Paolo Barilla (born 20 April 1961 in Milan, Italy) is a former Formula One driver who raced for the Minardi team. He is one of the heirs of the vast Barilla pasta empire and, as of January 2017, had a net worth of US$1.39 billion. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Paulo Barilla started racing in 1975 and won the Italian 100cc karting title in 1976.
After competing in Formula Fiat Abarth in 1980 he moved into the Italian Formula 3 Championship with the Ravarotto team and then in 1982 joined Minardi’s European f2 team.
1983 saw a switch to sports cars and racing a Lancia LC2 (often with Giorgio Francia) his best result was sixth at Spa.
The following season started with third and fourth place finishes at Monza and Silverstone (in a Lancia LC2-84 with Mauro Baldi), then a third at the Nurburgring (with Alessandro Nannini) and he and Bob Wolleck took second position in the Kyalami 1000Kms.
Driving for Joest Racing in 1985 would see him achieve his greatest result, when he (with Klaus Ludwig and John Winter) won Le Mans in the New Man Porsche 956B. Paolo also took part in two Interseries races that year in a 956, taking victory convincingly in both races. There would be further success the following year with victories in the Fuji 1000Kms with Joest and in a Bayside Porsche 962 at an IMSA race at Miami.
Paulo continued racing sports cars in 1986 and 1987, taking victories and podiums, then moved on to the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship, plus also raced in Formula 3000 until 1989.
During this time he also took part in several races with the Alfa Romeo World Touring Car Championship team.
On one occasion, while spectating at a sports car race in 1988 at Suzuka he bravely rescued Denmark’s Kris Nissen from a burning car. His Porsche had burst into flames, with him trapped inside, and Paulo, dressed in civilian clothes, bravely helped rescue him from the flames.
Joining Minardi as test driver for 1989 he stood in for an injured Pierluigi Martini in that year’s Japanese GP, though clutch failure ended his race. 1990 saw him as Martini’s full-time team-mate but it was a disappointing time, a best result being eleventh at Monza, and he was replaced by Gianni Morbidelli.
He continued racing sports cars until 1997 and also competed in the Paris-Dakar Rally then became involved with the family’s Barilla Corporation (founded in 1877) as CEO and then then Vice President.
Most recently, he drove a 1981 Williams FW07C at the 2016 FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship at Barcelona. Paulo also owns a Ferrari 312B and in 2017 commissioned a documentary, ‘Ferrari 312B: Where the Revolution Begins’, detailing its restoration.
There’s a great youtube video about this at https://youtu.be/61fkLQBIu6s
