Гонщики, M | |
Martini, Pierluigi Курсивом отмечены гонщики, |
| Пьерлуиджи МартиниMartini, Pierluigi |
 (c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000 Родился: 23.04.1961 Луго ди Романья (Лавеццола?), Равенна Сезонов в Ф1: Лет в Ф1: 12 Гран При: Старты: 118* *не стартовал: 6 Победы: - подряд: Подиумы: - подряд: Поул-позиции: - подряд: Первый ряд: - подряд: Быстрые круги: - подряд: Лучший финиш: Лучший старт: 2 Дубли: Хет-трики: Лидирование старт/финиш: Большие шлемы: Круги: - лидирования: 1 Километры: - лидирования: |
Год | Команда | Шасси |
Little Martini had the resilience to shrug off a disastrous debut year in Grand Prix racing and sensibly return to shallower waters until he was truly ready to plunge back into the deep end. He then became a well-respected part of the Grand Prix community, albeit with only a tantalising glimpse of ultimate success.
The nephew of Italian seventies racer Giancarlo Martini, Pierluigi spent a couple of years hidden in Italian F3 driving the ubiquitous Dallara before emerging as something of a surprise European F3 champion in 1983. At the wheel of a Pavesi Ralt, he put together a late-season run to snatch the title at the very last from under the nose of John Nielsen, but a second place on his Formula 2 debut in a Minardi that season may have given him ideas above his station. After he had tested a Brabham but failed to land a drive, 1984 saw a hapless attempt to qualify a works Toleman at Monza and his lack of experience was merely amplified during the 1985 season. The task of leading the singleton Minardi challenge was beyond him and he dropped back to F3000 for the 1986 season with the Pavesi team. It proved to be a good decision for, freed from the pressure of Formula 1, he soon found his feet to put in a determined bid for the championship, winning rounds at Imola, Mugello and Birmingham. Any hopes of a title win were dashed when he was disqualified in the final round at Jarama after some illegal tinkering with the car between the two parts of the interrupted race. The team lost their way the following year, constantly switching Ralt chassis, and Pierluigi was largely wasting his time. A move to the FIRST team in 1988 bounced him back to the front despite being hampered by a difficult March chassis, and a victory at Enna kept his interest in the series alive even though he had made a surprise return to Grand Prix racing with Minardi.
Scoring their first-ever championship point on his comeback in Detroit, the Italian soon found himself the spearhead of the little Faenza outfit's upward progress. In 1989 he hauled the team from the brink of the pre-qualification abyss to a brief but brilliant moment at Estoril when for one glorious lap a Minardi led a Grand Prix. At the last race of the year in Adelaide, he qualified third on the grid but had to settle for a distant sixth place on unsuitable Pirelli race tyres, and the following season was to prove relatively uneventful while Minardi waited with eager anticipation for the Ferrari power which they hoped would provide the leg-up required to place them among the front-runners.
Sadly for Martini, the partnership was hardly a distinguished one, and at the end of the year he moved to Scuderia Italia along with the V12 engines. It was akin to being transferred from one First Division football team to another when the player was eyeing a move to the Premiership. Enduring a year of endless frustrations, Martini found himself without a drive when the team concluded a deal to race Lolas in 1993. He wasn't to know how lucky he was to miss out on that debacle. He bided his time before keeping his Grand Prix career alive with a mid-season return to the homely confines of Minardi. After all this time, it was hard to see him breaking out of the ranks of the also-ran teams - no matter how much he may previously have deserved the chance. So it was to prove, Pierluigi running for the most part in midfield anonymity until the middle of the 1995 season when his drive was taken by the then up-and-coming Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy.
Although his Grand Prix sojourn had come to an end, Martini accepted the chance to race Scuderia Italia's Porsche 911 GT1 in 1997 and took a win in Joest's Porsche WSC95 at Donington with Stefan Johansson. The pinnacle of the little Italian's career finally arrived in 1999 when he partnered Yannick Dalmas and Jo Winkelhock to victory at Le Mans driving a works BMW V12 LMR. Having turned down the chance to race sports cars in the USA, Pierluigi is currently chasing a suitable touring car drive for 2000.
(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000
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