Mauro Baldi
Mauro Giuseppe Baldi is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to. In endurance racing, Baldi won the World Sportscar Championship in 1990 with Sauber, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Porsche; he won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1998 and is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona with Doran.
Baldi is one of 11 drivers to complete the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing, achieving the feat at the 1998 12 Hours of Sebring.
Biography
Mauro Giuseppe Baldi was born on 31 January 1954 in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna.Baldi started his career in rallying in 1972 and turned to circuit racing in 1975 with the Italian Renault 5 Cup. By 1980 he had become a top Formula 3 driver, winning the Monaco F3 Grand Prix and the 1981 FIA [European Formula 3 Championship (established in 1975)|European Formula 3 Championship] with eight victories. In 1982, he signed to drive for Arrows before moving to Alfa Romeo in 1983, scoring a fifth place in Zandvoort. When Benetton became Alfa Romeo's team sponsor in 1984, Baldi lost his drive, and joined the underfunded Spirit team until 1985.
After retiring from Formula One, Baldi went to enjoy a successful career in sports car racing, driving for the works Martini-Lancia team in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, he switched to a Porsche 956 from Richard Lloyd Racing's outfit, returning to a works drive in 1988 with the Sauber-Mercedes team, with whom Baldi won the 1990 FIA World Sports Prototype Championship for Drivers, sharing the car with Jean-Louis Schlesser. In 1991 and 1992 he was a driver for Peugeot.
Baldi came very close to making a return to F1 in 1989, when he agreed with Coloni to take over one of the team's cars from Enrico Bertaggia for the Italian Grand Prix. The move was blocked by Jochen Neerpasch, the sporting director of Mercedes, his then sportscar team. Later he had a brief return to F1 in 1990, doing most of the test driving for the Modena Lambo project.
Returning to sports cars, Baldi won the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1994, sharing the Dauer 962 Le Mans with Yannick Dalmas and Hurley Haywood. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998 and 2002, and the 12 Hours of Sebring, again in 1998, with Arie Luyendyk and Didier Theys.
Racing record
Career summary
† As Baldi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.