Johnny Cecotto
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Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto (born January 25, 1956 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan former Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion and Formula One driver.[1] The son of Italian immigrants, he is one of the few people to have competed in both motorcycle and Formula One Grands Prix. His son Johnny Cecotto Jr. is also a professional racing driver.
Contents
Motorcycle racing history
Cecotto had won the Venezuelan road racing national championship in 1973 and 1974 before he rose to international prominence at the 1975 Daytona 200 motorcycle race with one of the more inspired rides in the history of the event.[2][3] Competing as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodified Yamaha TZ750 sponsored by Venemotos, Yamaha's Venezuelan importer, he qualified in pole position, but a last minute mechanical glitch forced race officials to relegate him to the last row on the starting grid. Cecotto showed impressive riding ability by passing almost the entire field while working his way up to third place by the end of the race.[2][3][4]
Following Daytona, Cecotto arrived in Europe to compete in the Grand Prix series, where he continued his meteoric rise at the season opening round in France by winning the 250cc and 350cc races in his first ever Grand Prix.[1] He went on to become the youngest World Champion ever at nineteen years of age when he defeated the defending champion, Giacomo Agostini, for the 1975 350cc World Championship.[1][5]
In 1976, Cecotto returned to Daytona, now with full support from the Yamaha factory racing team. This time, he was victorious, coming out on top after a race-long battle with American Champion Kenny Roberts.[6][7][8] In the 1976 Grand Prix season, he lost his 350cc crown in a tight battle with Harley-Davidson mounted Walter Villa.[1] At the beginning of the 1977 season, he was badly injured in a deadly four rider accident at the Austrian Grand Prix that claimed the life of Swiss rider Hans Stadelmann.[9] Cecotto never seemed to come to grips with the 500cc Yamaha, having had a series of crashes which hindered his progress.[5] Cecotto finished third in the 1978 500cc title chase and added the Formula 750 World Championship to his titles.[1][10] He suffered a badly broken kneecap at the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring and missed half the season. Cecotto soldiered on through the 1980 Grand Prix season but his numerous injuries curtailed his motorcycle racing career. After the 1980 season, he decided to quit motorcycling to pursue an auto racing career. He retired with twelve 500cc pole positions in 27 starts, giving him one of the highest pole position per start ratios in motorcycle Grand Prix history.
Automobile racing history
Cecotto made his four wheeled debut with Minardi in the 1980 Formula Two Championship. In the 1982 Formula Two season, driving for the March-BMW team, he won three races and finished the season tied for first place with his team-mate Corrado Fabi, but was relegated to runner up by the tie breaker system.[11] Nevertheless, his performance garnered enough attention that he was offered a seat in Formula One.
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In Formula One, Cecotto participated in 23 races, debuting on March 13, 1983 for the Theodore Racing team.[12] He had a promising start as he scored a sixth place in only his second race; however, the team suffered from lack of funding and he was forced to sit out the final two rounds.[12] For the 1984 season, he joined the Toleman racing team with Ayrton Senna as his team mate.[13] While qualifying for the British Grand Prix, he crashed heavily, breaking both of his legs which effectively ended his Formula One career. His sixth place at Long Beach stood as the best result for a Venezuelan driver until Pastor Maldonado's victory in the Spanish Grand Prix 29 years later.
After recovering from his injuries, Cecotto returned to competition in the flourishing Group A Touring Car category for the famed Schnitzer Motorsport BMW team, with his best finish being 2nd at the 1985 Spa 24 Hours with Dieter Quester and Markus Oestreich. He then traveled to Australia where he finished second in the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, driving a BMW 635 CSi, jointly winning the races "Rookie of the Year" award with his co-driver Roberto Ravaglia. During practice for the James Hardie, Cecotto professed surprise when told by former motorcycle racing rival Gregg Hansford, who was driving an Alfa Romeo GTV6 in the race, that they raced motorcycles at Mt Panorama as well as cars (Hansford was at the time the 350cc motorcycle lap record holder for the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) circuit).
In 1986 he joined the factory backed RAS Volvo team in the FIA Touring Car Championship driving a Volvo 240T. He drove a 240T to victory at the 1986 Guia Race held during the Macau Grand Prix.[14] After Volvo pulled out at the end of the 1986 season, Cecotto re-joined BMW and competed in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship driving a CiBiEmme BMW M3 alongside 1985 European Touring Car Champion Gianfranco Brancatelli. The pair won second round of the championship at Dijon-Prenois, before being the first WTCC registered car to finish the first Australian round, the 1987 James Hardie 1000. Although Cecotto and Brancatelli only finished in 7th place at Bathurst, as the first registered car to finish they were awarded first place points.[15][16] In 1989 he captured the Italian Touring Car Championship.[17][18]
From 1988 to 1992, Cecotto competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship).[19] Driving a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3, he finished as runner up in the 1990 season.[20] In 1994 and 1998 he won the German Super Tourenwagen Cup Championship for BMW.[21][22][23] In 1995 he raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BMW.[24] In 2001 and 2002, he switched to the Irmscher Opel Omega and won the German V8Star Series Championship two years running.[23][25][26]
Cecotto currently devotes most of his time to supporting the racing career of his son, Johnny Cecotto Jr. He is currently commenting Formula One for Venezuelan state-owned television network Venezolana de Televisión.
