Alessandro “Alex” Caffi (born 18 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver, former Formula One driver, and team owner.
He participated in 75 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 September 1986. In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers.
He currently serves as the team owner of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series team Alex Caffi Motorsport, occasionally doing owner-driver duties as well. Info from Wiki
Bio by stephen Latham
Born on March 18th 1964 in Rovato, Italy, Alessandro ‘Alex’ Caffi competed in the World Championship between 1986 and 1992 and later contested sports car racing, becoming the Italian GT2 Champion in 2006 and entered Le Mans three times.
His father was an amateur racer and Alex was involved in motorsport since he was a child, riding a motocross bike at seven and was racing at the age of ten. He took up karting when he was sixteen and a year later moved into Formula 4, an entry level single seater series. Then came Formula Fiat Abarth and he performed well enough to move into Italian F3 in 1984 and for three years was among the frontrunners. He took two wins with Euroteam’s Ralt at Monza and Varano plus five podiums on his way to second (behind Alessandro Santin) in the championship in the first year. Switching to a Dallara with the Gulf Coloni Motorsport team for 1985 there were victories at Vallelunga and Pergusa plus podiums at Vallelunga, Misano, Mugello, Monza (twice) and Imola to finish second behind Franco Forini. In that year Paul Ricard hosted the inaugural European Formula 3 Cup race and Alex won in dominant style, achieving pole position, fastest lap and the race win. He did not have the budget to race in F3000 so stayed in the series for 1986 and raced Venturini’s Dallara. He was third in the final results, despite having wins at Imola, Misano and Enna-Pergusa, plus podiums at Magione, Varana, Monza (twice), Enna-Pergusa, Vallelunga and Imola and second on his return to contest the European Formula 3 Cup event. It also proved a busy year for him as besides doing military service in Rome he also made his debut in F1, brought in to replace Allen Berg in the Osella-Alfa Romeo for the Italian GP at Monza. This was the era of the turbos, and utilising maximum boost and ultra soft tyres during qualifying, the Alfa’s engine could produce 1200 bhp for a few laps. However Alex came straight into it and arrived at Monza on Thursday, had a seat made and then went into Friday qualifying with no previous experience. After starting twenty seventh, behind team-mate Piercarlo Ghinzani, he drove steadily to come home eleventh and last of the runners though was not classified. At the following race in Portugal, he started twenty-fifth though retired with turbo problems. Although the Osella was uncompetitive he stated “it didn’t matter as it was the realisation of a dream” and he was racing in F1.
Osella signed him for 1987 though it proved a tough year as the car was uncompetitive but he was full of enthusiasm and optimism. However, he retired from 13 out of 16 races and recorded only one classification, at Imola, where he was twelfth. Then, Italian businessman Giuseppe Lucchini set up his own F1 team, based in Brescia and Alex was taken on, helped by Gian Paolo Dallara having offered positive comments to them on his behalf. The Scuderia Italia team had to go through pre-qualifying but Alex managed to finish in seven races, with his best results eighth in Detroit and seventh in Portugal.
Staying with Scuderia Italia, it proved to be the best year in his F1 career and despite the season’s ups and downs he was able to score points. The team had expanded to two cars, with Andrea de Cesaris taking the other, plus switched to Pirelli tyres, and Alex impressed. Although he did not pre-qualify for the first race in Brazil, in the following two races he was seventh in Imola and after impressing in pre-qualifying at Monaco, came home fourth, behind Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Stefano Modena.
