Johnny Cecotto

Johnny Cecotto
Nationality Venezuela Venezuelan
Born (1956-01-25) 25 January 1956
Caracas, Venezuela
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1975–1980
First race1975 250cc French Grand Prix
Last race1980 500cc German Grand Prix
First win1975 250cc French Grand Prix
Last win1980 350cc Nations Grand Prix
Team(s)Yamaha
Championships1975 – 350cc
1978 – Formula 750
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
48 14 26 22 7
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 1983–1984
Teams Theodore, Toleman
Entries 23 (18 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 1
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry 1984 British Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 1981, 1996, 1998
Teams Team Bigazzi SRL, Team BMW Motorsport
Best finish 8th (1996)
Class wins 0

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.

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]

Johnny Cecotto at the Nürburgring in 1976

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]

Johnny Cecotto leads Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts during the 1978 500cc Dutch TT race

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

Formula racing

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.

Cecotto at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, his last Formula One start.

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.

Touring cars

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 the BMW 635 CSi he drove at Spa, 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, claiming that he would think twice before racing a bike there (Hansford was at the time the 350cc motorcycle lap record holder for the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) circuit).

In 1986 he joined Belgian based factory backed RAS Sport Volvo team in the re-named (for 1986 only) FIA Touring Car Championship driving a turbocharged Volvo 240T. Usually co-driving with defending European Touring Car Champion Thomas Lindström, Cecotto finished 8th in the championship with two wins (Hockenheim and Zolder), two second and two third placings. He also drove a 240T to victory at the 1986 Guia Race held during the Macau Grand Prix, as well as winning the 1986 InterTEC 500 held at Fuji in Japan alongside Anders Olofsson.[14][15]

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 BMW M3 for the Italian CiBiEmme team alongside joint 1985 ETCC champion Gianfranco Brancatelli. The pair won the third round of the championship, the 500 km de Bourgogne 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.[16][17] In 1989 he captured the Italian Touring Car Championship.[18][19] Cecotto finished in =8th place with Brancatelli in the 1987 WTCC with 158 points.

From 1988 to 1992, Cecotto competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship).[20] Driving a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3, he finished as runner up in the 1990 season.[21] In 1994 and 1998 he won the German Super Tourenwagen Cup Championship for BMW.[22][23][24] In 1995 he raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BMW.[25] In 2001 and 2002, he switched to the Irmscher Opel Omega and won the German V8Star Series Championship two years running.[24][26][27]

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 racing

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

Car racing

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 European 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 DC Points
1985 West Germany Schnitzer Motorsport BMW 635 CSi MNZ VAL DON AND BRN ZEL SAL
7		 NUR SPA
2		 SIL NOG ZOL EST JAR
7		 NA NA
1986 Belgium RAS Sport Volvo 240T MNZ
9		 DON
Ret		 HOC
1		 MIS
2		 AND
DSQ		 BRN
3		 ZEL
DSQ		 NUR
10		 SPA
12		 SIL
15		 NOG
2		 ZOL
1		 JAR
3		 EST
16		 8th 144
1987 Italy CiBiEmme Sport BMW M3 DON
Ret		 EST
1		 AND ZOL
Ret		 ZEL
1		 IMO
Ret		 NOG
Ret		 15th 80
1988 Italy CiBiEmme Sport Alfa Romeo 75 MNZ DON EST JAR DIJ VAL NUR SPA
Ret		 ZOL SIL NOG NC 0

Complete World 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 DC Points
1987 Italy CiBiEmme Sport
West Germany BMW Motorsport		 BMW M3 MNZ
DSQ		 JAR
ovr:8
cls:6
 DIJ
ovr:1
cls:1
 NUR
Ret		 SPA
Ret		 BNO
ovr:5
cls:3
 SIL
Ret		 BAT
ovr:7
cls:3
 CLD
ovr:4
cls:2
 WEL
Ret		 FJI
ovr:6
cls:3
 8th 158

† Despite finishing 7th outright at Bathurst, as the highest placed registered WTCC car Cecotto was awarded 1st place points for the round.