Racing record
Motorcycle Grand Prix results
Source:[1]
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA 1 |
ESP NC |
GER NC |
NAT 2 |
IOM - |
NED NC |
BEL 1 |
SWE NC |
FIN 2 |
CZE NC |
YUG - |
54 | 4th | 2 | ||
350cc | Yamaha | FRA 1 |
ESP 2 |
AUT NC |
GER 1 |
NAT 1 |
IOM - |
NED 5 |
FIN 1 |
CZE NC |
YUG - |
78 | 1st | 4 | ||||
1976 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA 2 |
AUT 1 |
NAT 1 |
YUG NC |
IOM - |
NED 8 |
FIN NC |
CZE NC |
GER 2 |
ESP 4 |
65 | 2nd | 2 | |||
500cc | Yamaha | FRA 2 |
AUT NC |
NAT NC |
IOM - |
NED DNS |
BEL - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
CZE - |
GER - |
12 | 19th | 0 | ||||
1977 | 350cc | Yamaha | VEN 1 |
AUT C |
GER INJ |
NAT INJ |
ESP INJ |
FRA INJ |
YUG INJ |
NED INJ |
SWE NC |
FIN NC |
CZE 1 |
GBR NC |
30 | 9th | 2 | |
500cc | Yamaha | VEN 4 |
AUT INJ |
GER INJ |
NAT INJ |
FRA INJ |
NED INJ |
BEL INJ |
SWE 2 |
FIN 1 |
CZE 1 |
GBR NC |
50 | 4th | 2 | |||
1978 | 500cc | Yamaha | VEN NC |
ESP 4 |
AUT 2 |
FRA NC |
NAT NC |
NED 1 |
BEL NC |
SWE 6 |
FIN 3 |
GBR 7 |
GER 2 |
66 | 3rd | 1 | ||
1979 | 500cc | Yamaha | VEN NC |
AUT NC |
GER INJ |
NAT INJ |
ESP INJ |
YUG INJ |
NED INJ |
BEL DNS |
SWE NC |
FIN 7 |
GBR NC |
FRA 5 |
10 | 20th | 0 | |
1980 | 350cc | Yamaha | NAT 1 |
FRA 2 |
NED 20 |
GBR NC |
CZE NC |
GER 3 |
37 | 4th | 1 | |||||||
500cc | Yamaha | NAT 4 |
ESP 6 |
FRA 9 |
NED 6 |
BEL NC |
FIN - |
GBR 5 |
GER 6 |
31 | 7th | 0 |
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
Source:[11]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Mike Earle Racing with March | March 802 | BMW | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL | PAU | SIL Ret |
ZOL 9 |
MUG |
— | 0 | |||||
Minardi Team | Minardi GM75 | ZAN 15 |
PER | MIS | HOC | |||||||||||||
1981 | Minardi Team | Minardi Fly 281 | BMW | SIL 14 |
HOC Ret |
THR 4 |
NÜR DNS |
VAL Ret |
14th | 6 | ||||||||
Horag Hotz Racing | March 802 | MUG 13 |
||||||||||||||||
March 812 | PAU 7 |
PER Ret |
SPA Ret |
DON 6 |
MIS 6 |
MAN 6 |
||||||||||||
1982 | March Racing Ltd | March 822 | BMW | SIL Ret |
HOC 4 |
THR 1 |
NÜR 3 |
MUG 2 |
VAL Ret |
PAU 1 |
SPA 2 |
HOC 6 |
DON 2 |
MAN 1 |
PER 3 |
MIS 15 |
2nd | 56 |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
Source:[12][13]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Theodore Racing Team | Theodore N183 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | BRA 14 |
USW 6 |
FRA 11 |
SMR Ret |
MON DNPQ |
BEL 10 |
DET Ret |
CAN Ret |
GBR DNQ |
GER 11 |
AUT DNQ |
NED DNQ |
ITA 12 |
EUR | RSA | 19th | 1 | |
1984 | Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG183B | Hart 415T 1.5 L4T | BRA Ret |
RSA Ret |
BEL Ret |
SMR NC |
NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
Toleman TG184 | FRA Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 9 |
DET Ret |
DAL Ret |
GBR DNQ |
GER | AUT | NED | ITA | EUR | POR |
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Pos | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | BMW Motorsport Team | BMW 318i | DON 1 5 |
DON 2 8 |
BRH 1 11 |
BRH 2 5 |
THR 1 Ret |
THR 2 11 |
SIL 1 11 |
SIL 2 12 |
OUL 1 9 |
