Steve Pizzati

Last updated

Steve Pizzati
Born (1975-04-23) 23 April 1975 (age 48)
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Racing driver, driving instructor, journalist, television presenter
Known for Top Gear Australia
Website Official Twitter

Steve Pizzati is an Australian race driver, driving instructor, television presenter and free-lance motoring journalist. He was born in Melbourne to Italian parents and did not speak English until he was at school. [1] He attended Cathedral College, East Melbourne and St Kevin's College.

In 2008, he was selected from 4,000 applicants to be one of the presenters of Top Gear Australia on SBS TV. [2] In 2010 he was the only host selected by the Nine Network to continue with the new broadcaster thus making him the only host to have been a part of all four series of the show.

Prior to Top Gear Australia , Pizzati competed in various national categories of Australian motor sport including GT racing. He has also been a professional driving instructor for various manufacturers, mainly Porsche and Audi since 1996.

Pizzati was also a regular host of the Top Gear Live and Top Gear Festival shows having joined Top Gear UK hosts Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond for the Top Gear Live stadium show at Acer Arena in Sydney in 2009 and 2015 as well as joining Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Shane Jacobson for the Top Gear Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2013 and 2014.

Radio 3AW Melbourne currently use Pizzati as its motoring expert and has a regular program called "The Upshift" with Tom Elliott on the Drive program every Monday at 3.30pm.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Clarkson</span> English broadcaster, journalist and writer (born 1960)

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes Top Gear and The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May. He also currently writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun. Since 2018, Clarkson has hosted the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiff Needell</span> British racing driver and television presenter

Timothy Richard "Tiff" Needell is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of Lovecars, and formerly served as co-presenter of Top Gear and Fifth Gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James May</span> English television presenter and journalist

James Daniel May is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also served as a director of the production company W. Chump & Sons, which has since ceased operating. He is a co-presenter of the television series The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, alongside his former Top Gear colleagues, Clarkson and Hammond, as well as Top Gear's former executive producer Andy Wilman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Dawe (presenter)</span> English journalist and television presenter

Jason Andrew Dawe is an English journalist and television presenter. He presented the first series of the rebooted Top Gear on BBC Two alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. In 2005, he began presenting Used Car Roadshow; the programme was cancelled two years later in 2007. He also presented the programme Classic Gear, which was supposed to be a remake of the 1978–2001 format of Top Gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quentin Willson</span> British television presenter (born 1957)

Quentin Willson is an English television presenter and producer, motoring journalist, author, and former car dealer. He was a presenter of the motoring programmes Britain's Worst Driver, Fifth Gear, and the original incarnation of Top Gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Collins (racing driver)</span> British racing driver

Benjamin Lievesley Collins is a racing driver from Bristol, UK. He has competed in motor racing since 1994 in many categories, from Formula Three and Indy Lights to sportscars, GT racing and stock cars.

Charles Raymond Cox is an Australian former racing driver and motorsports commentator. He was brought up in the Sydney suburb of Gymea.

<i>Top Gear</i> (1977 TV series) The Original TG aired from 1977 until 2002

Top Gear was a British motoring magazine programme created by the BBC and aired on BBC Two between 22 April 1977 and 17 December 2001. The programme focused on a range of motoring topics, the most common being car reviews, road safety and consumer advice. Originally presented by Angela Rippon and Tom Coyne, the show saw a range of different presenters and reporters front the programme's half-hourly slots, including Noel Edmonds, Jeremy Clarkson, Tiff Needell, William Woollard and Quentin Willson. The programme proved popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and launched a number of spin-offs, including its own magazine entitled Top Gear Magazine.

Stars in Fast Cars is a motoring-themed celebrity game show, in which celebrities compete in motoring challenges, including recreating movie stunts and racing modified armchairs. The series was first broadcast on BBC Three, in 2005, and repeated on BBC One in 2006.

Brendan Coogan is a British television and radio presenter, from Middleton, Greater Manchester. In January 1999, Coogan briefly presented the BBC TV motoring programme Top Gear, following the departure of former host Jeremy Clarkson, but left after a few months, following a drink-driving conviction. Between 1999 and 2001, he was a presenter on Radio 5 Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Jacobson</span> Australian actor, director, writer, and comedian

Shane Jacobson is an Australian actor, director, writer, and comedian, best known as the "Dunny Man" for his performances as the eponymous character Kenny Smyth, a plumber working for a portable toilet rental company, in the 2006 film Kenny and the spin-off TV series, Kenny's World. In 2006, he won the Australian Film Institute's Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for that performance. In 2017 and 2018 he presented Little Big Shots, on the Seven Network, based on the American series of the same title. In 2019, Jacobson became a judge on Australia's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Berry (presenter)</span>

Steve Berry is a British media presenter, best known as a member of the presenting team for the BBC Two motoring programme Top Gear from 1993 to 1999, where he reviewed motorcycles and made features relating to them.

