José Luis Di Palma (born March 31, 1966), is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

racing driver. He was born in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

, Buenos Aires province.

Racing career

Early career

Di Palma began his professional career racing in the Argentine

TC 2000 Championship The TC2000 (''Turismo Competición 2000'', formerly ''Súper TC2000'') is a touring car racing series held in Argentina since 1979. Rules Prior to 2012, engines of up to were allowed, with only limited modifications from standard engines. ...

in 1984. After three years in the series and few notabile results, Di Palma moved to formula car racing in

Formula Three Sudamericana Formula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable gr ...

in 1987. He finished 8th in points in his rookie season and improved to 7th in 1988. He placed 9th in 1989.

Europe and Indy Lights

In 1990 Di Palma moved to Europe to race in

Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a '' chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship bet ...

where he finished 9th. In 1991 he raced in

British Formula 3000 The British Formula 3000 championship, alternatively known as the British Formula Two Championship, was a competition for Formula 3000 held in the United Kingdom, active from 1989 to 1994 and in 1996. Several attempts to restart the series since t ...

for Cobra Motorsport and finished 11th. The series became British Formula 2 in 1991 and Di Palma finished fourth in points for AJS. Di Palma continued with the team in British F2 in 1993 and was runner-up in the championship and captured 2 wins. In 1994 he won the championship driving for Madgwick International, again capturing two wins. The series was not held in 1995 so Di Palma competed in eight races in the American

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progr ...

series in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

for

Leisy McCormack Racing Leisy is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Jim Leisy (born 1950), American artist, photographer, book editor, and publisher *Matt Leisy Matthew Rhys "Matt" Leisy is a British-American theatre, television, and film actor. Biogr ...

. He finished 19th in points with a best finish of fifth at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. He returned to Indy Lights full-time in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, this time driving for

Tasman Motorsports Tasman Motorsports Group is a former racing team that was owned by Steve Horne, a long-time motorsport figure who spent most of his career in the United States. Its lead driver is championship winning New Zealander, Daniel Gaunt. Previously the t ...

. Di Palma finished 9th in points with a best finish of fourth at Belle Isle. Di Palma's Tasman teammates

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...

and

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona with W ...

finished second and seventh in points, respectively.

Return to South America

In 1997, Di Palma competed in the South American Super Touring Car Championship and finished eighth and made four starts in

Turismo Carretera Turismo Carretera (Road racing, lit., ''Road Touring'') is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera. The ...

. He competed in Turismo Carretera full-time in 1998 and finished seventh. In 1999 in the same series he finished fourth. Di Palma continued to race in Turismo Carretera until 2009, also finishing fourth in points in 2001, matching his career best.José Luis Di Palma - career detail
''Driver Database'', Retrieved 2011-09-27 Di Palma also competed in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

across South America in 2010 and 2011.

Complete motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing 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 (ma ...

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

Indy Lights

Barber Dodge Pro Series

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers Argentine racing drivers Turismo Carretera drivers TC 2000 Championship drivers Top Race V6 drivers Indy Lights drivers British Formula 3000 Championship drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers Dakar Rally drivers Sportspeople from Mar del Plata Barber Pro Series drivers {{Argentina-autoracing-bio-stub Tasman Motorsports drivers