1. Piercarlo Ghinzani was born on 16 January 1952 and is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1981 to 1989.
17 Facts About Piercarlo Ghinzani
1. 2.
Piercarlo Ghinzani scored his only points finish at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix with Osella, where he finished fifth.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani entered four editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1980 to 1983 with Lancia, but retired with mechanical faults in each.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani then graduated to Formula Three, racing with the Allegrini Team.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani had a one-off in Formula 2 in 1978, finishing fourth at Pergusa on a March-BMW, and in 1979 tried to qualify the Dywa at the Monza round of the 1980 British Formula One Championship.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani debuted in Formula One on 17 May at the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, when Enzo Osella asked him to replace the injured Miguel Angel Guerra.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani's Osella hit the wall and with almost a full fuel load of 220 litres, went up in flames and he suffered burns to his hands and face that kept him out of the race.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani recovered to score his first and only career points when he finished fifth at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix in a race marked by high attrition, crumbling tarmac and oppressive heat.
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For 1987 Piercarlo Ghinzani was contracted to the Ligier team, alongside former Grand Prix winner Rene Arnoux.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani occasionally ran in the points for Ligier, notably in Germany, before being forced to retire.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani's mechanics jumped the pit wall, refuelled him on the track and then push-started him, a clear violation of the rules leading to Ghinzani's exclusion from the remainder of the event.
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In 1988 Piercarlo Ghinzani drove for the German Zakspeed team, which ran its own 4 cylinder turbo engine, though generally without success.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani announced his decision to retire from Grand Prix racing before official practice of the final race of the 1989 season in Australia.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani had qualified 21st, but his race ended when his Osella was hit from behind by the Lotus of triple World Champion Nelson Piquet on lap 19.
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Piercarlo Ghinzani holds the record for the most Formula One appearances without qualifying in the top ten.
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In 1982 Piercarlo Ghinzani drove for the Lancia Sports car racing team, winning a Group C World Championship event with Michele Alboreto at Mugello in 1982.
17.
Piercarlo Ghinzani competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times between 1980 and 1983 but failed to finish on all occasions.