<i>Top Gear Australia</i> Australian TV series or program

Top Gear Australia was an Australian motoring reality television series, based on the British BBC series Top Gear. The programme first premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008. A second season was ordered following the high ratings for the premiere episode and positive comments from advertisers, and the second season began broadcasting from 11 May 2009. After acquiring the rights to broadcast the UK version in 2009, the Nine Network started airing their own version of Top Gear Australia in September 2010. Top Gear Australia returned for a fourth season in 2011. The show was cancelled on 28 April 2012 due to declining ratings.

The British motoring-themed television programme Top Gear was often the focus of criticism. The criticism has ranged from minor viewer complaints to serious complaints where broadcasting watchdogs such as Ofcom have been involved.

Top Gear Australia: Ashes Special is a special episode of the motoring series Top Gear Australia and Top Gear. It is part of the Channel Nine revamp of Top Gear Australia, which sees Australian hosts Ewen Page, Steve Pizzati and Shane Jacobson, take on the hosts of Top Gear, James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy Clarkson in a series of challenges involving the best and worst of British motoring, as well as a rally, and driving through a safari park. Other challenges include a drag race between a Holden VE Commodore ute and a standard looking Ford Transit van customised with a Jaguar XJ220 engine, and the double car race seen in Series 11 of Top Gear UK. An edited version of the Ashes Special was shown in the UK on 30 January 2011 as part of Series 16, Episode 2 of Top Gear UK.

The third series of Top Gear Australia began on 28 September 2010 with a 75-minute Ashes Special featuring the presenters of both the Australian and UK Top Gear's competing in a series of challenges. This special was used a promotional tool by the Nine Network, who, as of late 2009, had acquired the airing rights to both the UK and Australian shows from SBS One. The series proper began 3 weeks later on 19 October. The show airs on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm on Channel Nine.

<i>Top Gear</i> (series 22) Season of television series

Series 22 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2015, consisting of eight episodes - seven of these were aired between 25 January and 8 March, while the eighth was aired on 28 June following a disruption in production; two additional episodes were planned but never produced. The series was preceded by a two-part special focused on the presenters conducting a road trip across Argentina, titled Top Gear: Patagonia Special, and aired during 2014 on 27–28 December. This series' highlights included the presenters conducting a race across St. Petersburg, creating home-made ambulances, a recreation of a famous Land Rover Defender advert, and a road trip across Australia in GT cars.

Top Gear is a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, it is a revival of the 1977–2001 show of the same name by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman for the BBC, and premiered on 20 October 2002. The programme focuses on the examination and reviewing of motor vehicles, primarily cars, though this was expanded upon after the broadcast of its earlier series to incorporate films featuring motoring-based challenges, special races, timed laps of notable cars, and celebrity timed laps on a course specially-designed for the relaunched programme. The programme drew acclaim for its visual and presentation style since its launch, which focused on being generally entertaining to viewers, as well as criticism over the controversial nature of its content. The show was also praised for its occasionally-controversial humour and lore existing in not just the automotive community but in the form of internet memes and jokes. The programme was aired on BBC Two until it was moved to BBC One for its twenty-ninth series in 2020.

The Grand Tour is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was conceived in the wake of the departure of Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman from the BBC series Top Gear and was originally contracted with 36 episodes over three years.

<i>Top Gear</i> (series 23) Season of television series

Series 23 of Top Gear, a British motoring magazine and factual television programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two during 2016, consisting of six episodes between 29 May and 3 July; an additional four episodes were planned but not produced. Following the dismissal of Jeremy Clarkson, and the subsequent departures of Richard Hammond and James May in the previous series, the BBC hired Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc as the new hosts, with Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris, Rory Reid and Eddie Jordan as their co-presenters, but appearing only when required for an episode.

References

  1. "Steve Pizzati – Top Gear Australia host". SBS. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  2. "Australian Top Gear presenters revealed". BBC Worldwide Press Releases. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.