Nanni Galli

Nanni Galli raced for several teams in F1 between 1970-1973 and had one drive for Ferrari at the French GP in 1972. He also scored some notable results competing in touring cars and sports cars, with a highlight being a fourth place (and class victory) at Le Mans in 1968.

The son of a wealthy textile manufacturer, Giovanni Giuseppe Gilberto Galli was born in Bologna, Italy, on the 2nd of October 1940. His parents had been temporarily transferred there for work reasons though the textile company of his father and uncles was based in Prato and the family eventually returned there in the 1950s. On one occasion, a young Giovanni spotted a truck in the company’s courtyard but after climbing up to the driver’s seat and starting it, it began to move. Unable to stop it, the lorry demolished the company bathrooms and a shed wall before stopping in the rubble. Fortunately nobody was injured during the incident.

He started racing in karts at a relatively late age but would go on to take the national title with his Italkart in the 100cc and 200cc categories, which led to him joining the National team. In 1962 he entered one round of the World Sportscar Championship, the Coppa Maifredi at Circuito del Garda, and finished tenth in a Fiat-Abarth 700 with Ada Pace and in the following year made his debut at the Targa Florio, though he and Girolamo Capra did not finish in their Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Zagato.

When he began racing he drove under the pseudonym ‘Nanni’ and the name stuck so that during his racing career and afterwards he was always called Nanni. 1964 saw him driving a 500 Steyr-Puch 500D in which he won several hillclimbs plus there was also an outing in a Porsche 356B Super 90 at the Coppa F.I.S.A. at Monza.

In the following year he contested the Italian Touring Car Championship where he had ten class wins in ten starts with his Mini Cooper S and took the national title in his class. There were two Alfa Romeo drives, which began his long association with the marque, but he and Girolamo Capra retired from the Nurburgring 1000km with a Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Giuilia TZ though there was a twelfth place finish in an Alfa 2600 Sprint with ‘Pabilito’ in the GP Mugello.

1966 saw several outings with an Alfa Romeo GTA and at the 4 Hour Monza he was seventh with Sangrila. Autodelta (Alfa Romeo’s racing department) had introduced a substantial change which it applied to the GTAs driven by their official drivers, though not to privately entered cars. Nanni had set the fourth best overall time in the Monza race, but was angered that the change was not extended to private drivers and Autodelta’s founder Carlo Chiti had to placate him; he was sympathetic to his viewpoint and invited him to a test session at Alfa Romeo’s track in Balocco. Once placed in an official GTA he was instructed to take it easy but after setting off for a few laps to warm up and study the route he set a new track record. However, when he returned to the pits he was reprimanded by the sporting director Maurizio Siena for having disregarded the instructions though he would soon be under contract with the official Autodelta team, joining drivers such as Andrea de Adamich, ‘Geki’ Russo, Ignazio Giunti and Jochen Rindt. Later drives in an Autodelta car saw a third place finish with I.Giunti at the GP Mugello, while in two solo outings he retired from the 500km Snetterton race though was second at an ETCC Zandvoort round. He and G.Capra contested the Targa Florio with Scuderia Sant Ambroeu’s Giulia TZ and came home twenty fourth.

The following season saw a busy schedule with Autodelta and his first race came in America in the Sebring 12 Hours with the T33 but he and Roberto Bussinello did not finish due to ignition problems. After returning to Europe, he won an ETCC race at Aspern with a Giulia Sprint GTA and later in the month had one outing in a Ferrari, finishing fifteenth with Carlo Benelli in a Ferrari 275 GTB at Monza. In further T33 drives he and Giunti contested the Targa Florio though were not classified, then had a retirement alongside Andrea de Adamich at the GP Mugello though he was fifth at the 1000Km Nurburgring alongside Roberto Bussinello, Teodoro Zeccoli and de Adamich. In ETCC races with a GTA his best results were fourth at the 6 Hour Nurburgring with de Adamich while solo races produced victory at Aspern, fourth in the 3 Hour Belgrade and third at Budapest. He had one F2 outing when he entered the season’s finale at Vallelunga with a Brabham BT23 Alfa Romeo but did not compete seriously until 1969.

