Alboreto, Michele

The early years

He began his racing career in 1976 with performances on a car of his own design in Formula Monza. This car did not allow to achieve particular success, and two years later Alboreto moved to the Italian Formula 3, where he was able to take on the first roles and start winning. In 1979, he became second with three victories, and a year later he got the third place in Italian and the title in the pan-European championship. These successes allowed him to go to Formula 2 at Minardi, where he won the only victory for this team and became the eighth in the championship. More importantly, all the successes in the junior formulas attracted the attention of Ken Tyrrell , who gave him a place in his Formula 1 team - just five years after the start of racing.

Sports Car Racing

In addition to performances in formulas, Alboreto was also invited by the Lancia company to perform in his spare time from other races at the stages of the World Championship of Automakers. In the 1980 season, he changed four times, then Walter Röhr , then Eddie Cheever, and was able to finish three times second and once fourth. The next year, he continued to perform in this mode, despite the fact that he was now busy not only in Formula 2, but also in Formula 1. In the same year, he first participated in the “24 hours of Le Mans”, and became the best of the Lancia pilots - eighth in the overall standings, second in the class. Later, they managed to win - at 6 o'clock Watkins-Glen paired with Riccardo Patrese . In the standings of the championship, he also became the best of "Lancia".

After the transfer of "Lancia" to another class of performances in 1982 and the concentration of efforts only on endurance races, Michele's successes reached a new level. In the championship there were only a few races and almost all of them took place in Europe, so he participated in all stages. Despite some problems with reliability, Alboreto paired with Patrese won at 6 o'clock at Silverstone and at 1000 kilometers of Nurburgring , where Theo Fabi joined the crew. However, in Le Mans they failed to repeat last year’s success - the descent due to engine failure. The Spa also failed to finish due to technical problems in the last laps. However, at Mugello, Alboreto was able to win for the third time this season, this time in company with Piercarlo Ginzani . Having been in an accident in the last two races, Michele became the fifth in the championship.

Alboreto remained one of the team’s main racers in 1983, when the Lancia again changed its category. He finished ninth in the first competition for the new Lancia LC2 car - in “1000 kilometers of Monza”. The reliability of the car did not differ, and again managed to finish only in the fifth stage, where he became 11th. The team decided to skip the remaining stages, and subsequently Alboreto did not want to resume performances in endurance races, preferring Formula 1.

Formula 1

Tyrrell (1981-1983)

In the team of Tirrell, Alboreto replaced the Argentinean Ricardo Sunino, who did not shine with success. The debut took place in Imola at the San Marino Grand Prix and was unsuccessful - in the middle of the race Michele collided with fellow countryman Beppe Gabiani , who played for Osella , and left. The whole season turned out to be similar to the beginning - he never managed to finish with glasses, and twice did not even qualify. The best result was ninth in the Netherlands. The next season turned out to be more successful - already in the second stage, they managed to finish with points, in the fourth - to win a place on the podium, and in the last race of the season in Las Vegas, Alboreto won. In total, 25 points were gained during the season, which allowed to take 8th place in the championship.

The following year, they also managed to climb the top step of the podium - in Detroit, after an unexpected Nelson Piquet retire due to a puncture, Michele won the last victory for atmospheric-powered cars until the end of the turbo era. In addition to this victory, it was possible to finish with points only once, and at the end of the season the Italian was in 12th place with ten points. At that moment, a proposal from Ferrari , impressed by the success of the young rider, to replace Patrick També behind the wheel of the second car of the team, arrived very timely. Alboreto became the first Italian to drive a scarlet car in almost a decade - before that, the last of the Italian Ferrari pilots was Merzario , who spoke in 1973.