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:[20]
(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.
1981 France BMW Italie-France
Germany Team BMW Motorsport		 France Philippe Alliot
France Bernard Darniche		 BMW M1 Gr.5 Gr.5 277 16th 5th
1996 Italy Team Bigazzi
Germany Team BMW Motorsport		 Brazil Nelson Piquet
United States Danny Sullivan		 McLaren F1 GTR GT1 324 8th 6th
1998 Germany Team BMW Motorsport Italy Pierluigi Martini
Germany Joachim Winkelhock		 BMW V12 LM LMP1 43 DNF DNF

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1985 Australia / West Germany Goold Motorsport Italy Roberto Ravaglia BMW 635 CSi C 163 2nd 2nd
1987 West Germany BMW Motorsport
Italy CiBiEmme		 Italy Gianfranco Brancatelli BMW M3 2 154 7th 3rd
1992 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tony Longhurst BMW M3 Evolution A 142 4th 4th

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johnny Cecotto.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rider Statistics - Johnny Cecotto". MotoGP.com. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  2. 1 2 "Teddy Yip's feast from the East". 8w.forix.com. 1983-03-27. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  3. 1 2 ''Daytona Gold'', American Motorcyclist, March 1991, Vol. 45, No. 3, ISSN 0277-9358. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  4. ↑ 1975 Daytona 200, American Motorcyclist, May 1975, Vol. 29, No. 5, ISSN 0277-9358. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  5. 1 2 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
  6. ↑ "Daytona 200 winners at www.motorsportsetc.com". Motorsportsetc.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  7. ↑ 1976 Daytona 200, American Motorcyclist, May 1976, Vol. 30, No. 5, ISSN 0277-9358. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  8. ↑ Moses, Sam (March 15, 1976). "Two flats that led to a flat-out finish". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Cyclist Killed In Prix Race". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. 2 May 1977. p. 2. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  10. ↑ "MOTO-FORMULE 750". Racingmemo.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  11. 1 2 "1982 Formula 2 season results at www.formula2.net". Formula2.net. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  12. 1 2 3 "Formula 1™ - The Official F1™ Website". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  13. 1 2 "Formula 1™ - The Official F1™ Website". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  14. ↑ "Guia race winners at macau.grandprix.gov". Test.macau.grandprix.gov.mo. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  15. ↑ 1986 Fuji 5 hours
  16. ↑ scandrett. "1987 James Hardie 1000 results at www.therealmountpanorama.com". Therealmountpanorama.com. Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  17. ↑ Darren Galpin. "1987 World Touring Car Championship results at www.teamdan.com". Teamdan.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  18. ↑ "Italian Superturismo Championship 1989: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  19. ↑ "Italian touring car champions at www.motorsportsetc.com". Motorsportsetc.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  20. 1 2 "Johnny Cecotto DTM statistics 1984-2010". dtm.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  21. ↑ "1990 DTM Drivers Standings". dtm.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  22. ↑ "German Super Touring Car Championship 1994: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  23. ↑ "German Super Touring Car Championship 1998: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  24. 1 2 "German touring car champions at www.motorsportsetc.com". Motorsportsetc.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-27. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  25. ↑ "1995 British Touring Car Championship Entry List". btccpages.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  26. ↑ "V8 STAR 2001: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  27. ↑ "V8 STAR 2002: Schedule and Standings". motorsport-archive.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Giacomo Agostini		 350cc Motorcycle World Champion
1975 		Succeeded by
Walter Villa
Preceded by
Gianfranco Brancatelli		 Guia Race winner
1986 		Succeeded by
Roberto Ravaglia
Preceded by
Gianfranco Brancatelli		 Italian Touring Car Champion
1989 		Succeeded by
Roberto Ravaglia
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