Difference between revisions of "Luciano Sighinolfi"

Latest revision as of 18:14, 14 April 2023

Luciano Sighinolfi pictured in 1978
Details
Name	Luciano Sighinolfi
Born	10th Dec 1951
Nationality	Italian
Achievements
1976 Trofeo Cinquetti winner
Drove in the Dywa Grand Prix Series
Drove in the Formula One World Championship

Luciano Sighinolfi (born 10th December, 1951 in Ragusa, Sicily) is an Italian former racing driver best known for his ties career in Formula One with the B&S Fabrications and Osella teams, as well as briefly competing - and then withdrawing - as an owner-driver in the Dywa Grand Prix Series.

Early life

Luciano Sighinolfi never met his father, who was never in a relationship with his mother but was rumoured to be a racing driver who met his mother the night after winning a motor race of some kind, although there was never any way to confirm this rumour for certain. Regardless, Sighinolfi was inspired by his own purported origin story and from an early age he dreamed of becoming a racing driver. He took little interest in anything else, and never worked a full-time job. This paid off in 1974, when he had a significant Lotto win.

Early career

Sighinolfi spent several years toiling in Italian F3.

Italian F3 Career
Entries	59
Starts	54
Wins	1 Varano, '76
Podiums	8
Points	62
Best Season	4th 1976, 25 pts

After an inauspicious start to his Italian Formula Three career (with a couple of DNFs and a DNQ in 1970), Sighinolfi took several years to progress gradually towards the front of the grid. The real breakthrough came when he started his own racing team, Scuderia Sighinolfi, using his winnings from the Lotteria di Monza in July 1974; this allowed him to compete in every race and to generally be far more competitive. Throughout his Formula Three career, he drove an incredible twelve different makes of chassis, powered by three different engine manufacturers. Most of his success came with Toyota power, driving Tecno, Modus and Ralt chassis between 1975 and 1977. His only Formula Three race win came at the 1976 Trofeo Cinquetti, held at Varano: he won the 30-lap race in 25 minutes and five seconds, narrowly ahead of Gianfranco Brancatelli (Scuderia Everest) and Piercarlo Ghinzani (Scuderia Angeleri), both of whom were driving March-Toyotas. 1977 proved less fruitful, but he still managed a trio of podiums at Varano, Enna and his most successful circuit, Vallelunga on the outskirts of Rome. Sighinolfi had purchased a new Argo chassis for the 1978 season, but when a new opportunity presented itself he sold that and the Toyota engines on to Enzo Coloni.

Dywa GP

In 1978, Sighinolfi's chance to drive a Formula One car finally came when the Dywa Grand Prix Series was founded by Dydo Monguzzi with the backing of Renzo Engineering. He used what was left of his Lotto money to move Scuderia Sighinolfi into the new series, with himself as owner-driver and with the second seat sold to Irish Formula Atlantic washout Kelby Rogerson for an undisclosed sum. On the first race weekend at Enna, Sighinolfi's teammate suffered a terrifying crash that would ultimately end his open-wheel racing career. Despite a podium finish at Imola, a second enormous crash involving a Scuderia Sighinolfi car was enough to convince Luciano that he was not prepared to continue risking his and his teammates' welfare racing in the series. The other driver involved in the second incident, Lena Trosschi recovered from her injuries to compete for Dywa in 1979, and Sighinolfi's entry was resold by Monguzzi to a new team.

Formula One career

The B&S March-Renzo; the engine would not fit under its cover.

Quite unexpectedly, Luciano Sighinolfi was given the opportunity to buy a drive at B&S Fabrications for the 1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza for the affordable sum of £6,000 - money that was still left over from Kelby Rogerson's condom sales. Under no illusions as to the prospects of the aged B&S machinery to actually get on the grid, Sighinolfi explained his decision as "the perfect opportunity to get some track time in comparable equipment" ahead of the Dywa Grand Prix season finale, which was also to be hosted at Monza the following weekend. As everyone will have expected, Sighinolfi did not pre-qualify in his borrowed B&S March, but he did say afterwards that he was "proud to now be a Formula One driver".

Sighinolfi continued with the team in the 1979 season, this time driving the team's Spartec G71A at selected Championship and non-Championship events throughout the season. These events included both the 1979 San Marino Grand Prix and 1979 Italian Grand Prix, as well as promised drives in the International Trophy and Race of Champions. In his first non-Championship event, Sighinolfi achieved his first ever Formula One race finish in 14th place. The race was also notable for the reunion of Sighinolfi and Trosschi on the racetrack, and for the latter's refusal to accept Sighinolfi's offer of an apology and reconciliatory meal at a London restaurant of her choosing - instead, she suggested he be sent "to the gulag".

On the back of his 1979 performances, and with the help of significant sponsorship from Denim, Sighinolfi managed to secure a full-time Formula One drive for the first time in the 1980 season. He would drive the Osella #34 alongside Arsenio Matarazzo, and began the season with a strong ninth-placed finish at Kyalami for the South African Grand Prix. Unfortunately, FISA-FOCA disputes led to this being a non-championship event. The Osella's patchy reliability record meant that this would be Sighinolfi's only finish in the opening half of the season.