Ferrari (1984-1988)

By the time Alboreto arrived, the Ferrari was on the rise - last season its racers won four times, taking third and fourth places in the pilot championship, and the team itself won the last two designers cups. In the first races, Michele managed to maintain a similar level, and already in the third stage in Belgium he won, having won the pole. At the same time, he was the first Italian in 18 years to win behind the wheel of red cars - the last was Ludovico Scarfiotti , who won the Italian Grand Prix in 1966 . Three more managed to finish on the podium - two second places (in Italy and the Nurburgring) and one third (in Austria), but more breakdowns did not allow to achieve more. In total, Alboreto earned 30.5 points in the season, which was enough for fourth place in the championship. A non-integer number of points was formed due to the fact that Michele received a half point for the finish at 6th place in the Monaco Grand Prix, interrupted early due to rain. Since only 31 laps were completed in the race, the riders received only half of the points due.

The next season allowed the pilot to improve the already good results. From the first races he got involved in the fight for the title, won twice (in Canada and Germany), finished six more times on the podium and for a long time was the leader in the championship. At the end of the season he suffered a real epidemic of gatherings - as many as five times in a row due to mechanical breakdowns, he could not get to the finish line. Despite the gatherings, 53 earned points were still enough for second place in the championship. According to journalist Nigel Roback ^[1] , Michele was the only real rival of Alain Prost that season.

The 1986 season was worse than the previous one. The new Ferrari F1 / 86 turned out to be slower than its predecessor, and its reliability was still worse. It was not possible to achieve victories, moreover, the finish on the podium happened only one, in Austria - and that was only because the pilots of the Williams left in full force. In the championship, Alboreto took ninth place with 14 points.

Joining Gerhard Berger in the “Ferrari” at the beginning of the 1987 season put an end to Alboreto’s leadership in the team - the Austrian won twice and almost doubled the Italian in the season. All that Michele could achieve is a few podiums. 1988 was the last year for him in the Ferrari - the McLaren dominated on the tracks, and it was not possible to get ahead of the partner. The only time, in Italy, both McLaren came off but Berger won anyway, and Alboreto finished only second. As a result, the team did not extend the contract with the Italian, and he was left without a place. Having received such news in the middle of the season, Michele began to look for options and seemingly agreed with Frank Williams , but instead they took the Belgian Thierry Butsen .

At the wheel of a Ferrari, Alboreto held 80 grand prix, which at that moment was a record. Berger managed to surpass him only in 1995.

Further career

Left without a place, at first Alboreto even intended to end his career, but soon received an offer from Tyrrell. The sponsor of the rider was the tobacco company Marlboro. Relations with team boss Ken Tyrrell, however, soon deteriorated. The team clearly preferred its partner, Jonathan Palmer - for example, at the Monaco Grand Prix, Michele had to perform at the old Tyrrell 017 car, while the new 018 car went to Palmer. The Italian boycott that followed the Thursday training session, which he did in protest against such favoritism, also did not add to his popularity in the team. Neither the finish line with glasses in the race, nor even the podium in Mexico helped. For the French Grand Prix, Ken Tyrrell agreed on sponsorship with Camel and then demanded that Alboreto terminate his contract with Marlboro. The Italian refused and was immediately replaced by the young Jean Alesi .

Soon after breaking up with Tyrrell, Alboreto broke up with Marlboro - the company refused to finance the search for a place for the current season. Despite this, he was soon hired by the French Larruss team, ironically sponsored by Camel. A machine equipped with a Lamborghini engine was not so bad in principle ( Philip Allo managed to qualify well and fight for points), but the Italian could not adapt to it. Twice a season, he did not even manage to undergo prequalification. The difficult season turned out to be 11th in the championship with six points.

In 1990, Alboreto moved to the Arrows team, which was just sold to the new owner. The year was considered as a transitional year by the team, work on the machine was not carried out, but despite this, Michele finished many times in the top ten, and came down only three times. Points, however, could not be earned. The new season brought the transition to Porsche engines, as well as a sponsorship package from Footwork , which completely outbid the team and renamed it. The result of the transformations was disappointing - the chassis did not shine with speed and the motors with reliability. Many times, the riders were not even able to qualify, and having passed they could not even get to the middle of the race. In the middle of the season, the team switched to using Cosworth engines modified by Brian Hart, and such a change of horses at the crossing also could not have a good effect on the results. In total, Alboreto was able to finish only twice in the second ten. Points, of course, were not.

