 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Emanuele Pirro" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Emanuele Pirro | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pirro at the2012 6 Hours of Fuji | |
| Born | (1962-01-12)12 January 1962 (age 64) Rome, Italy |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1989–1991 |
| Teams | Benetton,Scuderia Italia |
| Entries | 40 (37 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 3 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1989 French Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1991 Australian Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1981,1998–2008,2010 |
| Teams | Martini,Gulf,Joest,Champion,Drayson |
| Best finish | 1st(2000,2001,2002,2006,2007) |
| Class wins | 6(2000,2001,2002,2003,2006,2007) |
| Championship titles | |
Emanuele Pirro (Italian pronunciation:[emanuˈɛːleˈpiːro]; born 12 January 1962) is an Italianracing driver who competed inFormula One from1989 to1991. Inendurance racing, Pirro is afive-time winner of the24 Hours of Le Mans and a two-time winner of the12 Hours of Sebring withAudi.
Pirro is a two-timeItalian Karting Champion (1976, 1979), Formula Fiat Abarth Champion (1980), two-timeItalian Superturismo Champion (1994,1995), and winner of theSuper Tourenwagen Cup (1996).
Insportscar racing, Pirro is a two-timeAmerican Le Mans Series champion (2001,2005), three-time winner ofPetit Le Mans (2001,2005,2008), winner of the24 Hours Nürburgring (1989), and two-time winner of theMacau Guia Race (1991, 1992). He has contested over 500 official national and international races, winning over 90.[1]
Born inRome, Pirro traces his roots to the small town ofLatera nearViterbo through his mother's family. He is married to Marlene, with whom he has two sons, Cristoforo, born in 1993 (Mechanical Engineer, currently Performance Engineer in F1) and Goffredo, born in 1996 (Automotive Engineer specialised in Motorsport). The family is not related to motorcycle racerMichele Pirro.
Pirro began racing cars in 1980 after having raced seven years in go-karts, where he was two time Italian Champion and runner up in both the European and the World Karting Championships. He went on to win races in all the feeder series he competed in includingF3,F3000 andFormula Nippon.
In 1988, Pirro was contracted byMcLaren to become test driver to develop the new Honda powertrain for the MP4/4, staying on in that role for the following 3 seasons.
Pirro's racing career in F1 started at the1989 French Grand Prix for the Benetton-Ford team, replacingJohnny Herbert who was still recovering from injuries sustained in a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons, he raced forBMS Scuderia Italia.
Together with his single seater commitments, Pirro raced as a factory driver forBMW in touring car racing up until 1993. He raced and won in ETCC, WTCC, Italian Supertouring and DTM. In DTM, he became one of the only drivers to win in his debut in the series. Notably, he won the24 Hours Nürburgring, the Macau Guia Race twice, and theWellington 500 four times, with the legendary BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. After leaving BMW in 1993, he joinedAudi to win the 1994 and 1995Italian Touring Car Championships, followed by the German Touring Car Championship in 1996. Between the years of 1994 and 1996 racing in the Italian and German Supertouring championships, he contested a total of 70 races finishing only once outside of the top-ten after being taken out at the start in 1994 at the Salzburgring.
After his debut in endurance races at the young age of 19, winning in his class with theLancia Beta MontecarloGr.5 at the24 Hours of Daytona, winning theKyalami 9 Hours and a terrible experience at Le Mans the same year, Pirro scarcely participated in these races except sporadic appearances in Japan, first with a Nissan Gr.C at the Fuji 1000 km and with a Porsche 962 Gr.C at the Suzuka 1000 km. That is until his return to Le Mans in1998 with a McLaren F1 alongsideDindo Capello andThomas Bscher ending with a retirement. In 1999 Audi unveiled theR8R with which he scored his first of a record breaking nine consecutive podiums at the French classic. In 2000, along withTom Kristensen andFrank Biela, he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the newAudi R8. In 2006 together with Frank Biela andMarco Werner he became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel car, repeating the win in the following year. In 2008 he announced the end of his racing career with Audi sportscars. Between the years of 1999 and 2008, Pirro won five24 Hours of Le Mans, twoALMS championships, two12 Hours of Sebring and threePetit Le Mans. After 2008, he competed in a number of additional races including a 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans withDrayson Racing in a Lola-Judd LMP1 car, the 24 hours of the Nürburgring with an Audi R8 GT3, and the 2011 Gold Coast 500 in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.
