Martini, Giancarlo

Maranello, 26 March – There are not many drivers who managed to race a Ferrari Formula 1 car without being part of the Maranello Scuderia. Back in the Fifties, it was quite usual for privateer racers to acquire a car and compete with it, but this gradually became more and more rare. In the Seventies, a young and talented Italian driver by the name of Giancarlo Martini did just that and today, at the age of 66, he has passed away. Martini took part in two classics of that era on the Formula 1 calendar back in 1976 – the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and the Graham Hill Trophy at Silverstone, both non-championship events. He took part in a 312 T, the car which had won the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles the previous year. It was Enzo Ferrari who entrusted the car to a youngster who was full of ideas and courage and who wanted to make his way in the world of racing and who went by the name of Giancarlo Minardi. It was from the Everest team that his eponymous outfit was born in 1980, going on to become a famous name in the history of Formula 1 for the following two decades. In fact, a nephew of Martini, Pierluigi, contested no less than 103 of his 119 Formula 1 Grands Prix at the wheel of a Minardi, once starting from the front row in the 1990 USA Grand Prix, as well as finishing fourth in Imola and Estoril the following year. Scuderia Ferrari offers its condolences to Giancarlo’s family.