First Racing

Last updated

Flag of Italy.svg First Racing
Founded1969
Founder(s)Lamberto Leoni
Folded1991
Team principal(s) Lamberto Leoni
Former series European F2
International Formula 3000
Noted drivers Flag of Italy.svg Marco Apicella
Flag of Italy.svg Fabrizio Giovanardi
Flag of France.svg Éric Hélary
Flag of Italy.svg Lamberto Leoni
Flag of Italy.svg Pierluigi Martini
Flag of Italy.svg Gabriele Tarquini
Flag of Brazil.svg Marco Greco
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Jean-Denis Delétraz
The Life L190 which was initially developed by FIRST in 1989 1990 Life 190.jpg
The Life L190 which was initially developed by FIRST in 1989

First Racing (sometimes written as FIRST Racing) was an Italian motor racing team founded by Lamberto Leoni, which competed in International Formula 3000 from 1987 to 1991 and the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 1990. The team also made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Formula One in 1989.

Contents

Formula 3000

In 1987 former Formula One racing driver Lamberto Leoni returned to competitive racing by founding his own Formula 3000 team. First Racing debuted in Silverstone with two cars, one for Leoni and another one for Gabriele Tarquini. Although Leoni was the first of the two drivers to score points, with a sixth place at the Pau Grand Prix, Tarquini was able to finish on the podium twice, with a third place at Pergusa and a second place at Imola. Over the course of the season, the team occasionally fielded a third car, with Aldo Bertuzzi, Beppe Gabbiani, Claudio Langes and Alain Ferté alternating at the wheel. For the following season, Leoni decided to limit his involvement to management, and hired Pierluigi Martini and Marco Apicella, with Martini scoring the team's first win at Pergusa and finishing fourth in the championship. In 1989, First set off to a promising start when Fabrizio Giovanardi won the second round of the championship at Vallelunga. Apicella, in the second car, proved to be a regular points-scorer, and finished fourth in the final standing podium finishes at Pau, Jerez, Birmingham and Spa. With the line-up of Giovanardi and Apicella confirmed, the team entered the 1990 season full of expectations, but the two drivers, despite scoring points on a regular basis, were not able to win any races. 1991 proved to be First's final season in Formula 3000. Financial difficulties prompted Leoni to hire two pay drivers, Michael Bartels and Jean-Denis Délétraz. The car, however, was uncompetitive, and following a string of poor results, Leoni decided to retire the team and concentrate on managing the career of Apicella.

Formula One

Buoyed by the promising results accomplished during his first Formula 3000 season, Leoni commissioned Richard Divila to design a car for entry into the 1989 Formula One championship. [1] The team opted to use a Judd V8 engine. Gabriele Tarquini was signed to drive. After a run at the 1989 Attilio Bettega Memorial event in Bologna [2] and the Formula One Indoor Trophy, the team realized that the chassis was poorly manufactured due to a temperature mistake in the autoclave, with the result that a second chassis had to be re-commissioned. [3] Having concluded that the delay would cost the team a penalty for missing the first two races of the season, Divila and his engineers tried to reinforce the chassis with injections of a material called Redus 410 NA. [4] Although the car passed the mandatory FIA pre-season crash test in Cranfield, it was now significantly overweight. Divila himself claimed that the car as it was, was good for nothing but being "an interesting flowerpot". [5] [6] Faced with the perspective of racing an uncompetitive car in a packed field (the 1989 Formula One World Championship counted over forty participants with pre-qualifying sessions), Leoni decided to withdraw before the opening Brazilian Grand Prix and concentrate his efforts on the Formula 3000 season.

The second chassis commissioned by Leoni would be later purchased by Ernesto Vita and used in the 1990 Formula One World Championship for his Life L190.

Competition record

Complete Formula 3000 results

first column of every race10= grid position
second column of every race10= race result
YearNameCountryPlaceChassisEngine1234567891011
1987 Gabriele Tarquini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy = 8th March Ford Cosworth 9109R11125R111519731817714821954R
1987 Lamberto Leoni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy = 8th March Ford Cosworth 1888825131866R105171118R
March Judd 94124174
1987 Beppe Gabbiani Flag of Italy.svg  Italy NC March Ford Cosworth --201219R----------------
1987 Claudio Langes Flag of Italy.svg  Italy NC March Ford Cosworth --------29NQ20R21R2410----15R
1987 Alain Ferté Flag of France.svg  France NC March Ford Cosworth ------------------22R--
1988 Pierluigi Martini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 4th March Judd 1781611437106R213243--10R1210
1988 Marco Apicella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11th March Judd 20137717566327R18R5R11R21R15R
1988 Alain Ferté Flag of France.svg  France NC March Judd ----------------2012----
1989 Marco Apicella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 4th March Judd 138
Reynard Judd 2R12535412R22838R9R
1989 Fabrizio Giovanardi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 10th March Judd 28NQ71
Reynard Judd 6R211412R29NQ21NS261328NQ2012
1989 Jean-Denis Delétraz Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland NC March Judd 261419R16R2515
Reynard Judd 18R15R131227NQ15R129
1990 Marco Apicella Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 6th Reynard Mugen Honda 313633R22752R225DIS(3)1R5R115
1990 Fabrizio Giovanardi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 10th Reynard Mugen Honda 16R10R22136211015613719R18518R10R
1990 Jean-Denis Délétraz Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland NC Reynard Ford Cosworth 21731NQ18R27NQ25R------------
1990 Marco Greco Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil NC Reynard Ford Cosworth ------------------28NQ32NQ
1991 Éric Hélary Flag of France.svg  France 8th † Reynard Ford Cosworth 14117316R17R16--------------
1991 Michael Bartels Flag of Germany.svg  Germany NC Reynard Ford Cosworth -11810R1415--------------
1991 Giovanni Bonanno Flag of Italy.svg  Italy NC Reynard Ford Cosworth 22R--------------------
1991 Jean-Denis Délétraz Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland NC Reynard Ford Cosworth 15NS24NQ13R----------------

† Éric Hélary finished season with Cobra Racing

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Formula 3000</span> Former Single-Seater Racing Championship

The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines; the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as an open specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines and chassis in 1996. The series ran annually until 2004, and was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series.

Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans. In 2001, to save the team from folding, Minardi sold it to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, who ran the team for five years before selling it on to Red Bull GmbH in 2005 who renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso. Initially called "M" then a number, from 2001, all of Minardi chassis were called "PS", the PS being the initials of team owner, Paul Stoddart.

Marco Apicella is an Italian former professional racing driver. He competed in one Formula One Grand Prix for the Jordan team in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix. He later won the 1994 Japanese Formula 3000 Championship driving for Dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriele Tarquini</span> Italian racing driver (born 1962)

Gabriele Tarquini is an Italian former racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He has subsequently raced successfully in Touring Cars, winning the BTCC in 1994, the ETCC in 2003 the WTCC in 2009 and the WTCR in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives</span>

Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives was a small French racecar constructor that competed in various racing categories over a period of thirty years, including Formula One from 1986 to 1991.

Fondmetal S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of alloy wheels, founded in 1972 by Gabriele Rumi.

Josef Anton Gartner was a Formula One and sports car endurance driver from Austria. After a successful lower formula career, including a win in the Formula Two Pau Grand Prix, he participated in eight Formula One Grands Prix for Osella during the 1984 season, scoring no points. He was killed in an accident at the 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamberto Leoni</span> Italian racing driver (born 1953)

Lamberto Leoni is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, failing to qualify for three of them. He scored no championship points.

Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was a Formula One racing team and constructor that competed from 1975 to 1982. It was the only Formula One team to have been based in Brazil. The team was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money from the Brazilian sugar and alcohol cooperative Copersucar. The team raced under a Brazilian licence. Emerson Fittipaldi became a driver for the team in 1976 after leaving McLaren, but was unable to replicate his earlier success with the family-owned team. Future world champion Keke Rosberg took his first podium finish in Formula One with the team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Life Racing Engines</span> Sports organization

Life was a Formula One constructor from Modena, Italy. The company was named for its founder, Ernesto Vita. Life first emerged on the Formula One scene in 1990, trying to market their unconventional W12 3.5-litre engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabrizio Giovanardi</span> Italian racing driver (born 1966)

Fabrizio Giovanardi is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has spent the majority of his career racing for Alfa Romeo and Vauxhall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Divila</span> Brazilian motorsports designer (1945–2020)

Ricardo Ramsey "Richard" Divila was a Brazilian motorsports designer. He worked in Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three, Formula 3000, Super Formula, IndyCar, touring car racing, sports car racing, rallying, rally raid, ice racing, truck racing, among other disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scuderia Coloni</span> Motor racing team

Coloni Motorsport, also known as Scuderia Coloni, was an auto racing team from Italy. Founded by former racing driver Enzo Coloni in 1983, the team participated in Formula Three between 1983 and 1986, before racing in Formula One as Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems between 1987 and 1991. They made 82 attempts to take part in a Formula One race but only qualified 14 times. Since then, under the management of Enzo Coloni's son Paolo, the team has been successful in Formula Three, Formula 3000 and GP2 Series. Between 2006 and 2009 the team ran under the name of Fisichella Motor Sport, with support from Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella and his manager Enrico Zanarini.

The 1985 European Formula 3000 Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula 3000 category. The European Formula 3000 Championship replaced Formula Two as the official feeder series to Formula One. It was scheduled over 12 rounds and contested over 11 rounds. 14 different teams tried their luck with 33 different drivers and 7 different chassis. The series was won by the German Christian Danner driving for BS Automotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusto Farfus</span> Brazilian racing driver

Augusto Farfus Jr. is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco.

Franco Scapini is a former Italian racing driver from Varese.

The 1991 Formula One Indoor Trophy took place on December 7–8 at the Bologna Motor Show. The winner was Gabriele Tarquini in a Fondmetal-Ford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dome F105</span>

The Dome F105 was an unraced Formula One car designed and built by the Japanese motorsport constructor, Dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams FW08</span> 1982-83 Williams Formula One racing car

The Williams FW08 was a Formula One car designed by Frank Dernie, which debuted at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix held at the Zolder circuit. An evolution of the FW07 that it replaced, the car was used by Finnish driver Keke Rosberg to win the 1982 World Drivers' Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallara 3087</span> Open-wheel formula racing car built by Dallara

The Dallara 3087 is a Formula 3000 car, first used in the 1987 International Formula 3000 season, with which the BMS Scuderia Italia team competed in the first race of the 1988 Formula One season. Driven by Alex Caffi, it failed to pass pre-qualifying with its fastest time being 18 seconds slower than the time set by Ayrton Senna for pole position. The BMS Scuderia Italia team replaced the car for the next race with Dallara F188 which was specifically designed for Formula One.

References

  1. ↑ "Richard Divila Profile". Grandprix.com. Inside F1. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Bologna Sprint". Silhouette.com. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Mario Donnini, "First 189 F. 1: Inverno di ristallo', Autosprint, no. 19, 12–18 May 2020
  4. ↑ Mario Donnini, "First 189 F. 1: Inverno di ristallo', Autosprint, no. 19, 12–18 May 2020
  5. ↑ "Teams that barely existed". F1 Database. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Life team profile". F1Rejects.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.