Giovanni Lavaggi
Born (1958-02-18) 18 February 1958
Augusta, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityItaly Italian
Active years1995–1996
TeamsPacific, Minardi
Entries10 (7 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1995 German Grand Prix
Last entry1996 Japanese Grand Prix
Lavaggi driving his self designed Lavaggi LS1 at Spa in 2009

Giovanni Lavaggi (born 18 February 1958) is an Italian racing driver.

Despite Lavaggi being a nobleman by background, he could not count on personal financial resources; therefore he started racing only at the age of 26.[1] Nevertheless, he managed to reach the top class of motorsport, racing in Formula One in 1995 and 1996. His first involvement in F1 was in 1992 when, being a mechanical engineer, he was official test driver for the March F1 team. In 1995, he drove for Lotus-Pacific for four races in which he was forced to retire due to gearbox problems. In the second part of 1996 racing season, he joined the Minardi team for six races. His best result was a tenth place at the Hungaroring, which was the second best result of the year for Minardi team.

He lives in Monte Carlo.[1]

Early life

Lavaggi was born in Augusta, Sicily on 18 February 1958, being of noble heritage.[2][3] He studied mechanical engineering at Milan Polytechnic.[2]

Racing career

Lavaggi's racing career started in 1984, inspired by Henry Morrogh who judged him the best student he ever had at his racing school. That year he was official driver of the constructor Ermolli in the Italian Formula Panda championship where he was classified second, winning more races than any other driver. Not having enough sponsorship to afford a whole season in Formula Three, he did a few races in the Italian Formula Three Championship before turning to Group C sports cars, in order to gain international experience. In this category, he soon became a driver for the Porsche Kremer Team, for whom he became the 1993 Interserie champion, winning six of the season's total of 12 races and taking four further podium finishes. He also won the 1995 Daytona 24 Hours, driving nine hours in a team of four drivers. He scored two more wins in the FIA Sportscar Championship, including the 1000 km of Monza, where he drove five of the race's six hours and took five more podium places and two pole positions. His first race in F1 was at the German Grand Prix for Pacific in 1995. Prior to this he was a test driver for March during the 1992 season. He tested the Pacific PR02 twice before his first race for the British team - once at Silverstone and once at Snetterton. He was a rookie, but, at the same time, being 35 years old, he was the oldest driver in the field; therefore, he had to fight against the scepticism of the F1 media. The Pacific PR02 was an unreliable machine and he retired from all 4 races in 1995. His last experience in F1 was the 1996 Bologna Motorshow. Racing in a Minardi against two Benettons (driven by Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella), two Ligiers (Olivier Panis and Shinji Nakano) and the other Minardi (Tarso Marques), he finished second, losing the final against Fisichella by a nose.

After his F1 career, Lavaggi founded his own team “Scuderia Lavaggi” and in 2006 he became a constructor designing and building his own Le Mans Prototype, the Lavaggi LS1. He raced the car in the Le Mans Series until 2009 and he scored a pole position at 2008 Vallelunga 6h. Lavaggi is the only example of a driver-constructor in the modern era of motorsport at high-level.

He was nicknamed "Johnny Carwash" (an approximate translation of his name from Italian to English, John Washes) by people in the paddock;[4] US talk show host David Letterman helped bring the nickname to popular attention.

Family

The Lavaggi noble family moved from Genoa to Sicily (Palermo) in 1420 and then from Palermo to Augusta in 1711. A cousin of Giovanni’s grandfather, also called Giovanni Lavaggi, was a war hero. He was a pilot of the Italian Air Force and he died because of the sabotage of his airplane, while bringing to Asmara the Italian minister of public works Luigi Razza, who also was killed in the crash. In the cities of Catania and Augusta, Via Giovanni Lavaggi (Giovanni Lavaggi Road) is named after him.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1989 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Japan Kunimitsu Takahashi
Italy Bruno Giacomelli		 Porsche 962C C1 303 DNF DNF
1990 United Kingdom Team Davey Morocco Max Cohen-Olivar
United Kingdom Tim Lee-Davey		 Porsche 962C C1 306 19th 19th
1992 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Germany Manuel Reuter
Denmark John Nielsen		 Porsche 962CK6 C3 334 7th 2nd
1993 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Germany Jürgen Lässig
South Africa Wayne Taylor		 Porsche 962CK6 C2 328 12th 7th
2000 Spain Repsol Racing Engineering Spain Tomás Saldaña
Spain Jesús Diez Villaroel		 Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 78 DNF DNF
Sources:[5][6]

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 DC Points
1991 Crypton Engineering VAL
DNQ		 PAU
DNQ		 JER
DNQ		 MUG
DNQ		 PER
Ret		 NC 0
Roni Team HOC
DNQ		 BRH
DNQ		 SPA
DNQ		 BUG
DNQ		 NOG
12
Source:[7]

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

PPG Indycar Series

(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 Rank Points Ref
1994 Euromotorsports Lola T9300 Ilmor C SRF PHX LBH INDY MIL DET
DNQ		 POR 38th 0 [8]
Leader Cards Racing CLE
30		 TOR MCH MDO NHA VAN ROA
15		 NAZ LAG
DNQ
Sources:[7][9]

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 17 WDC Points
1995 Pacific Grand Prix Ltd Pacific PR02 Ford V8 BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 POR EUR PAC JPN AUS NC 0
1996 Minardi Team Minardi M195B Ford V8 AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER
DNQ		 HUN
10		 BEL
DNQ		 ITA
Ret		 POR
15		 JPN
DNQ		 NC 0
Source:[10]

References

  1. 1 2 D'Agata, Julian (3 June 2020). "Giovanni Lavaggi si racconta a 'Circus!': "Laurearmi mi ha permesso di realizzare il mio sogno"". LiveGP.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 D'Agata, Julian (11 April 2020). "Giovanni Lavaggi: il pilota-costruttore sulle orme di Bruce McLaren". LiveGP.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Bucci, Alessandro (3 November 2016). "F1 | Giovanni Lavaggi: "La F1 dovrebbe rispolverare l'estro umano"". F1Sport.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "From 'The Iceman' to 'The Monza Gorilla' - the best nicknames in F1 history". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "Giovanni Lavaggi Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Giovanni Lavaggi". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Giovanni Lavaggi". Motor Sport. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Giovanni Lavaggi – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Giovanni Lavaggi". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Small, Steve (2000). "Lavaggi, Giovanni". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. p. 340. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5 – via Internet Archive.
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