He continued with Autodelta in 1968 with a further full schedule and early races saw retirement with the GTA with Giancarlo Baghetti at Monza then sixth at the GP Brno with Giorgio Pianta. There was a fourteenth place at Brands Hatch with Giancarlo Baghetti in a T33/2 but paired with Giunti he came home second at the 500km Imola and second in the Targa Florio (behind Vic Elford and Umberto Maglioli in a Porsche 907). Nanni achieved his first Autodelta victories at the non championship GP Mugello, with Luciano Bianchi and Nino Vaccarella, plus a solo drive at the GP Republic Vallelunga.

There were two races alongside I.Giunti for Alfa Romeo Deutschland, with a GTA at the 6 Hour Nurburgring plus they took fifth at the Nurburgring 1000km with the T33/2. Although he had attended the Le Mans test in the previous year, he made his debut at the 24 Hours race in one of the four cars entered, alongside Giunti. Although usually held in June, the race had to be delayed until September due to protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France during the summer of 1968. At the halfway point in the race, a Ford had a comfortable 4-lap lead over the next pair, which saw a Matra involved in a strong battle against the Galli/Giunti T33/2. At this point there were still 30 cars classified as runners with the first two Alfas leading the Index of Performance. Around 6.30 in the morning, it was gloomy and very wet and the Ford now had a 7-lap lead over the Alfa Romeo and Matra. However, with only 3 hours to go there was a sudden change at the top as the Alfa Romeo pitted with suspension failure and the repairs lost them 30 minutes and 4 laps. Rejoining the race they eventually took the flag in fourth place (and won their P2.0 class), followed by two of their Autodelta teammates to complete a 4-5-6 result.

His sports car drives in 1969 started at Sebring with Giunti in the T33/3 though the following day he was at Monza and came home fourth in class with Sandro Tucci in a Fiat Abarth 1000 TC. There were outings with a T33/2 at the Targa Florio and 1000km Nurburgring, while a GTA drive brought sixth place at the 6 Hour Nurburgring and his final three races in the T33 came at the GP Mugello, 1000KM Zeltweg and 500KM Imola races. Despite his association with Alfa Romeo, he was in a Matra MS630 alongside Robin Widdows at this year’s Le Mans. Matra had designed a low-drag 640 coupe for the race but though it was not ready in time for the March test weekend they had been allowed to conduct a special test in April. Unfortunately while Henri Pescarolo was at the wheel the car got airborne on the Mulsanne Straight, before smashing into roadside trees and catching fire. He suffered two broken vertebrae and severe burns to his face and arms and the project was cancelled. Development had been continuing on the 630, which led to a new open-top 650, but it was only finished in time for scrutineering andwas raced by Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Piers Courage. Two former 630 chassis were converted (titled 630/650) for Nanni and Robin Widdows (and the other by Johnny Servoz-Gavin/Herbert Muller) and they brought the car home seventh overall. After his one single seater drive in 1967 in a Brabham he returned to F2 with Tecno, alongside Francois Cevert. Piloting the Cosworth engined Tecno 68 he retired at Eifelrennen and finishes included twentieth at Thruxton, eighth at Hockenheim, seventh at Pau, ninth at Jarama, fourteenth at Monza, fifth and sixth at Reims and Tull-Langenlebarn then eighteenth at Enna-Pergusa.

