Luciano Sighinolfi

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LS.png
Luciano Sighinolfi in all his athletic glory.
Details
Name Luciano Sighinolfi
Born 10th Dec 1951
Nationality Flag of Italy svg.png Italian
Achievements
1976 Trofeo Cinquetti winner
Drove in the Dywa Grand Prix Series

Luciano Sighinolfi (born 10th December, 1951 in Ragusa, Sicily) is an Italian former racing driver best known for competing 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.
Flag of Italy svg.png 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 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 create Scuderia Sighinolfi, for which he would be the owner-driver and for which he sold the second seat to Irish Formula Atlantic washout Kelby Rogerson.

Formula One career

The B&S March-Renzo; the engine would not
fit under its cover.
Formula One Career
Entries 1
Starts 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Points 0
Best Season -

Quite unexpectedly, Luciano Sighinolfi was given the example 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".





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 Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Jolly Club Tecno-Ford MNZ MNZ
Ret
MNZ MNZ IMO
Ret
MNZ MNZ IMO 0 -
Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Ala d'Oro Branca-Ford VAR
DNQ
1971 Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Nettuno Tecno-Ford MNZ MNZ MNZ IMO
Ret
MON MNZ
7
IMO 0 -
Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Wheatcroft Racing March-Ford IMO
DNQ
ENN
C
Flag of Sweden svg.png Team Mum for Men Brabham-Ford MNZ
DNQ
1972 Flag of Italy svg.png Mirabella MM Chevron-Alfa Romeo MNZ IMO
Ret
MNZ
C
3 11th
Flag of Italy svg.png Jolly Club Milano Quasar-Ford MNZ
Ret
MNZ
DNS
MNZ
Ret
VAL
9
MNZ
Flag of Italy svg.png Delta Corse GRD-Ford VAR
6
Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Meneghina Lotus-Alfa Romeo IMO
Ret
MIS
5
ENN
C
MIS VAR
Ret
1973 Flag of Italy svg.png 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 Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Mirabella Mille Miglia GTS-Alfa Romeo CAS IMO VAL
Ret
CAS MNZ CAS 2 15th
Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Sighinolfi Tecno-Toyota MAG
7
MNZ
Ret
MUG
5
1975 Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Sighinolfi Tecno-Toyota CAS
5
VAR
Ret
VAL
3
MUG
6
MAG
7
MNZ
Ret
MNZ
4
CAS IMO
5
12 6th
1976 Flag of Italy svg.png 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 Flag of Italy svg.png 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 Flag of Italy svg.png Scuderia Sighinolfi Dywa-Renzo ENN IMO ROU NUR MIS MUG BAR CAS CLE MNZ

World Championship of Drivers

Season Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts Pos
1978 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png B&S Fabrications March-Renzo ARG RSA USW ESP BEL MON SUI MUG GBR FRA NED GER AUT ITA
DNPQ
CAN USA 0 -