Fittipaldi Automotive, often called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was a Formula One racing team and constructor from 1975 to 1982. The team was formed during 1974 by Brazilian racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double F1 World Champion Emerson, who joined the team in 1976 after, to the surprise of many, leaving […]
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Bruno Giacomelli
Bruno Giacomelli, born 10 September 1952, in Poncarale, is an Italian former racing car driver. He dominated the 1978 European Formula 2 championship in a March-BMW and seemed destined for greatness. Bruno participated in 82 Formula One Grand Prix – for the McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Toleman and Life teams between 1977 and 1990 – achieved […]
Proud like Caesar
For Michele Alboreto, the 1982 season was a successful campaign. The Italian took the first podium of his F1 career at Imola and, at the final round in Las Vegas, Alboreto took his first Grand Prix win. This 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix was the sixteenth and last race of the 1982 Formula 1 season. It […]
O11: A good number
The Tyrrell 011 was a Formula One car designed by engineer Maurice Philippe for the Tyrrell Racing Organisation. It had an aluminium monocoque and was powered by the 3L V8 Cosworth DFV engine. It was first entered in the last six races of the 1981 season for Eddie Cheever and Michele Alboreto, but this same concept was […]
Watson’s best year
John Watson’s most successful year in Formula One was 1982, when he finished third in the Drivers’ Championship, winning two races: the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder and the Detroit Grand Prix, where he worked his way from 17th on the grid, charged through the field and scored a memorable victory. Picture above: John Watson (McLaren […]
1982: Dramas and great racing
The 1982 Formula One season featured sixteen rounds. It was a year full of drama, controversy, accidents and exciting finishes, and finally, the Drivers’ Championship went to Keke Rosberg and the Constructors’ Championship to the Scuderia Ferrari. Picture above: Didier Pironi (Ferrari) winner of the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix, with Nelson Piquet (second in his […]
Rolf Stommelen
Rolf Stommelen (11 July 1943 – 24 April 1983) was a German racing driver. He participated in 63 Formula One Grand Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. One of the best endurance sports car racing drivers of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Stommelen won the 24 Hours of Daytona […]
Eliseo Salazar
Eliseo Salazar (born 14 November 1954) is a Chilean racing driver. He, so far, is the only Chilean to have participated in a Formula One Grand Prix. He made his F1 debut in March 1981, and ultimately, between 1981 and 1983, contested 37 races for March, Ensign, ATS and RAM, scoring three championship points. After […]
Driver and Gentleman
For those of you who speak French, let me present you this superb book written by José Valli about Patrick Tambay. No less than 550 pages to tell the story of this excellent driver, a gentleman of a person as well. He is not the best known of the French racing drivers, nor the one with the […]
Emotions in red
In 1982, French driver Patrick Tambay was offered a seat at the Scuderia Ferrari after the death of his close friend Gilles Villeneuve during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. Tambay won the 1982 German Grand Prix held in Hockenheim, his first Grand Prix victory, after his team mate Didier Pironi was badly injured […]