Through the rest of the year his best results were sixth in an action packed race in Canada and seventh in Hungary. Frustratingly, he looked set for a podium finish in the US GP but, when running second, was taken out while lapping a back marker, which unfortunately was his own team mate. His performances, including an amazing third place qualifying position in Hungary, caught people’s attention and lead to discussions with McLaren, Benetton, Williams and an approach from Lotus. However a stumbling block was a $1 million release clause in his contract but he eventually went to Arrows for 1990. Japan’s Footwork Corporation were investing in the team throughout the year (and would be renamed Footwork through to 1996) plus had a Porsche engine supply in the pipeline and it seemed a significant step forward. The team used Cosworth engines in the first year, but he missed the season-opening race in the US due to a cycling accident, with Bernd Schneider taking his place, but it proved frustrating on his return. There was a retirement and failure to qualify in the first two races but he took fifth at Monaco and eighth in Canada while his best results after this would be seventh at Silverstone and ninth places at Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Monza and Suzuka. At Estoril in September he was involved in a collision with Aguri Suzuki which sent his Footwork spinning hard into the barriers and with debris across the track and Alex being attended to in the car by the medical staff, the race organisers ended the race with 10 laps to go. He was forced to sit out the following race in Spain and Bernd Schneider took his place. Over the course of the season he had scored all the team’s points and outperformed his more experienced team mate Michele Alboreto.
Development of Porsche’s engine began during the winter of 1990-1991 but at its first test at Silverstone it blew up on the third lap and then followed a frustrating start to the season as he did not qualify the Porsche powered car for the first three races. Then he suffered a huge crash during practice in Monaco where his car hit the barriers and the impact was so heavy, the car broke in three with the gearbox and rear wing breaking free from the engine, which in turn came clear of the tub. Fortunately he suffered no serious injuries but shortly after this he was involved in a road accident while out with friends and although a rear seat passenger he sustained a broken jaw. He was replaced by Stefan Johansson for the next four rounds in Canada, Mexico, France and Great Britain but when he returned in Germany, Porsche had gone and the team had reverted to Cosworth power. Now also under constant pressure as the team wanted to keep Johansson, he did not pre-qualify for six races on the run and was tenth in Japan and fifteenth in the USA. He came home fifteenth in the season ending Australian race though torrential rain resulted in it being stopped after only 16 of the scheduled 81 laps and it is still the shortest F1 World Championship race ever held. Aguri Suzuki had been announced as a driver with them for 1992 so after leaving Footwork at the end of the year Alex signed with the newly-formed Andrea Moda team. However he never raced with them as it struggled financially and organisationally. The team arrived in South Africa with modified Coloni chassis for him and Enrico Bertaggia but were excluded for not having paid the required $100,000 deposit for new teams in the World Championship. Alex managed to perform a few reconnaissance laps in a Thursday session (arranged as the revised Kyalami circuit was new to all the teams) but took no part in any of the official free practice or qualifying sessions. In Mexico the team were not allowed to run and following this both drivers were dropped for criticising the team’s preparation and by the third race in Brazil they were running Roberto Moreno and Perry McCarthy.
He then spent part of the Summer driving in Group C with Mazda’s MXR-01 at several races and though there was a retirement from the 1000Km Suzuka he was fifth and sixth in 500Km races at Donington and Magny-Cours with Maurizio Sandro Sala. Although he enjoyed it the federation cancelled the series at the end of the year and, with his motivation suffering, he left motor racing and was away for over 12 months contemplating his future. After realising the only thing he wanted to do was race, he “decided to race whatever and whenever” he could. At the end of 1994, he tested alongside Jordi Gene at Valleunga with the Opel team Espana (Spanish Touring car team) and went on to have a career in Spanish and Italian Touring Cars and was also involved in sportscars and endurance races.
In 1996 he was part of Target 24’s team (with Guido Dacco, Fabio Montani and Gabrio Rosa) and raced their Chevron B73 at Daytona, Watkins Glen, Mosport and Vallelunga.
