the 2007 Rallye Sanremo with the Peugeot 207 S2000 and 2010 Rallye Sanremo with Proton Satria Neo S2000, finishing respectively 8th and 22nd. The 2021 Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine saw Panizzi's one-off rallying return. He used a Hyundai i20 R5, 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 sportspeople of Italian descent French rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers Sportspeople from Alpes-Maritimes Peugeot Sport drivers Škoda Motorsport drivers