Pirro regularly competes in historic racing. In 2010, he won the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in the Formula 3 Class.
In roles still linked to motorsport, Pirro serves as a Brand Ambassador for Audi, and is a member of; FIA Drivers’ Commission, FIA Circuits’ Commission, FIA Historic Motorsport Commission, ACI Circuits and Safety Commission. In addition, he is the President of the Italian Karting Commission, and Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Club and the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans. He is also a Steward for F1 races, TV pundit and is a frequent guest speaker at events hosted by multinational companies.
In 2015, Pirro entered the first round of theBritish Universities Karting Championship alongside his two sons.
Pirro owns the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort, a 5-star hotel inCortina d’Ampezzo.
Pirro has been a regular player for over 25 years in the Nazionale Piloti football team and the “Star Team for the Children” forPrince Albert of Monaco as well as taking part in other charity events.
Pirro also became the Director of theMcLaren Racing Driver Development program.[2]
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Martini Racing | Beppe Gabbiani | Lancia Beta Monte Carlo | Gr.5 | 47 | DNF | DNF |
| 1998 |  Gulf TeamDavidoff GTC Competition |  Dr.Thomas BscherRinaldo Capello | McLaren F1 GTR-BMW | GT1 | 228 | DNF | DNF |
| 1999 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank Biela Didier Theys | Audi R8R | LMP | 360 | 3rd | 2nd |
| 2000 | Audi Sport Team Joest |  Tom KristensenFrank Biela | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 368 | 1st | 1st |
| 2001 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Tom KristensenFrank Biela | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 321 | 1st | 1st |
| 2002 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Tom KristensenFrank Biela | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 375 | 1st | 1st |
| 2003 |  Champion Racing |  Stefan Johansson JJ Lehto | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 372 | 3rd | 1st |
| 2004 | ADTChampion Racing | JJ LehtoMarco Werner | Audi R8 | LMP1 | 368 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 2005 | ADTChampion Racing | Frank BielaAllan McNish | Audi R8 | LMP1 | 364 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 2006 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank BielaMarco Werner | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 380 | 1st | 1st |
| 2007 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Frank BielaMarco Werner | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 369 | 1st | 1st |
| 2008 | Audi Sport North America | Frank BielaMarco Werner | Audi R10 TDI | LMP1 | 367 | 6th | 6th |
| 2010 | Drayson Racing | Paul DraysonJonny Cocker | Lola B09/60-Judd | LMP1 | 254 | NC | NC |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Onyx Race Engineering | March 842 | BMW | SIL 6 | HOC 4 | THR 4 | VAL 12 | MUG 4 | PAU Ret | HOC Ret | MIS Ret | PER 6 | DON 2 | BRH 6 | 6th | 18 |
Source:[5] | ||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Onyx Racing | March 85B | Cosworth | SIL 7 | THR 1 | EST 4 | NÜR C | VAL 1 | PAU 2 | SPA Ret | DIJ Ret | PER 2 | ÖST 4 | ZAN 5 | DON Ret | 3rd | 38 |
