Fabrizio Barbazza

Fabrizio Barbazza

Born	(1963-04-02) 2 April 1963 Monza, Lombardy, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1991, 1993
Teams	AGS, Minardi
Entries	20 (8 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	2
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1991 San Marino Grand Prix
Last entry	1993 French Grand Prix

Fabrizio Barbazza
CART Championship Car
Years active	1987, 1989, 1992
Teams	Arciero Racing
Starts	25
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	12th in 1987
Previous series
1986 1983-1985 1982	American Racing Series Italian Formula Three Formula Monza
Championship titles
1986	American Racing Series Champion
Awards
1987 1987	CART Rookie of the year Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the year

Fabrizio Barbazza (born 2 April 1963) is an Italian former Formula One driver who raced for the AGS and Minardi teams and was the 1987 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.

Career

Early career

Barbazza was born in Monza, Lombardy. After a career in motorcross in his teens, he began racing Formula Monza in 1982. The following year he moved into Italian Formula Three Championship, and in 1984 finished sixth in the series. In 1985 he won four races and finished third in the championship. He then went to the United States and entered the American Racing Series, where he won four races and the title in his first attempt.

CART, F3000, and Formula One

After his success in ARS, Barbazza entered CART in 1987 and finished third in the 1987 Indianapolis 500, becoming CART's Rookie of the Year. Despite his success he could not find a ride in CART for 1988 and only made two starts in Formula 3000, along with failing to qualify three times. He returned to CART for 1989 for eight races with a best finish of eighth at Toronto. He also drove in eight Japanese Formula 3000 races.

File:Barbazza.jpg

Barbazza at the 1992 Long Beach Grand Prix.

In 1990 he joined International F3000 full-time driving for the Crypton team, where he 16th in points with a best finish of fourth at his home track in Monza, his only point-scoring finish of the season. For 1991 Barbazza signed on with the struggling AGS Formula One team for the third round of the championship, replacing Stefan Johansson. Barbazza failed to qualify for all twelve races he attempted with the team and the team shut down after both Barbazza and his teammate Olivier Grouillard both failed to pre-qualify for the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix. For the 1992 racing season, Barbazza again returned to the Arciero team in CART. However, after respectable performances in two-year-old equipment for the first three races of the season, he wrecked his 1990-vintage Lola in practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500 and was not able to qualify. It would be his last appearance in CART. In 1993 Barbazza rejoined Formula One with the Minardi team, scoring points twice in his first four races. However, Barbazza would be replaced by Pierluigi Martini after eight races. In 1995, while racing a Ferrari 333SP sports prototype at the Road Atlanta circuit, he was involved in an accident with Jeremy Dale, which resulted in heavy head and chest injuries which left him in critical condition, in a coma and on artificial respiration. Although he fully recovered, he did not return to racing. Instead he started a go-kart circuit in Monza and began designing crash barriers.

He has since relocated to Cuba where he has set up a fishing resort in the north of the country called La Villa Clara. He has also raced again, at a local karting track in Cuba, where he has re-discovered his love for the sport.

Career summary

American open wheel racing

Indy Lights

(key)

Year	Team	Series	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
1986	Arciero Racing	ARS	LBH DNS	PHX 3	MIL DNS	MEA 1	CLE 1	TOR 10	POC 2	MDO 7	NAZ 1	LS 1	MIA 1	1st	145

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1987	Arciero Racing	LBH 17	PHX 12	INDY 3	MIL 14	POR 4	MEA Ret	CLE Ret	TOR 11	MIS 6	POC 14	ROA 8	MDO Ret	NAZ 13	LS DNS	MIA Ret		12th	42
1989	Arciero Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE Ret	MEA Ret	TOR 8	MIS	POC	MDO Ret	ROA 12	NAZ	LS Ret		24th	6
1992	Arciero Racing	SRF 12	PHX Ret	LBH Ret	INDY DNQ	DET	POR	MIL	NHM	TOR	MIS	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS	35th	1

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1987	March	Cosworth	17	3
1992	Lola	Buick	DNQ

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1988	Pavesi Racing	JER	VAL DNQ	PAU DNQ	SIL 18								NC	0
	Genoa Racing					MNZ Ret	PER DNQ	BRH	BIR	BUG	ZOL	DIJ
1990	Crypton Engineering	DON	SIL Ret	PAU Ret	JER Ret	MNZ 4	PER Ret	HOC Ret	BRH 9	BIR Ret	BUG Ret	NOG 18	16th	3
1991	Crypton Engineering	VAL 18	PAU	JER	MUG	PER	HOC	BRH	SPA	BUG	NOG		NC	0

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
1989	Motor Sport Development	SUZ Ret	FUJ 9	MIN 11	SUZ 6	SUG Ret	FUJ 19	SUZ 7	SUZ Ret	17th	1

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1991	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	AGS JH25	Cosworth V8	USA	BRA	SMR DNQ	MON DNQ	CAN DNQ	MEX DNQ											NC	0
		AGS JH25B								FRA DNQ	GBR DNQ	GER DNPQ	HUN DNPQ	BEL DNPQ	ITA DNPQ
		AGS JH27														POR DNPQ	ESP DNPQ	JPN	AUS
1993	Minardi Team	Minardi M193	Ford V8	RSA Ret	BRA Ret	EUR 6	SMR 6	ESP Ret	MON 11	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS	19th	2

External links

• Profile on F1 Rejects (archive)
• Champcar Stats
• Indylights Stats
• Driver Database Profile
• Racing Reference Profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by None	American Racing Series Champion 1986	Succeeded by Didier Theys
Preceded by Randy Lanier	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1987	Succeeded by Bill Vukovich III
Preceded by Chip Robinson	CART Rookie of the Year 1987	Succeeded by John Jones