OUL 2 Ret |
BRH 1 10 |
BRH 2 9 |
DON 1 Ret |
DON 2 Ret |
SIL DNS |
KNO 1 4 |
KNO 2 Ret |
BRH 1 5 |
BRH 2 Ret |
SNE 1 10 |
SNE 2 Ret |
OUL 1 Ret |
OUL 2 6 |
SIL 1 Ret |
SIL 2 Ret |
12th | 49 |
Complete German Touring Championship results
Source:[19]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | |||||
1988 | AMG-Mercedes | Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 | ZOL 8 |
ZOL DNF |
HOC 13 |
HOC DNF |
NÜR 13 |
NÜR 12 |
BRN 33 |
BRN - |
BER 1 |
BER 1 |
DIE 15 |
DIE DNF |
NÜR 11 |
NÜR 9 |
NOR 3 |
NOR 4 |
WUN 7 |
WUN 6 |
SLZ C |
SLZ C |
HUN 1 |
HUN 1 |
HOC 3 |
HOC DNF |
6th | 204 |
1989 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 | ZOL - |
ZOL - |
HOC 3 |
HOC 1 |
NÜR - |
NÜR - |
MAI 2 |
MAI 8 |
BER 5 |
BER 22 |
NÜR 2 |
NÜR 2 |
NOR 7 |
NOR 6 |
HOC 1 |
HOC 4 |
DIE DNF |
DIE - |
NÜR - |
NÜR - |
HOC 3 |
HOC 4 |
7th | 206 | ||
1990 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 | ZOL 5 |
ZOL DNF |
HOC 4 |
HOC 1 |
NÜR DNF |
NÜR 4 |
BER 12 |
BER 5 |
MAI 1 |
MAI 1 |
WUN 3 |
WUN 4 |
NÜR DNF |
NÜR 3 |
NOR 5 |
NOR 14 |
DIE 2 |
DIE 3 |
NÜR 9 |
NÜR DNF |
HOC 11 |
HOC 4 |
2nd | 177 | ||
1991 | Schnitzer Motorsport | BMW M3 | ZOL 1 |
ZOL 1 |
HOC 9 |
HOC DSQ |
NÜR 2 |
NÜR DNF |
BER 6 |
BER 5 |
WUN 6 |
WUN 1 |
NOR 14 |
NOR 6 |
DIE 12 |
DIE 2 |
NÜR 10 |
NÜR 4 |
SIN 5 |
SIN DNF |
HOC 4 |
HOC 13 |
BRN 5 |
BRN 5 |
DON 3 |
DON 3 |
4th | 147 |
1992 | Team Fina Simtek | BMW M3 | ZOL 12 |
ZOL DNF |
NÜR 6 |
NÜR DNF |
WUN 5 |
WUN DNF |
BER 2 |
BER 6 |
HOC 9 |
HOC 8 |
NÜR 2 |
NÜR 2 |
NOR 7 |
NOR 7 |
BRN 1 |
BRN 1 |
DIE 5 |
DIE 5 |
SIN 4 |
SIN 12 |
NÜR 3 |
NÜR 4 |
HOC 7 |
HOC 2 |
4th | 185 |
2002 | OPC Euroteam | Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2001 | HOC – |
ZOL – |
DON – |
SAC – |
NOR – |
EUR – |
NÜR – |
A1R – |
ZAN – |
HOC 10 |
– | – |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 324 | 8th | 6th |
1998 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
BMW V12 LM | LMP1 | 43 | DNF | DNF |
References
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External links
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | 350cc Motorcycle World Champion 1975 |
Succeeded by Walter Villa |
Preceded by | Guia Race winner 1986 |
Succeeded by Roberto Ravaglia |
Preceded by | Italian Touring Car Champion 1989 |
Succeeded by Roberto Ravaglia |
Template:350 cc Motorcycle World Champions
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- Pages with reference errors
- Venezuelan motorcycle racers
- 250cc World Championship riders
- 350cc World Championship riders
- 500cc World Championship riders
- Venezuelan racing drivers
- Venezuelan Formula One drivers
- Theodore Formula One drivers
- Toleman Formula One drivers
- European Formula Two Championship drivers
- British Touring Car Championship drivers
- Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- World Touring Car Championship drivers
- FIA GT Championship drivers
- Sportspeople from Caracas
- Venezuelan people of Italian descent
- 1956 births
- Living people
- World Sportscar Championship drivers
- 24 Hours of Spa drivers
- European Touring Car Championship drivers