Continuing with them the following year he drove the Chevron at Vallelunga plus their Riley and Scott Mk111 at Daytona (alongside F.Montani, G.Rosa and Ivan Capelli). He and Andrea Chiesa were sixth at Laguna Seca plus driving with *Bentley for MSI Racing they were thirteenth at Pikes Peak. daytona kelleners
Racing the Riley and Scott in 1998 with Andrea Chiesa their best results were fifth and sixth at the Nurburgring and Brno plus third in 2 Hour 30minute races at Paul Ricard and Le Mans. 1999 saw a busy schedule with Target 24 plus Doyle-Risi Racing though his best result for Target was third at a Spa 500Km with Andrea de Lorenzi. ALMS drives with the Doyle-Risi Ferrari 333SP came at Mosport, Sears Point, Portland, Petit Le Mans, Laguna Seca, and Las Vegas with best finishes sixth at Road Atlanta (with Wayne Taylor) and the Sebring 12 Hours (with W.Taylor, JM Fangio 11 and Max Angelilli). There were also two races with Conrero’s Riley and Scott but though he and Beppe Gabbiani retired at the Vallelunga 6 Hours there was a podium finish at Kyalami with Nicola Larini. There were two races the following season with Conrero at Magny-Cours and Vallelunga plus he was back in a Ferrari 333SP with Risi Competizione at Daytona (teamed with Mimmo Schiaterella, Ralf Kelleners and Allan McNish). Away from sports cars he, Beppe Gabbiani and Ettore Bonaldi contested the Spa 24 Hours in a BMW M3 while into 2001 his best results were third at Brno with an R&M Riley and Scott and fifth when co-driving Seikel Motorsport’s Porsche 996 GT3-RS with Gabriel Rosa, Fabio Rosa and Fabio Babini at Daytona.
After 2001 the following seasons saw further races with R&M, Conrero and Seikel plus drives for Scuderia Sant Ambrous, Loris Kessel, Mastercar, Gianfranco Trombetti, PK Sport, Promec, GP Racing, Villorba Corse and Scuderia Villorba and Spyker. Teamed with a number of drivers, alongside a Riley and Scott, cars raced would include a Porsche 996 GT3-RS, Ferrari 360 and 430, R&M SR01, Promec PJ119 and a Spyker C8 Spyder then through 2009 and 2010 he contested two seasons of Italian GT with Maurizio Fratti in Autorlando’s Porsche 997 GT3 RSR and GT3 Cup cars. In the middle of this came a return to F1 of sorts when he raced at 2006’s Silverstone Grand Prix Masters event (and was the youngest driver) and was fifth with Team Altech. His greatest success in GT racing came in that same year, when he and Denny Zardo won the GT2 class of the Italian GT series in Scuderia Villorba Corse’s Ferrari F430 GTC.
His three Le Mans adventures had started in 1999 with Courage, finishing sixth with Andrea Montermini and Domenico Schiatarella. He returned in 2004 with Seikel Motorsport’s Porsche 911 GT3-RS, teamed with Gabri Rosa and Peter van Merkseijn, then in 2007 for Spyker with Andrea Belicchi and Andrea Chiesa, though retired from both.
Away from GT and sports cars, in 2011 he made his debut in the Monte Carlo Rally and was eleventh with a Skoda Fabia and the year saw a proud achievement when he drove an Osella FA30 in the Trofeo Vallaecamonica hillclimb, which his father had won in 1965. There were entries into the Paris-Dakar Rally, driving a Fiat Panda 4×4 and in the truck category with a Unimog Mercedes truck and he spent a season in the Brazilian Formula Truck series. Besides a one-off race with a Lamborghini Gallardo at Yas Marina in 2012, in Historic events he won 2016’s Monaco Historique race with Loris Kessel’s Ensign N176, plus worked as an instructor at the Subaru Italia official safety driving and racing school. He teamed with Nicola Larini in Petri Corse’s Bentley Contintental for a 2018 Italian GT round at Mugello and formed his own team, Alex Caffi Motorsports, which competed in EuroNASCAR.
Competing occasionally himself, plus running his own car and motorbike racing teams, Alex stated he was “still around..because I absolutely love the sport.”