There was another busy schedule in 1970 with Autodelta and he was teamed at various events with Rolf Stommelen, Umberto Maglioli, Toine Hezemans and Andrea de Adamich in the T33/3. His season commenced in South America with two races at Buenos Aires where he and Stommelen retired at the 1000km race though they were eighth in a 200 mile race the following week. Next came Sebring where they were ninth, then seventh at the 1000km Monza, though they suffered retirements at Le Mans and from their final race in October at the 1000km Zeltweg. An accident ended his Targa Florio (with U.Maglioli) though he took second place with A.de Adamich at the 500km Imola. Outings in the GTAm in the ETCC saw fourth place at Budapest and the Tourist Trophy, retirement at Brno and Nurburgring (with Toine Hezemans) and he finished his season off in South Africa at the 9 Hour Kyalami alongside Basil van Rooyen. He also raced an Alfa Romeo 1300 GTA Junior at Zandvoort plus was sixth with the car at a 4 Hour Jarama race. Away from Alfa Romeo he contested a round of the European 2-litre Sports Car Championship for Makes in a Lola T210 and was thirteenth with Ecurie Evergreen’s car at Mugello. In September Nanni debuted in Formula One, in a McLaren M7D at the Italian GP, but it was a disappointing debut as he failed to qualify.

1971 started well with third place at the Buenos Aires 1000km and second (and class winners) at the Sebring 12 Hours with Stommelen in the T33/3. Later races saw third place at Zeltweg and retirements at Nurburgring and Watkins Glen (with Vic Elford) but Alfa Romeo finished second to Porsche in the International Championship for Makes. He returned to an F1 cockpit in May, driving for STP March at Monaco but fuel starvation problems meant he failed to qualify the March 711. He started in the next race at Zandvoort though retired after seven laps due to an accident and suffered further retirements at Monza (electrical) and Watkins Glen (accident damage). His finishes included eleventh at Silverstone, twelfth at Nurburgring and Osterreichring then sixteenth at Mosport, with his best result being fifth in a non-championship race at Hockenheim.

He continued to drive for Alfa Romeo in the World Championship for Makes in 1972. He was paired with Andrea de Adamich for a number of rounds though after retiring in the first race at Buenos Aires they came home fifth with the T33/3 in the next race at the 6 Hour Daytona. In the next month he raced alongside Helmut Marko at Brands Hatch and was sixth and they later took an impressive second place in the Targa Florio, behind the Arturo Merzario/Sandro Munari Ferrari 312 PB. He and Stommelen retired at Le Mans while in a solo drive at an Interserie race at Imola he was fourth. There were further sports car races with a Lola T290 at Imola, which saw a sixth place and then his drive with Escuderia Nacional’s Abarth Osella 2000SP saw second place at Jarama.

Back contesting Formula 1, it was not until the fifth round that he made his first appearance with the Martini Racing Team Tecno PA123. Founded by Luciano and Gianfranco Pederzani, Tecno started out as an engineering business then quickly grew from a go-kart manufacturer to a leading Formula 2 contender. Contesting F3 in 1967, Clay Regazzoni scored their first international win at the end of the year in Spain and in 1968 went on to win 32 of the season’s 65 major F3 races. Ronnie Peterson drove for the them in 1969, winning 15 races, and the following year they entered F2 and Regazzoni took that year’s championship. Their success attracted the attention of Count Teofilo ‘Theo’ Guiscardo Rossi di Montelera, whose family owned the Martini & Rossi company and he became a partner and title sponsor. The team decided to develop a Formula One car, with the intention of contesting the 1971 season though teething problems meant the car was not ready and was only introduced in 1972, with Nanni debuting the PA 123 in Belgium. Although he qualified at the back of the grid with the flat 12 engined car, he was no means disgraced for a first time out with a brand new car and engine built in the team’s small factory in Bologna. However, he was involved in a collision with Clay Regazzoni during the race and Nanni limped back to the pits to retire. Unfortunately it would prove a frustrating season for the team as they faced accidents, engine failures and chassis breakages. A second car, chassis number PA123/2, was driven to third place (behind Emerson Fittipaldi and Andrea de Adamich) in a non-championship Italian Republic GP at Vallelunga and it made its GP debut in France (though driven by Derek Bell). It was driven by Nanni at the British GP, who qualified 17th out of 26 entrants, but it failed to finish the race and there were no points for him in Austria (after an excellent wheel-to-wheel race with Cevert’s Tyrrell) and Italy. For the Italian Grand Prix Tecno had fielded a second car, driven by Derek Bell, but although Nanni out qualified Derek the team elected to retain him for the final two races in North America, which ended Nanni’s involvement with them. Ironically, considering his coming together with Reggazoni in Belgium, he was invited to take his seat with Ferrari in the French GP. Standing in for the injured Regazzoni, who had sustained a broken wrist, Nanni finished thirteenth in the 312 B2.

