Michele Alboreto

Michele Alboreto (1956-2001) was an Italian racing driver. As a Ferrari driver, he was runner-up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche and the 2001 12 Hours of Sebring at the wheel of an Audi in sports car races.

His first place in the European Formula 3 Championship in 1980 paved the way for his entrance into Formula One with the Tyrrell team (picture above). Two wins, the first in the final round of the 1982 season in Las Vegas, and the second a year later in Detroit, earned him a place with the Ferrari team from 1984 on.

Alboreto competed in Formula One from 1981 until 1994, racing for the Tyrrell, Ferrari, Larrousse, Arrows, Footwork, Scuderia Italia and Minardi teams. In 194 starts, the Italian scored 5 wins, 23 podiums, 2 pole positions and 186.5 career points.

Sadly, in 2001, a month after his Sebring victory (picture-below), and completing thousands of test kilometres of testing, Michele Alboreto was killed when a tyre failure at more than 300 km/h, launched his Audi R8 in the air and against the Armco barrier, at the Lausitzring in Germany. A very sad loss for the whole racing community, Michele being so much appreciated.