Marco Apicella

Marco Apicella (born 7 October 1965 near Bologna) is an Italian professional racing driver. He competed in one Formula One Grand Prix for the Jordan team in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix.

Marco Apicella
Nationality Italian
Born (1965-10-07) 7 October 1965
near Bologna, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Active years1993
TeamsJordan
Entries1
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1993 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry1993 Italian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1995, 1999, 20062007, 2009
TeamsSARD Co. Ltd., Riley & Scott Europe, JLOC Isao Noritake
Best finish14 (1995)
Class wins0

Career

International Formula 3000 (1987–1991)

Apicella's first season in International Formula 3000, 1987, was uncompetitive in the EuroVenturini Dallara car, only scoring one point thanks to a fifth place at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.[1] During the same year, he tested the Minardi Formula One car at the Autódromo do Estoril circuit.[2] Apicella moved to the FIRST team for the 1988 season and was a title favourite for the season. The team underperformed, but in 1989, again with FIRST, Apicella achieved several podium finishes on his way to finishing fourth overall in the Drivers' Championship. Apicella looked like a championship contender for the 1990 season and continued with the FIRST team, but his performances worsened as the season progressed, ending with a disqualification in the Brands Hatch round.[3] Despite a poor 1990 season, Apicella had the chance to test drive with the Modena and Minardi teams. Late in the year, he went to Japan and did some tests for Bridgestone in a Reynard-Mugen Formula One prototype car.[2] Apicella chose to change teams for the 1991 season, moving to Paul Stewart Racing, teaming up with Stewart himself. He was classified fifth overall at the end of the season.[2]

Japanese Formula 3000 (1992–1993)

With no offers for a drive in International F3000 for 1992, Apicella went to Japan to drive in the Japanese Formula 3000 series, setting up a relationship with the Dome team. Apicella, driving the Dome F103 won the fifth round of the championship that year. He continued to improve, finishing fourth in the 1993 season, winning at the Sugo race circuit.[1]

Formula One

Apicella's good performances in Japan during 1992 and early 1993 gave him a drive at the Jordan Formula One team for his home race in the 1993 season, with team boss Eddie Jordan wanting to try out up-and-coming Formula 3000 drivers.[4] He qualified in 23rd position, but retired on the first corner of the first lap of the race after a multi-car collision.[2] He was replaced by Emanuele Naspetti for the following round in Portugal.[4] As a result of this, he is falsely considered to have had the shortest Formula 1 career out of any driver, a record held by Ernst Loof.[5]

Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon (1994–1996)

For 1994, Apicella continued with Dome in Japanese Formula 3000, winning at the Mine, Suzuka and Fuji circuits on his way to winning the title. He continued in Japanese F3000 for 1995 and 1996 (the series being renamed Formula Nippon for 1996), this time with Team 5Zigen, but his activities were limited, as he chose to do other motor sport activities such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[1]

Apicella was appointed Chief Test Driver with Dome for 1996, testing the Dome F105 car alongside Shinji Nakano and Katsumi Yamamoto from April to June 1996 at the Suzuka Circuit.[1][6] The aim was for the car to produce a base for them to mount a challenge into Formula One, but the project was shelved after the car was substantially damaged in an accident.[1]

Apicella's last season in the Formula Nippon series was in 1997, driving for the Stellar International team. His best result for the team was a fourth place at the Mine circuit.[1]

Other series (1999–present)

Apicella moved back to Italy for 1999, competing in the Italian Formula 3000 championship. He scored two wins during the season on his way to third place in the championship. Apicella also tried to qualify for the Spa round of the International Formula 3000 championship in 1999 for Monaco Motorsport, but failed to do so due to adverse weather conditions. Apicella has since gone back to Japan, to compete in touring cars with the All Japan GT Championship.[1]

Apicella has also competed in several 24 Hours of Le Mans races. He was scheduled to compete in the 2007 event with the JLOC Isao Noritake team, but on the first day of practice he was involved in an accident on the Mulsanne Straight, which heavily damaged his Lamborghini Murciélago car.[7] Apicella is competing in the 2009 event again with the JLOC team.[8]

