Mauro Giuseppe Baldi (born 31 January 1954) is an Italian former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, who competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from to . In endurance racing, Baldi won the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

with

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

, and the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

in with

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

; he won the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and is a two-time winner of 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 racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

with Doran. Baldi is one of 11 drivers to complete the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing, achieving the feat at the 1998 12 Hours of Sebring.

Biography

Mauro Giuseppe Baldi was born on 31 January 1954 in

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

. Baldi started his career in

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

in 1972 and turned to circuit racing in 1975 with the Italian

Renault 5 The Renault 5 is a five-passenger, three or five-door, front-engine, front-wheel drive hatchback supermini manufactured and marketed by the French automaker Renault over two generations: 1972–1985 (also called R5) and 1984–1996 (also call ...

Cup. By 1980 he had become a top

Formula 3 Formula Three (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 drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

driver, winning the Monaco F3 Grand Prix and the 1981

European Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three (F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived th ...

with eight victories. In 1982 he signed to drive for Arrows before moving to

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

in 1983, scoring a fifth place in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

. When Benetton became Alfa Romeo's team sponsor in 1984, Baldi lost his drive, and joined the underfunded Spirit team until 1985. After retiring from Formula One he went to enjoy a successful career in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

, driving for the works

Martini Martini may refer to: * Martini (cocktail), a drink made with gin and vermouth, garnished with an olive or a lemon twist * Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth * Martini (surname), an Italian surname * Martini (automobile company), a Swiss auto ...

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

team in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, he switched to a

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. I ...

from

Richard Lloyd Racing Richard Lloyd Racing (RLR), originally named GTi Engineering, was a British auto racing team created in 1977 by driver Richard Lloyd. Originally named for the Volkswagen Golf GTIs that Lloyd raced in the British Saloon Car Championship (BSCC), ...

's outfit, returning to a works drive in 1988 with the

- Mercedes team, with whom Baldi won the 1990 FIA World Sports Prototype Championship for Drivers, sharing the car with

Jean-Louis Schlesser Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver who has competed in both circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula One driver. Jean-Louis entered two Formula One races ...

. In 1991 and 1992 he was a driver for

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 ...

. He came very close to making a return to F1 in 1989, when he agreed with Coloni to take over one of the team's cars from

Enrico Bertaggia Enrico Agostino Bertaggia (born 19 September 1964) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One at eight Grands Prix in and . Bertaggia enjoyed success in Formula Three, winning the Italian Formula Three Championship i ...

for the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

. The move was blocked by

Jochen Neerpasch Jochen Neerpasch (born 23 March 1939) is a German former racecar driver and motorsports manager. Career His racing career began in the 1960s, first on Borgward touring car, then with the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans as a first major event. Racing ...

, the sporting director of Mercedes, his then sportscar team. Later he had a brief return to F1 in 1990, doing most of the test driving for the Modena Lambo project. Returning to sports cars, he won the

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand ...

race in 1994, sharing the

Dauer 962 Le Mans The Dauer 962 Le Mans is a sports car based on the Porsche 962 Group C racing car. Built by German Jochen Dauer's Dauer Racing, a racing version of this car went on to win the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans with the support of Porsche in LMGT1 grou ...

(a modified

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 is a sports prototype racing car designed and built by Porsche. Created to replace the Porsche 956, 962 was introduced at the end of 1984 and replaced the 956 in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA's IMSA GT Champio ...

) with

Yannick Dalmas Yannick Dalmas (; born 28 July 1961) is a former racing driver from France. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times (in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1999), each with different teams. Prior to this, he participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix, debuti ...

and

Hurley Haywood Harris Hurley Haywood (born May 4, 1948) is an American former race car driver. Haywood has won multiple events, including five overall victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, three at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two at the 12 Hours of Sebring and ...

. He also won the

in 1998 and 2002, and the

, again in 1998, with

Arie Luyendyk Arie Luijendijk (anglicized as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor S ...

and

Didier Theys Didier Maurice Theys (born 19 October 1956) is a Belgian sports car driver. He is a two-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona (1998 and 2002); a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring (1998); the Sports Racing Prototype driver champion of th ...

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Baldi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete European Formula 3 results

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

Complete Formula One results

( key)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

American Open Wheel racing results

( key)

IndyCar World Series

References

Sources

Profile at www.grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldi, Mauro 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Reggio Emilia Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers Arrows Formula One drivers Alfa Romeo Formula One drivers Spirit Formula One drivers FIA European Formula 3 Championship drivers Champ Car drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Peugeot Sport drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers EuroInternational drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers TOM'S drivers Sauber Motorsport drivers