His final season of racing came in 1973 with Frank Williams though he entered one round of the European 2-litre Sports Car Championship for Makes with an Abarth Osella PA1. Racing Squadra Osella Corse’s car at Misano he qualified third but did not finish in the race due to an accident. Frank Williams’ team was supported by Marlboro and Iso-Rivolta (an Italian luxury car firm) with the cars running as Iso-Marlboros and in his first GP in Argentina, he qualified sixteenth but the engine failed on the first lap of the race. In Brazil, the fire extinguishers on both cars were accidentally set off during scrutineering and were hurriedly replaced. Nanni and Howden Ganley arrived on the grid with only minutes to spare but he went on to score a career-best ninth place result. He was then injured testing a sports car and replaced for the South African GP by Jackie Pretorius. He was eleventh in his next outing at Spain but there were further retirements at the following rounds in Belgium and Monaco and he then left the team.

After leaving Formula 1, in the following year he participated in two rounds of the World Championship for Makes, driving an Abarth-Osella PA2. Teamed with Alberto Rosselli they retired Alberto’s car at Imola after a collision with Arturo Merzario/Jacky Ickx’s Autodelta car and despite suffering overheating problems at Monza they came home twenty third (and sixth in class) with a Mugello Corse car.

He then ended his career though after some time away he returned to the tracks and raced an Arbath in historic events plus eventually bought and repaired his old Tecno F1 and appeared with it at various events. At the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Alfa Romeo revealed a ‘Tecno-Montecarlo Nanni Galli’ concept car, which was a tribute to him. It had undergone testing at Alfa Romeo’s track at Portello, driven by Fulvio Ballabio, and the Nanni Galli V8 Ecoracing was designed to use LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) in a V8 engine. The project started when Gianfranco Pederzani (who founded Tecno with his late brother Luciano) along with Nanni and Fulvio Ballabio, began discussing the possibility of reviving the Tecno name and incorporating Ecoracing to underline its use of LPG. The carbon chassis and bodywork were designed by Sami Vatanen in Finland and was built in Italy by Bellasi Compositi in Novara. It was hoped it would run at Le Mans as an experimental prototype and two versions would be produced, one exclusively for use on the track, and a limited number of road going cars. The car was taken on a racing track during a Peroni Racing event at Monza, driven by Fulvio Ballabio, Oscar Comi and Arturo Merzario. Sadly during this period Nanni was diagnosed with cancer and passed away on the 12th October 2019. The car appeared at the GT Cup Open Europe round at Monza in 2019 and was driven by Fulvio Maria Ballabio and David Fumanelli (a nephew of Carlo Chiti). However it was withdrawn from the race and David Fumanelli covered just the first lap in honour of Nanni. Following the race, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza awarded a lifetime achievement prize in his memory and the trophy was accepted by his friend, Tino Brambilla.

Condolences to Nanni were paid by the mayor of Prato, Matteo Biffoni who said “the passion for engines and his extraordinary history as a driver who saw him competing in Formula 1 in the 70s, with the many successes of which he was protagonist, will always remain in the memories of those who lived it and in the testimonies that he has left”. His funeral took place on Monday 14th October in Prato Cathedral.