Bruno Giacomelli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈbruno dʒakoˈmɛlli]; born 10 September 1952) is a retired racing driver from Italy.
He won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the 1978 Formula Two championship. He participated in 82 Formula One grands prix, debuting on 11 September 1977. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in 1952 in Brescia, Italy, in 1972 Bruno bought a third-hand Tecno Formula Ford but despite enjoying it he felt he did not race well because of a lack of funds and new tyres. Consequently, during his national service he decided to stop racing though while on leave, some friends invited him to test their Formula Italia, which renewed his enthusiasm.
In 1974 Scuderia Mirabella Mille Miglia loaned him a Formula Italia car and he won in his first race, at a wet Mugello. The following year he won five times and was crowned champion and his prize from Mirabella was a drive at the final round of the Italian F3 championship in a March, prepared by Cesare Garibaldi. Bruno realised that England was where he needed to be and told how “Cesare was regularly going to England to pick up spares. So I asked if I could keep him company.” Eventually arriving in the UK, he became involved with March, and basing himself in Bicester he spent as much time as possible at their factory.
He contested 1976’s British F3 championship and despite not speaking English nor knowing the circuits, soon impressed. He became the Shellsport British F3 Champion that year, winning at Monaco (where he led from start to finish) but lost the BP title when Rupert Keegan crashed into him at the final race. However, his performance at Monaco had attracted attention and he told how he was approached by two friends of Enzo Ferrari. “They picked me up from my hotel in Menton on Monday morning and drove me to Modena in a big Mercedes. They used a road I didn’t know and I became wary. We arrived at a hotel near Modena which was closed, and we drove round the back. ‘Shit! Where are they taking me?’ Then I saw a few cars and relaxed. The restaurant had been opened just for us, and there I met Enzo Ferrari. I sat eating as they talked about everything except racing. Eventually Enzo spoke to me: ‘I never saw anybody driving like you: such authority, very smooth. I would love for you to drive in my F1 team instead of Regazzoni.’ Wow, amazing! But I had to tell him: ‘Ingegnere, I’ve signed an option with March.’ Max [Mosley] had made me sign one in Monaco. Enzo offered me the assistance of his attorney. I went back to Max and told him I hadn’t known exactly what was written in that option because of my poor English. He realised what had happened and said if Ferrari wanted me, March would let me go. So I went to Maranello, feeling important. ‘Here I am. I’m free.’ But Enzo offered me F2 with Minardi and the Dino V6 engine. I said, ‘No, thank you.’” Then came a move into Formula 2 and he took victories at Vallelunga, Mugello and Donington Park with his March. This brought him to the attention of McLaren, who placed him in their third car for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, though he retired with an engine problem. McLaren entered him in a further five F1 races in 1978 (at Zolder, Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort and Monza) when his F2 commitments allowed, and his M26 finished seventh at Brands Hatch.
During the year he dominated F2, winning eight of the 12 races on his way to the title and delivering the European Championship for March and BMW. In 1979 he joined the new Alfa Romeo team to help develop its F1 challenger and turned up at Zolder for the Belgian GP, qualifying 14th, and further races followed in France, Italy and the USA. The year also saw him contest the Procar series, with Osella Squadra Course’s BMW M1. For 1980 he had a season long race seat in F1 with Alfa and it started well, with fifth in Argentina and he would later finish fifth in Germany. Sadly team mate Patrick Depailler was killed during the year while testing at Hockenheim and, now cast as team leader, he took a morale-boosting fifth place finish at Hockenheim. In Austria, he was running fourth but after pitting for tyres his right-rear wasn’t fixed tightly and failed as he accelerated. In Holland, he was in third place until overheating rear brakes caused a spin and wrecked the aero skirts. At Imola, he was fifth but suffered a puncture and had to retire.
He had a sixth place qualifying position at Brands Hatch for the British GP plus a third place qualifying run at Imola; three of his six mechanics were injured on the Friday before the race in a helicopter crash on their way to the circuit. At the season’s final race, at Watkins Glen, after qualifying on pole he made a perfect start and was leading impressively until the electrics in his Alfa failed. Staying with Alfa Romeo for the next two seasons, (alongside Mario Andretti in 1981) highlights were fourth at a wet Canadian GP and Las Vegas, where, after spinning out from fourth place, he recovered a minute in less than 50 laps to finish on the podium. 1982 also saw him take seventh at Brands Hatch and fifth in Germany. Alfa signed Mauro Baldi to partner Andrea de Cesaris for 1983 so Bruno joined Toleman, alongside Derek Warwick, taking seventh place at Monza and sixth at Brands Hatch’s European GP.
Bruno moved away from F1 after this and went to America to compete in Champ Car. His debut came with a Theodore Cosworth at 1984’s Long Beach race and he had three races with the team then contested the season’s penultimate race at Laguna Seca alongside Emerson Fittipaldi at Patrick Racing. He qualified their March 84C seventh and finished eighth and went on to compete in nine races with them the following year, scoring a fifth and two sixths. He impressed at the final race in Tamiami Park, where, after qualifying third, he led for three laps and was challenging for the lead until his race ended due to a front brake disc exploding. Then came a move into sports cars, between 1985 and 1990, racing a Porsche 965B and 962C, Lancia LC2, and Spice SE90C for Kremer Racing, Sponsor Guest Team, Britten-Lloyd Racing, Muscat Action Car, Spice Engineering and Team Lee-Davey. He fortunately survived a massive accident when his Lancia LC2 suffered a blowout during practice for an Interserie race at the Österreichring. Apparently after waking from this crash, he told how “I found myself in this white room. I didn’t know where I was, but my mother was there, so I asked her… ‘What was my best practice time?’”
He contested a number of World Touring Car races in 1987 with Pro-Team Italia’s Maserati Biturbo and there were 3 entries at Le Mans with Kenwood (alongside K.Takahasi and H.Okada), Kremer Racing (with K.Takahashi and G.Lavaggi) and Richard Lloyd Racing (with J.Watson and A.Berg) in 1988, 1989 and 1990. During this time he was also test driver for Leyton House March plus was offered a test driver role with McLaren for 1990 but turned it down.
Then came a return to racing at 1990’s San Marino GP with the Life team, replacing Gary Brabham who left the team two races into the season. Unfortunately, it would prove to be a disappointing season, not pre-qualifying at any of the 12 Grands Prix he contested and the team folded before the final two races of the season. A few years later after this, Bruno raced Freisinger Racing’s Porsche in several rounds of 1995’s Global GT Championship.