| 1986 | Onyx Racing | March 86B | Cosworth | SIL 2 | VAL 3 | PAU 2 | SPA 19 | IMO Ret | MUG 6 | PER 13 | ÖST Ret | BIR Ret | BUG 1 | JAR 2 | 3rd | 29 | |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Team LeMans | SUZ 9 | FUJ 5 | MIN 2 | SUZ 4 | SUG 2 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 3 | SUZ 4 | 3rd | 25 | |||
| 1989 | Team LeMans | SUZ 5 | FUJ Ret | MIN Ret | SUZ 1 | SUG | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 6th | 11 | |||
| 1991 | Team Hayashi | SUZ | AUT | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUG | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ C | SUZ | FUJ | NC | 0 |
Source:[5] | ||||||||||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Benetton Formula Ltd | BenettonB188 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5V8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | FRA 9 | GBR 11 | 23rd | 2 | ||||||||
| BenettonB189 | Ford HBA4 3.5V8 | GER Ret | HUN 8 | BEL 10 | ITA Ret | POR Ret | ESP Ret | JPN Ret | AUS 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1990 | BMS Scuderia Italia | BMS Dallara190 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5V8 | USA | BRA | SMR Ret | MON Ret | CAN Ret | MEX Ret | FRA Ret | GBR 11 | GER Ret | HUN 10 | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | POR 15 | ESP Ret | JPN Ret | AUS Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Scuderia Italia SpA | BMS Dallara191 | Judd GV 3.5V10 | USA Ret | BRA 11 | SMR DNPQ | MON 6 | CAN 9 | MEX DNPQ | FRA DNPQ | GBR 10 | GER 10 | HUN Ret | BEL 8 | ITA 10 | POR Ret | ESP 15 | JPN Ret | AUS 7 | 18th | 1 |
Source:[6] | |||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | BMW M Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Evo | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MFA 1 | MFA 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NÜR 1 DNS | NÜR 2 DNS | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NC | 0 | ||
| 1990 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 Sport Evo | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | MFA 1 | MFA 2 | WUN 1 | WUN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | NÜR 1 1 | NÜR 2 3 | HOC 1 7 | HOC 2 11 | 15th | 36 | ||
| 1992 | BMW M Team Bigazzi | BMW M3 Sport Evo | ZOL 1 6 | ZOL 2 3 | NÜR 1 14 | NÜR 2 3 | WUN 1 Ret | WUN 2 16 | AVU 1 23 | AVU 2 3 | HOC 1 10 | HOC 2 Ret | NÜR 1 21 | NÜR 2 10 | NOR 1 6 | NOR 2 8 | BRN 1 3 | BRN 2 Ret | DIE 1 Ret | DIE 2 Ret | ALE 1 6 | ALE 2 10 | NÜR 1 Ret | NÜR 2 8 | HOC 1 9 | HOC 2 5 | 12th | 85 |
| 2004 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | HOC 7 | EST 11 | ADR 9 | LAU 6 | NOR 9 | SHA1 Ret | NÜR 11 | OSC 15 | ZAN 7 | BRN 5 | HOC Ret | 11th | 11 | |||||||||||||
1 – A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | CiBiEmme Engineering | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | S1 | MNZ 1 4 | MNZ 2 3 | MAG 1 3 | MAG 2 1 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | VAL 1 4 | VAL 2 3 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | MIS 1 Ret | MIS 2 6 | PER 1 | PER 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | 6th | 82 |
| 1993 | Scuderia Bigazzi | BMW 318i | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | PER 1 5 | PER 2 4 | MUG 1 4 | MUG 2 Ret | 13th | 28 | |
