1. Renzo Zorzi was a racing driver from Italy who participated in seven Formula One Grands Prix between 1975 and 1977, for the Williams and Shadow teams.
19 Facts About Renzo Zorzi
1. 2.
Renzo Zorzi began in Formula Three while working with Pirelli before progressing to Formula One.
3.
Renzo Zorzi later raced in sports cars before returning to work with Pirelli, running a driving school.
4.
Renzo Zorzi is the only driver from the province of Trentino to have competed in Formula One.
5.
The son of a miner, Renzo Zorzi was born in Ziano di Fiemme, Trentino, near the Austrian border.
6.
Renzo Zorzi became an engineer with Pirelli, and began his motor racing career in 1972, driving a Tecno for Scuderia Mirabella in Italian Formula Three.
7.
Renzo Zorzi competed more regularly the following year, initially with a Brabham BT38C, and then with a Quasar, finishing 12th at Vallelunga, before finishing 13th at Casale with the Brabham.
8.
Renzo Zorzi then managed 10th at Misano driving a Branca, before his best result of the season, sixth place at Varano in a Brabham BT35.
9.
For 1975, Zorzi helped to develop a Formula Three engine for Lancia, built by the Repetto company.
10.
Later in 1975, Renzo Zorzi arranged a deal with Frank Williams to drive one of his cars at the Italian Grand Prix.
11.
Renzo Zorzi drove the FW04 while new team-mate Jacky Ickx drove the new FW05.
12.
Renzo Zorzi finished ninth of 14 classified finishers, just 2.44 seconds behind Ickx.
13.
Renzo Zorzi returned to Formula One in 1977 with the Shadow team as team-mate to the highly-rated Welsh driver Tom Pryce, backed by their Italian sponsor Franco Ambrosio.
14.
Ambrosio demanded an Italian driver as part of the agreement for his financial support, and Renzo Zorzi was chosen for this reason rather than through the choice of the team.
15.
Renzo Zorzi quickly got out of the car and activated his on-board fire extinguisher which doused the flames.
16.
When Renzo Zorzi arrived in Monaco for the 1977 Monaco Grand Prix, he found that his car had Riccardo Patrese's name on it, and that he had been replaced by Patrese, another Ambrosio protege, without being informed.
17.
Renzo Zorzi was a regular entrant to the 1000 km Monza race, winning it in 1979 in a Lola T286 with Marco Capoferri.
18.
Renzo Zorzi had a one-off appearance in the Aurora AFX F1 championship in 1980, driving an Arrows A1 for Charles Clowes Racing in the Monza Lottery GP.
19.
Renzo Zorzi died on 15 May 2015, aged 68, in hospital in Magenta, Lombardy after a long illness.