Racing record

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
1987 EuroVenturini SIL
15
VAL
Ret
SPA
5
PAU
Ret
DON
7
PER
Ret
BRH
DNQ
BIR
13
IMO
13
BUG
15
JAR
7
19th 1
1988 First Racing JER
13
VAL
7
PAU
5
SIL
6
MNZ
2
PER
Ret
BRH
Ret
BIR
Ret
BUG
Ret
ZOL
Ret
DIJ
Ret
11th 9
1989 First Racing SIL
8
VAL
Ret
PAU
2
JER
3
PER
4
BRH
Ret
BIR
2
SPA
3
BUG
Ret
DIJ
Ret
4th 23
1990 First Racing DON
13
SIL
3
PAU
Ret
JER
2
MNZ
5
PER
Ret
HOC
2
BRH
DSQ
BIR
Ret
BUG
Ret
NOG
5
6th 20
1991 Paul Stewart Racing VAL
Ret
PAU
4
JER
Ret
MUG
2
PER
2
HOC
Ret
BRH
4
SPA
Ret
BUG
Ret
NOG
11
5th 18
1999 Monaco Motorsport IMO MON CAT MAG SIL A1R HOC HUN SPA
DNQ
NÜR NC 0

Complete Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon 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
1989 Team LeMans SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ SUZ
4
16th 3
1992 Dome SUZ
9
FUJ
Ret
MIN
6
SUZ
11
AUT
1
SUG
5
FUJ
8
FUJ
6
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
18†
SUZ
Ret
10th 13
1993 Dome SUZ
7
FUJ
2
MIN
Ret
SUZ
5
AUT
C
SUG
1
FUJ
C
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
4
FUJ
4
SUZ
9
4th 23
1994 Dome SUZ
2
FUJ
4
MIN
1
SUZ
1
SUG
6
FUJ
4
SUZ
2
FUJ
1
FUJ
2
SUZ
Ret
1st 48
1995 Team 5ZIGEN SUZ
Ret
FUJ
C
MIN
Ret
SUZ
8
SUG
Ret
FUJ
8
TOK
Ret
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
10
NC 0
1996 Team 5ZIGEN SUZ
12
MIN
4
FUJ
8
TOK
8
SUZ
14
SUG
13
FUJ
12
MIN
Ret
SUZ
10
FUJ
Ret
16th 3
1997 STP Stellar SUZ MIN FUJ SUZ
8
SUG
5
FUJ
8
MIN
4
MOT
Ret
FUJ
6
SUZ
8
12th 6

Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

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
1993 Sasol Jordan Jordan 193 Hart V10 RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA
Ret
POR JPN AUS NC 0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1995 SARD Co. Ltd. Jeff Krosnoff
Mauro Martini
Toyota Supra LM GT1 264 14th 6th
1999 Riley & Scott Europe
Solution F
Carl Rosenblad
Shane Lewis
Riley & Scott Mk III/2-Ford LMP 67 DNF DNF
2006 JLOC Isao Noritake Koji Yamanishi
Yasutaka Hinoi
Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1LM GT1 283 DNF DNF
2007 JLOC Isao Noritake Atsushi Yogo
Koji Yamanishi
Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1LM GT1 1 DNF DNF
2009 JLOC Atsushi Yogo
Yutaka Yamagishi
Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1LM GT1 1 DNF DNF

References

  1. Nyberg, Rainer. "A stillborn GP project from Japan". 8W. Forix / Autosport. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. "Drivers: Marco Apicella". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  3. Diepraam, Mattijs (August 2000). "From zero to FIRST". 8W. Forix / Autosport. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  4. Diepraam, Mattijs (May 1998). "Marco Apicella's few yards as a Grand Prix driver". 8W. Forix / Autosport. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  5. "Marco Apicella". F1 Rejects. 8 August 2001. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  6. "Dome to launch next week". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1. 1996-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  7. Freeman, Glenn (2007-06-13). "Audi's Biela fastest in qualifying 1". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  8. "List of the Competitors and Cars Invited to the Administrative Checking & Scrutineering" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-06-09. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Kazuyoshi Hoshino
Japanese Formula 3000
Champion

1994
Succeeded by
Toshio Suzuki
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