Tragedy would strike at the Belgian Grand Prix. Osella mechanic Mario Rossi rraced onto the grid to try and restart Sighinolfi's car after he stalled on the grid. However, Sighinolfi managed to find a gear and accelerated away, with Rossi still holding onto the starter motor he'd managed to insert into the back of the Osella. Despite Sighinolfi coming to a stop shortly after, thanks to the team's frantic signals, the acceleration of the car propelled Rossi forward onto the tarmac. Despite Rossi going on to recover from his injuries, Sighinolfi would be greatly affected by this incident as discussed throughout his autobiography Da Asfalto a Asfalto. The rest of the season would see Sighinolfi make just one further start for Osella resulting in a 19th place finish at the French Grand Prix.

Heading into 1981 season, the second seat at Osella went to Patrick Gaillard, with whom Sighinolfi had been team-mates for the 1980 Monaco Grand Prix. Displaced with little notice, it would not be until the fifth round of the season that Sighinolfi would find another seat in Formula One, this time for the privateer Banco Occidental outfit. However, Sighinolfi's trademark luck would once again come into play, with the team being excluded from the race before practice had even begun in one of the stand-out moments of the FISA-FOCA war. Without a drive, Sighinolfi was forced to watch from the sidelines as the FOCA teams withdrew from the race. The future of Sighinolfi's career would be laid out over a chance meeting at the hotel bar...

Racing Career Results

Italian Formula Three Championship

Season	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pts	Pos
1970	Scuderia Jolly Club	Tecno-Ford	MNZ	MNZ Ret	MNZ	MNZ	IMO Ret	MNZ	MNZ	IMO							0	-
	Scuderia Ala d'Oro	Branca-Ford									VAR DNQ
1971	Scuderia Nettuno	Tecno-Ford	MNZ	MNZ	MNZ	IMO Ret	MON	MNZ 7	IMO								0	-
	Wheatcroft Racing	March-Ford								IMO DNQ	ENN C
	Team Mum for Men	Brabham-Ford										MNZ DNQ
1972	Mirabella MM	Chevron-Alfa Romeo	MNZ	IMO Ret	MNZ C												3	11th
	Jolly Club Milano	Quasar-Ford				MNZ Ret	MNZ DNS							MNZ Ret	VAL 9	MNZ
	Delta Corse	GRD-Ford						VAR 6
	Scuderia Meneghina	Lotus-Alfa Romeo							IMO Ret	MIS 5	ENN C	MIS	VAR Ret
1973	Scuderia Jolly Club	Brabham-Ford	CAS Ret	MIS	CAS	IMO 10	VAL		CAS	MNZ Ret	CAS	MIS 6	MNZ	VAR 4			4	14th
		Ensign-Ford						MON DNQ
1974	Scuderia Mirabella Mille Miglia	GTS-Alfa Romeo	CAS	IMO	VAL Ret	CAS	MNZ	CAS									2	15th
	Scuderia Sighinolfi	Tecno-Toyota							MAG 7	MNZ Ret	MUG 5
1975	Scuderia Sighinolfi	Tecno-Toyota	CAS 5	VAR Ret	VAL 3	MUG 6	MAG 7	MNZ Ret	MNZ 4	CAS	IMO 5						12	6th
1976	Scuderia Sighinolfi	Modus-Toyota	MUG 5	VAR 1	IMO Ret	MAG Ret	ENN 3	CAS Ret	MNZ 6	CAS Ret	IMO 11	MNZ Ret	VAL 2	MUG 3			25	4th
1977	Scuderia Sighinolfi	Ralt-Toyota	VAR 3	MUG 6	VAL 5	MNZ 8	IMO Ret	ENN 3	MNZ Ret	IMO 9	MAG 6	VAR Ret	MNZ 10	VAL 3	MAG Ret		16	8th

Dywa Grand Prix series

Season	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts	Pos
1978	Scuderia Sighinolfi	Dywa-Renzo	ENN Ret	IMO 3	ROU 5	NOR WD	SYR	MUG	PAU	CAS	CLE	MNZ	6	19th

Formula One World Championship

Season	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pts	Pos
1978	B&S Fabrications	March-Renzo	ARG	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SUI	MUG	GBR	FRA	NED	GER	AUT	ITA DNPQ	CAN	USA		0	-
1979	B&S Fabrications	Spartec-Ford	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	EUR	SMR DNPQ	FRA		GER	AUT	NED	ITA DNPQ	CAN	USA	0	-
	Graham Eden Racing	Chevron-Ford											GBR DNPQ
1980	Osella Squadra Corse	Osella-Ford	RSA C	ARG Ret	BRA DNPQ	USW Ret	ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON DNQ	MEX DNPQ	SMR DNPQ	FRA 19	GBR DNPQ	GER DNPQ	AUT DNPQ	ITA DNPQ	CAN DNQ	CPA DNQ	DUB DNPQ	0	-
1981	Banco Occidental	de Villota-Ford	ARG	RSA	BRA	USW	ESP EX	BEL	MON	SMR	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	EUR	ITA	CAN	CPA	0	-

Non-Championship Formula One

Season	Team	Car	1	2	3	4
1979	B&S Fabrications	Spartec-Ford	INT 14	GBR 12
	Graham Eden Racing	Chevron-Ford			TBT 4	GNT
1980	Osella Squadra Corse	Osella-Ford	RSA 9	INT Ret	ROC 3