46 Facts About Michele Alboreto

Michele Alboreto was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races.

The car achieved very little success and two years later Michele Alboreto moved up to Formula Three.

Michele Alboreto took three wins for the Italian team and challenged Alain Prost for the 1985 Championship, eventually losing out by 20 points.

In 1995, Michele Alboreto moved on to sportscars and a year later the American IndyCar series.

Michele Alboreto took his final major victories, the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours and 2001 Sebring 12 Hours, with German manufacturers Porsche and Audi respectively.

Michele Alboreto started his career in 1976 racing in Formula Monza with a car he and his friends built, known as the "CMR".

Michele Alboreto scored Minardi's only F2 victory, at Misano, during the 1981 season where he finished eighth in the championship.

Michele Alboreto shared the Group 5 category Lancia Beta Montecarlo with Walter Rohrl or Eddie Cheever on four occasions during the 1980 season, scoring three second-place finishes and a fourth.

Michele Alboreto again ran a partial schedule in 1981 even though he was running Formula Two and Formula One.

Michele Alboreto earned an eighth-place finish overall, second in class, and was the highest finishing Lancia.

Michele Alboreto followed this with his first win in the championship, at the Six Hours of Watkins Glen with co-driver Riccardo Patrese.

Michele Alboreto finished the year 52nd in the Drivers' Championship, the highest ranked Lancia driver.

Michele Alboreto was not able to repeat his previous success at Le Mans when the LC1's engine failed, and was unable to complete an event at Spa when the car broke in the closing laps.

The final two races of the World Championship season had Michele Alboreto's car eliminated from contention due to accidents.

Lancia changed classes and cars in 1983 World Sportscar Championship season, but Michele Alboreto remained as one of the team's primary drivers.

At the age of 24, Michele Alboreto made his Formula One debut at the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix for the Cosworth-powered Tyrrell Racing team, replacing Ricardo Zunino after the Argentine failed to impress team boss Ken Tyrrell.

Michele Alboreto failed to score a single point during his debut year, his highest position being ninth at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Italian took the first podium of his Grand Prix career at Imola and, at the final round in Las Vegas, Michele Alboreto took his first Grand Prix win.

Michele Alboreto is the last winner of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix as the following year, the track was axed from the calendar.

Michele Alboreto scored a total of 25 points during his second season of F1, finishing as the top Italian in eighth place overall.

Michele Alboreto finished on the podium a further three times: at the Osterreichring where he finished third; Ferrari's home circuit of Monza where he finished second; and at the Nurburgring, where he finished in second place despite running out of fuel going into the final turn.

Michele Alboreto finished the 1984 season in fourth with 30.5 points, the half point coming from his sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix which was cut to under half its original race distance due to heavy rain, resulting in half points being awarded.

Michele Alboreto took two wins: the first at the Canadian Grand Prix, and the second at the German Grand Prix.

Michele Alboreto led the points table until Round 11 at Zandvoort, but finished the season in second place with 53 points, 20 points behind World Champion Alain Prost.

Formula One journalist Nigel Roebuck commented that "Michele Alboreto was Prost's only real challenger for the World Championship".

Michele Alboreto drove the on-fire car into the pits and straight to his Ferrari pit.

Ferrari refused to offer the Italian a new contract and so Michele Alboreto looked elsewhere for a drive.

Later that year before the Italian GP at Monza, Michele Alboreto had not received any word from Williams and requested confirmation of his seat at the team.

Michele Alboreto competed in eighty Grands Prix for Ferrari, which established a new record.

At the Monaco Grand Prix, Michele Alboreto was told to drive the 1988 model Tyrrell 017, due to the newer 018 model not being completed.

Michele Alboreto finished the race in fifth position during while Palmer finished ninth.

Michele Alboreto was disappointed, as thanks to his Marlboro backing, the team had managed to fund his wages.

Michele Alboreto soon lost his Marlboro sponsorship as well after they refused to find him another drive for the rest of the 1989 season.

Michele Alboreto was hired by the French Larrousse team, incidentally co-sponsored by Camel, for the German Grand Prix and the rest of the season.

Michele Alboreto finished the season as one of 21 drivers who failed to score a point.

The FA13 was reliable in comparison to its predecessor and Michele Alboreto scored points four times, in addition to finishing in seventh place six times.

Michele Alboreto joined Italian team Scuderia Italia, which had enjoyed a number of successes in its short history, most notably when Andrea de Cesaris and JJ Lehto had scored podium positions at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix and 1991 San Marino Grand Prix respectively.

At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which was overshadowed by the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, whilst leaving the pitlane after a scheduled stop, Michele Alboreto's car lost his loose right rear wheel which bounced through the Benetton, Ferrari, and Lotus pit areas and crews, injuring several mechanics.

Michele Alboreto entered the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Joest Racing-entered Porsche WSC-95 alongside fellow Italian and former F1 teammate Pierluigi Martini and Belgian Didier Theys, but retired due to an engine failure after completing 300 laps.

Also in 1997, Michele Alboreto was called to testify at the trial following Ayrton Senna's fatal accident in 1994.

Michele Alboreto told the tribunal that, in his opinion, Senna's accident was likely caused by a technical failure rather than a driver error.

Michele Alboreto won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same car as the previous year, but this time alongside Swede Stefan Johansson, another former F1 teammate, and Dane Tom Kristensen, who would later go onto beat Jacky Ickx's record for winning the most Le Mans 24 Hour races.

Michele Alboreto mainly drove the car in the area of the facility that is used for public racing events, using the tri-oval for quicker laps and the Grand Prix circuit for slower laps, but some testing took place within the limits of the adjacent proving ground, which features an elongated oval track with two long straights.

Around 5.30 pm local time on 25 April 2001, Michele Alboreto accelerated the R8 along one of the two long straights at the proving ground.

Michele Alboreto's death brought much anguish among his family and friends.

Michele Alboreto's helmet was blue with a yellow stripe with white edges covering the centre of the helmet.