Grand Prix Insider

1/7/1947, Kazuyoshi Hoshino is born in Shizuoka, Japan.

Here is why Hoshino is nicknamed “the fastest guy in Japan”: Japanese 90cc and 125cc motocross Champion for Kawasaki in 1968, switched to cars as a works Nissan driver in 1969. 1975 and 1977 Formula 2000 champion, 1978 Formula 2 champion plus 1987, 1990 and 1993 F3000 champion. He also did well in the Japanese Touring Car Championship winning the title in 1990 and 1994, won the Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship in 1991 and 1992 and shared the winning Nissan in the Daytona 24-hours with Masahiro Hasemi and Toshio Suzuki the same year. Hoshino also participated in two Grands Prix, both in Japan. His debut came at the rain-sodden 1976 Japanese GP, finishing 11th. He repeated the result in his 1977 home GP, again with the Kojima, obtaining the same result. He remained ultra-competitive in Formula Nippon until the end of 1996, then concentrated on the Japanese GT and Touring Car championships as well as running his own Formula Nippon team. Hoshino retired from racing in 2002 and nows continues to run his own Super GT team.

1/7/1948, Achille Varzi dies.

Initially a successful motorbike racer before switching to auto racing in 1928 where, for the next ten years he would rival the great Tazio Nuvolari, competing in 139 races and winning 33 of them. Coming from a wealthy background, Achille’s first big success came at the prestigious Targa Florio where he upset the favored Louis Chiron in 1932. Following his win at the 1933 Tripoli Grand Prix, he decided to join the Auto Union team, racing for them between 1935 and 1937. A lover of the good life, Varzi began having serious personal problems, including an addiction to morphine and a difficult affair with Ilse Hubach, the wife of a fellow racecar driver.

Quickly overshadowed by team-mate Bernd Rosemeyer, his trips to the winners circle dropped to only four but he did win his third Tripoli Grand Prix in his third different vehicle. By 1938 he had dropped out of sight and the advent of World War II ended racing in Europe. During the war, Varzi overcame his drug addiction and settled down with his new wife, Norma Colombo. At the end of the War, Varzi made a remarkable comeback at the age of 42. In 1947, he won three minor Grand Prix races and traveled to Argentina to race in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix. However, during practice for the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten track, his car skidded on the rainy wet surface, flipping over and crushing him to death.

Born: 8th of August 1904 in Galliate, Italy;
Died: 1st of July 1948 in Bremgarten, Switzerland, aged 43.

JOSE GALLEGO SEGURA

Nationality : german and spanish
Date of birth : june 29, 1973
Main fields of activity : chassis

apr 1998-may 1999 : design-draftsman > Toyota GT1 (Le Mans Series, LMPGTP)
jun 1999-2002 : designer chassis > Toyota (F1)
jan 2003-2005 : mechanical design engineer chassis > Opel (DTM)
jan 2006-2009 : senior design engineer (team leader), aerodynamics > BMW-Sauber (F1)

26/6/1933, Renato Pirocchi

One of the stars of the Italian Formula Junior series the 1960 Italian champion, Pirocchi’s most important win must have been the prestigious Havana GP in Cuba. His only participation in a round of the Formula 1 World Championship came at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix came at the wheel of an elderly Cooper entered by the Pescara Racing Club, finishing in a distant 12th place.

On lap 21, Seaman led by half a minute over Lang, followed by Nuvolari, Hasse and von Brauchitsch. Coming to Club Corner just before the La Source hairpin Seaman came in too fast, missed the entry point and left the track sideways. The back of his Mercedes hit one tree and then wrapped itself around another one. The fuel line split 250 litres of fuel leaked into the cockpit and over the exhaust. It ignited, Seaman was trapped behind the steering wheel. After a minute of futile rescuing efforts a Belgian soldier walked right into the fire and released the driver.

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François Castaing 1945 Jun 15:

1965 – Jun 14: Andrew Green