Giorgio Pantano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Giorgio Pantano | |
 |
|
| Nationality |  Italian |
|---|---|
| World Championship Career | |
| Active years | 2004 |
| Team(s) | Jordan |
| Races | 14 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 2004 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last race | 2004 Italian Grand Prix |
| Giorgio Pantano | |
|---|---|
| 2007 GP2 Series driver | |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Current team | Campos Grand Prix |
| Car No. | 24 (TBC) |
| Former teams | Super Nova, FMS International |
| Starts | 38 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 8 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Debut season | 2005 |
| Best season | 5th (2006) |
| 2006 position | 5th |
Giorgio Pantano (born February 4, 1979 in Padua, Italy) is an Italian racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock, and who raced in the 2005 and 2006 GP2 Series seasons for the Super Nova and FMS International team. He is currently signed to race in the 2007 GP2 Series for the Campos Grand Prix team.
Pantano is the holder of one of the best records ever in karting, where he started at age nine. In his first year in Cadet karting he achieved the Italian and European titles. In 1994 he won the Italian and World titles in Junior karting and in 1995 and 1996 won the European Formula A. In 1996 he was signed by AMG-Mercedes, from where he went through a difficult patch to enter Formula One racing. He entered the winter series of Palmer Audi in 1999 and tested for Astromega Formula 3000 before signing for the KMS team that would take him to race in F3 in his first year of single-seater racing. He won his first race and went on to win the title.
His first taste of Formula One came in 2000, when he was tested by Benetton. However, he joined Astromega in Formula 3000 in 2001 and won at Monza. That same year he tested for McLaren. In 2002 he tested for Williams and Minardi, but was unable to break into Formula One, so he signed for the Durango team and won two races in the International Formula 3000 series in 2003, which earned him third place in the championship. He nearly spent 2003 in Champ Car, but the BC Motorsports team he believed he had a contract with proved to be fake.
He signed for Jordan Formula One team in early 2004, although after an unsuccessful season left the series. In 2005 he raced in the inaugural GP2 Series season for the SuperNova team, alongside Adam Carroll of Northern Ireland, who defied expectations by outpacing Pantano. He also drove in the Indy Racing League for Chip Ganassi Racing in the two road-course races in the 2005 season. The team scaled back to two cars for 2006, signing champion Dan Wheldon alongside Scott Dixon. Pantano had several off-season Champ Car tests for PKV Racing and Mi-Jack Conquest Racing but they failed to result in a ride for the season and Pantano sat out most of the early part of the new season before finding a new lease of life in Giancarlo Fisichella's GP2 team FMS. After a crash on his first time back, Pantano impressed in the car, his experience gaining him solid points-scoring finishes in the second half of the season, including three wins.
He has been signed by ex-F1 driver Adrián Campos to drive for his GP2 team for 2007.
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jordan | AUS 14 |
MAL 13 |
BAH 16 |
SAN Ret |
SPA Ret |
MON Ret |
EUR 13 |
CAN |
USA Ret |
FRA 17 |
GBR Ret |
DEU 15 |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
CHN |
JPN |
BRA |
Jordan | 24th | 0 |
[edit] GP2 Series record
| Season | Team Name | No. | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
| 2005 | Super Nova Racing | 07 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 6th |
| 2006 | Petrol Ofisi FMS International | 16 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 5th |
