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Alessandro Nannini

Alessandro Nannini
  • Surname
    Nannini
  • First name
    Alessandro "Sandro"
  • Date of birth
    07.07.1959

The scion of a well-known Sienese family and younger brother of the famous rock singer Gianna Nannini, Alessandro acquired his first experience of motorsport at rally events. His further career led him via the Formula Fiat Abarth, with which he won the championship title in 1981, to the Formula 2 European Championship, where he achieved respectable successes for the Minardi team until 1984.

The Italian spent the 1985 season as a Formula 1 test driver for Minardi and also competed in World Sports Car Championship races from 1984 to 1986 in a factory Group C Lancia. In 1986, Nannini's Formula 1 career finally began in the cockpit of a Minardi.

After two seasons without points, he switched to Team Benetton and was immediately able to secure 12 World Championship points and a tenth place in the Drivers' World Championship in 1988. The following year, underlined by his first and only Formula 1 victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, he finished sixth in the final standings.

In 1990, he battled with his new team-mate Nelson Piquet for the leading position at Benetton, but was the victim of a helicopter crash before the last two races in Japan and Australia, in which his right hand was severed. It was reattached by means of an emergency operation, but Nannini had no chance of continuing his career in the premier class under the given circumstances.

After completing the healing process and despite limited use of his right hand, he started racing for Alfa Romeo in the German Touring Car Championship from 1993, which was also contested for the first time with high-specification Class 1 cars. In his debut season, the Italian was ranked eighth. His best performance came in 1996, the final year of the International Touring Car Championship, when he finished third.

To round off his career, Mercedes-Benz hired him for its line-up in the FIA GT Championship in 1997. At the wheel of a CLK-GTR specially prepared for Nannini's handicap, he and Marcel Tiemann took fifth position in the final drivers' standings after a race win in Suzuka and four second places. At the end of the season, the Italian ended his racing career.

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