The new, 1992 season brought some improvements. Japanese relations of the owner allowed to conclude a contract for the supply of Mugen-Honda engines, and the car was somewhat more reliable than its predecessor. Alboreto finished four times with glasses and six more times in seventh place. In total it turned out to get six points, which was enough for 10th place in the championship.

Unsatisfied with the results, Alboreto moved to the BMS Scuderia Italia private team. She had several finishes with glasses and even two podiums and the decision seemed to be right. Before the start of the season, the company-supplier of the Dallara race cars left the team, dissatisfied with the results. The Lola experts invited to replace built a car of terrible quality - in half the races, Michele could not qualify, finished exclusively in the top ten and was generally the slowest on the track. Without waiting for the end of the season, the team curtailed operations, selling all the property to the Minardi team.

In the offseason, Alboreto, together with his Scuderia Italia partner, participated in the tests of the Benetton team, which selected a partner Michael Schumacher , but as a result, JJ Lehto was hired, while the Italians remained in Minardi, Alboreto as a combat racer, Badoer as a tester. The team was near the peak of performances, but still provided few opportunities to fight for points. To top it off, Michele participated in the tragic events of the black weekend in Imola - at the pit stop he lost a poorly fixed wheel, which flew through half the pit lane, causing injuries to many mechanics. In connection with this and the general low level of performances, Alboreto decided to end his career in Formula 1.

After Formula 1

At the end of his career in Formula 1, in 1995 Alboreto tried his hand at racing car bodies - in the DTM , ITCC and WSC , but did not achieve any success. In particular, in the DTM, he earned only four points. Therefore, at the beginning of 1996, he returned to the race of cars with open wheels, moving overseas to the United States. There he took part in the newly formed IRL championship, the first season of which consisted of only three races. In the debut race, he finished 4th, in the second - eighth, and at the famous race in Indianapolis he could not get to the finish line - he got off already on the 10th lap. In August-September of the same year, Michele took part in two more races on oval tracks, earning in the first one his only podium in America, and in the second finishing fifth. In the 1996/97 IRL season, of which these races were a part, he took 32nd place.

In parallel with participation in the IRL, Alboreto also chased sports prototypes. He took part in several races of the IMSA WSCC championship, participated in the "24 hours of Le Mans." In 1996, he played in the famous daily race in the company of Pierluigi Martini and Didier Theis, and did not reach the finish line. The next year, he was driving the same car and won the race in the overall standings. This time, his partners were Stefan Johansson and future nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Christensen . This performance was for Alboreto the highest point of his career in sports cars, although in the future he was successful. He left in Le Mans 1999, in 2000 he finished third in the same place, and also won Petit Le Mans in 2000 and 12 hours of Sebring in 2001.

Doom

A month after the victory in Sebring, in April 2001, Alboreto conducted tests of the Audi R8 sport prototype on the German Lautzitring track. During one of the attempts at a speed of more than 300 km / h, the rear wheel of his car burst, and he crashed into a wall, receiving injuries incompatible with life. Audi did not announce the reasons for the death of the pilot, limiting itself to the statement that the vehicle had previously traveled thousands of kilometers without any problems.

In 2005, Giancarlo Fisichella , who finished on the podium at the Italian Grand Prix, devoted this result to Alboreto:

I know that up to this point, Alboreto was the last Italian on the catwalk in Monza. I was fortunate enough to race with him in car body racing, he was really a wonderful person. I would like to dedicate this result to his memory.

Original text

I know Alboreto was the last Italian on the podium at Monza before me. I was lucky enough to race together with him in touring cars, and he was a great person, really special. I want to dedicate the result to his memory ^[2]

Steve Small. The Grand Prix Who's Who . - 2. - Guinness World Records Limited, 1996. - S. 15. - 464 p. - ISBN 0-85112-623-5 .

• Michele Alboreto (rus.) At wildsoft.motorsport.com
• Alboreto, Michele ( historic ) on historicracing.com
• Unofficial site
• Michele Alboreto in focus (Archives of war)
• Biography Michele Alboreto in the encyclopedia of the formula-1