Giuseppe “Beppe” Gabbiani (born 2 January 1957) is an Italian racing driver.
He participated in 17 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 October 1978, and scored no championship points. He also participated in one non-Championship Formula One race. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in Piacenza in 1957, Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Gabbiani made an impressive entrance by winning in his first car race, in the 1977 European F3 Championship. Before this he had been competing in karts and had only a single F3 race at Silverstone in 1976. He took victory in 1977’s season’s opening F3 race at Paul Ricard with his Chevron-Toyota then went on to take second place finishes at Monza and Croix-en-Ternois plus a third at Knutstorp.
In the following year he moved up to F2, racing a Chevron-Ferrari with Trivellato, with a fifth place at Vallelunga his best result. During the year he found himself called up to F1 with Surtees, replacing an injured Vittorio Brambilla for the final two races of the season, in Canada and the USA, but failed to qualify.
Following this he returned to F2 with a works March-BMW for 1979 and he finished second at Mugello and Misano, plus had a number of top six placings, and was fifth in the championship. There was another F1 appearance at a non championship race at Imola, driving a second Shadow DN9B, though engine failure prevented him from starting.
1980 would prove to be a difficult season, racing in F2 with Minardi and then Maurer and his best result was a top sixth finish. There were also Procar M1 races at Donington, Monaco, Nourishing and Imola with Sauber Racing Switzerland and Team Schnitzer.
He joined Osella for 1981’s F1 season but the small team were struggling and he retired from the three races he qualified at, Long Beach, Imola and Zolder. He also contested a number of races with a Lancia Beta Montecarlo, with Martini Lancia Racing at the 24 Hour Daytona (with M.Alboreto and P.Ghinzani), Jolly Club at the 1000km Monza (with Pianta and Schon), Lubrifilm Racing at Silverstone’s 6 Hour race (Pianta and Schon), Le Mans with E. Pirro) and Martini Racing with P.Ghinzani in the 6 Hour Watkins Glen race.
Returning to F2 and Maurer again for 1982, he was up against team mate Stefan Bellof. Stefan won the two opening races but Beppe performed well in the later stages of the season, in the end finishing seven points behind him in the championship.
After this he joined Onyx Race Engineering in 1983 and this turned out to be his best season.
He was leading the series after five races, taking four of them, and was in the battle for the title until midway through the season. Unfortunately the more powerful Ralt-Honda RH6/83s of Jonathan Palmer and Mike Thackwell came through and J.Palmer won the championship. There was also a Lancia LC2 drive with A.Nannini for Martini Racing at the 1000Km Brands Hatch.
There were further Lancia LC2 drives in 1984, at Le Mans with (with Lapeyre and Martini) plus the 1000km Monza and Silverstone races for the Jolly Club team, alongside Martini.
He returned to the cockpit in 1986, joining Dome to drive in the Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship and World Sports-Prototype Championship. His best result was fourth at Fuji’s 1000 Km, with Eje Elgh, while he and Eje Elgh teamed with Toshio Suzuki in a Dome 86C for Le Mans.
1987 saw two starts in F3000 with First Racing’s March 87B-Cosworth, and from there he continued to compete in sports cars and saloons. He was in touring car racing in Italy with a Ford RS500, Volkswagen Golf or Alfa Romeo 155 TS) followed in 1990 with a Courage Competition (with P.Fabre at Monza) and at Donington and Montreal with a Spice SE90C with G.P. Motorsport
He contested a number of ISRS races in 1998 with a Centenari-Alfa Romeo and the following year raced a Riley & Scott MkIII with the Conrero team plus joined CiBiEmme Engineering to drive their BMW 320i at the Spa 24 Hours, finishing sixth.
In 2000 there were co-drives with Ortiz, Tedeschi, Lancelotti, Bonaldi and Montani in the Riley and Scott at several races plus a BMW M3 (with Caffi)at the Spa 24 Hours.
He joined Racing for Holland for the full season in 2003’s FIA Sportscar Championship, achieving podium finishes at Lausitzring, Oschersleben, Spa and Nogaro (with Ortiz) in a Dome S101. Returning to Le Mans, he, Felipe Ortiz and Tristan Gommendy, came close to finishing the race but retired after 316 laps due to an accident.
There followed drives in a number different competitions, driving a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT for DAMS in the 2004 FIA GT Championship and back with Racing for Holland’s Dome S101 in 2005’s Le Mans Series.
He drove Creation Autosportif’s Creation CA06 in the 2006 Le Mans Series (alongside Minassia, Ortiz and Campbell-Walter) with his best results a second at the Nurburgring and third at Donington, though retired after 240 laps at Le Mans. He raced BMW M3s in Italian touring cars, achieving three wins in 2009 to finish sixth in the Italian Touring Endurance Championship, then Beppe wound down his career in 2011.
He was later awarded the Trofeo Luigi Fagioli in 2014.
Beppe Gabbiani – F2 success, F1 disaster – from 