| 1994 | Audi Sport Italia | Audi 80 Quattro | MNZ 1 2 | MNZ 2 2 | VAL 1 10 | VAL 2 1 | MAG 1 1 | MAG 2 1 | BIN 1 1 | BIN 2 1 | MIS 1 4 | MIS 2 4 | VAL 1 2 | VAL 2 1 | MUG 1 4 | MUG 2 2 | PER 1 4 | PER 2 4 | VAR 1 2 | VAR 2 2 | MUG 1 10 | MUG 2 2 | 1st | 269.5 | |
| 1995 | Audi Sport Italia | Audi A4 Quattro | MIS 1 2 | MIS 2 1 | BIN 1 1 | BIN 2 1 | MNZ 1 1 | MNZ 2 2 | IMO 1 1 | IMO 2 1 | MAG 1 1 | MAG 2 2 | MUG 1 3 | MUG 2 5 | MIS 1 1 | MIS 2 1 | PER 1 5 | PER 2 4 | VAR 1 2 | VAR 2 1 | VAL 1 1 | VAL 2 2 | 1st | 317 | |
| 1996 | A.Z.K./ROC | Audi A4 Quattro | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | BIN 1 | BIN 2 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | PER 1 | PER 2 | VAR 1 | VAR 2 | VAL 1 5 | VAL 2 4 | 15th | 18 | |
Source:[7] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Racing Organisation Course | Audi 80 Quattro Competition | AVU 2 | WUN 3 | ZOL 3 | ZAN 2 | ÖST 4 | SAL Ret | SPA 5 | NÜR 2 | 3rd | 87 | ||||||||||||
| 1995 | Racing Organisation Course | Audi A4 Quattro | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | ÖST 1 | ÖST 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | SAL 1 | SAL 2 | AVU 1 10 | AVU 2 7 | NÜR 1 1 | NÜR 2 1 | 16th | 105 | ||||
| 1996 | A.Z.K./ROC | Audi A4 Quattro | ZOL 1 1 | ZOL 2 1 | ASS 1 3 | ASS 2 2 | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 1 | SAC 1 3 | SAC 2 1 | WUN 1 2 | WUN 2 1 | ZWE 1 2 | ZWE 2 3 | SAL 1 8 | SAL 2 10 | AVU 1 4 | AVU 2 1 | NÜR 1 1 | NÜR 2 1 | 1st | 678 | ||
| 1997 | A.Z.K./ROC | Audi A4 Quattro | HOC 1 11 | HOC 2 9 | ZOL 1 4 | ZOL 2 10 | NÜR 1 20 | NÜR 2 7 | SAC 1 6 | SAC 2 Ret | NOR 1 5 | NOR 2 3 | WUN 1 Ret | WUN 2 Ret | ZWE 1 4 | ZWE 2 1 | SAL 1 13 | SAL 2 7 | REG 1 19 | REG 2 11 | NÜR 1 13 | NÜR 2 10 | 6th | 357 |
| 1998 | Abt Sportsline Team Audi | Audi A4 | HOC 1 16 | HOC 2 7 | NÜR 1 Ret | NÜR 2 13 | SAC 1 17 | SAC 2 Ret | NOR 1 19 | NOR 2 19 | REG 1 13 | REG 2 8 | WUN 1 Ret | WUN 2 Ret | ZWE 1 14 | ZWE 2 Ret | SAL 1 7 | SAL 2 2 | OSC 1 7 | OSC 2 Ret | NÜR 1 10 | NÜR 2 12 | 16th | 205 |
Source:[7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | Group A Division 2 | DNF |
| 1990 | Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | Group A Division 2 | 2nd |
| 1991 | Watson’s Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | DTM | 1st |
| 1992 | Mobil 1 Team Schnitzer | BMW M3 Sport Evolution | DTM | 1st |
| 1993 | Watson’s Team Schnitzer | BMW 318i | FIA Class 2 | 3rd |
"Five-time LeMans winner Emanuele Pirro joins APR Motorsport for Rolex 24 at Daytona".Archived 15 November 2018 at theWayback Machine APR Motorsport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 201
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Guia Race Winner 1991–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Italia Superturismo Championship Champion 1994–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Super Tourenwagen Cup Champion 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2000-2002 With:Frank Biela &Tom Kristensen | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American Le Mans Series Champion 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American Le Mans Series Champion 2005 With:Frank Biela | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2006-2007 With:Frank Biela &Marco Werner | Succeeded by |
|