Arturo Merzario

Arturo Merzario ( born March 11, 1943 in Civenna (CO), Italy ) is an Italian former race car driver. He drove sports car racing and in the period 1972 to 1979 in Formula 1

Career

1969 Arturo Merzario won the European Hill Climb Championship for sports cars on a Abarth 2000S.

Arturo Merzario announced its entry into Formula 1 1972 Ferrari. After two unsuccessful years the Italians joined the Williams team.

One of the reasons may have been the behavior of the Ferrari executives during the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring in 1973. In this race, many of his competitors fell by the victory of one by one. When he was second behind his team-mate Jacky Ickx, urged the then race director Giacomo Caliri on the two Ferrari to conserve the car. Merzario ignored the instruction and passed Ickx after a few laps. In the next round, he was asked to go into the box. Even this statement ignored the Italians. After his pit stop Carlos Pace took over the car and remained in the target according to instructions tenth of a second behind the winner Ickx. During the subsequent victory celebration to Merzario already was on his way home. The Formula 1 team Ferrari was desolate in 1973, and remained quite far in two races, to which also Ickx got out.

His next change in Formula 1, led him in 1976 to March, although the season was also moderate. Unforgotten Arturo Merzario will remain in 1976 for his role in the Grand Prix of Germany at the Nürburgring, in which Niki Lauda had his spectacular accident. Merzario Lauda moved with the help of Brett Lunger, Guy Edwards and Harald Ertl seriously injured from his burning Ferrari. In 1977, he fulfilled a dream and started his own Formula 1 racing team, the team Merzario. This ambitious, perhaps a little naive project was doomed from the outset to failure. The team lacked the know-how and money; in every respect, the project was characterized by improvisation.

Of 1977 Merzario Start by setting a March 761B. For the 1978 Formula 1 season a replica of this car, the Merzario A1/01 was called originated. Besides the well-known March 761B received a new body; he was described in the following period as A1/02 and remained until the spring of 1979 into operation. For the 1979 Formula 1 season was a first Merzario A3; This amount related to the chassis of the A1/01, which was equipped with a new body and, without really master this technique, took some ideas from the field of Wing- Cars. Instead of perfecting this concept, Merzario produced in the course of 1979, another car, the A4, which was nothing more than a by Giampaolo Dallara slightly revised WK005 the recently failed terrific team Kauhsen.

From 1980 to 1984 Arturo Merzario came with its own team in the European Formula 2 Championship and sat mainly constructed himself a car. Also, these designs were denied the income. However, one also repeated customer vehicles from March Engineering were reported. At the transition from the Formula 2 to Formula 3000, the team of Arturo Merzario involved no more.

Merzario is still active and took in 2008 at the Nürburgring VLN race part.

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Statistics

Formula 1 Results

Le Mans results