Mauro Baldi

Mauro Baldi
Born	(1954-01-31) January 31, 1954 Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Occupation	Racing driver
Years active	1972–2002
Known for	Formula One driver, World Sportscar Champion (1990), 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1994)

Mauro Giuseppe Baldi (born 31 January 1954) is a retired Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One from to . In the realm of endurance racing, Baldi secured the World Sportscar Championship title in 1990 driving for Sauber, and triumphed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Porsche. Additionally, he claimed victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1998 and achieved two wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona representing Doran.

Baldi is counted among the exclusive group of 11 drivers who have completed the unofficial Triple Crown of endurance racing, accomplishing this feat at the 1998 12 Hours of Sebring.

Biography

Born on 31 January 1954 in Reggio Emilia, located in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Mauro Giuseppe Baldi embarked on his motorsport journey beginning with rally competitions in 1972. By 1975, he transitioned into circuit racing, competing in the Italian Renault 5 Cup. Rising through the ranks, he became a leading figure in Formula 3 by 1980, capturing victories including the prestigious Monaco F3 Grand Prix and securing the 1981 European Formula 3 Championship title with eight wins. In 1982, Baldi joined Arrows for his Formula One debut, followed by a move to Alfa Romeo in 1983, where he earned a notable fifth place at Zandvoort. The arrival of Benetton as Alfa Romeo's sponsor in 1984 resulted in Baldi losing his seat; he subsequently signed with the financially challenged Spirit team until 1985.

Following his departure from Formula One, Baldi developed a distinguished career in sports car racing. He competed for the factory-backed Martini-Lancia outfit during 1984–85. In 1986, he piloted a Porsche 956 for Richard Lloyd Racing, before returning to factory duties with the Sauber-Mercedes squad starting in 1988. Partnered with Jean-Louis Schlesser, Baldi clinched the 1990 World Sportscar Championship title with Sauber. His career also included stints with Peugeot in both 1991 and 1992.

Baldi nearly re-entered Formula One competition in 1989 when he agreed to substitute for Enrico Bertaggia at Scuderia Coloni during the Italian Grand Prix; however, this move was vetoed by Mercedes' sporting director. He briefly served as a test driver for the Modena Lambo project in 1990.

In endurance events, Baldi achieved victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1994, sharing a modified Porsche (Dauer 962 Le Mans) alongside Yannick Dalmas and Hurley Haywood. His endurance accolades also include two wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona (1998 and 2002) and a triumph at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1998 with co-drivers Arie Luyendyk and Didier Theys.

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1976	Coppa Renault 5 Elf		11	1	?	?	5	80	3rd
1977	Coppa Renault 5 Elf		10	3	?	4	7	95	1st
	Renault 5 European Cup		?	2	?	1	4	52	1st
1978	Italian Formula Three		?	?	?	?	?	26	7th
	European Formula Three	Scuderia Tricolore	2	0	0	0	1	4	16th
1979	Italian Formula Three		?	1	?	1	?	35	3rd
	European Formula Three	Scuderia Tricolore	10	0	1	1	3	22	4th

^† As Baldi was a guest driver, he was not eligible to earn championship points.

Complete European Formula 3 Results

(Key) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics represent fastest lap)

1981

Year	Team	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos.	Points
1978	Mauro Baldi	Toyota	ZAN	NÜR	ÖST	ZOL	IMO DNQ	NÜR	DIJ	MNZ DNQ	PER 11	MAG	KNU	KAR	DON	KAS	JAR	VLL 3	16th	4
1979	Mauro Baldi	Toyota	VLL 3	ÖST Ret	ZOL Ret	MAG 9	DON Ret	ZAN 2	PER 5	MNZ 2	KNU Ret								4th	22
1980	Ecurie Oreca	Renault					style="background:#FFFFBF;" | ZAN 1 style="background:#FFDF9F;" | LAC 3 style="background:#FFDF9F;" |MUG 3 style="background:#CFCFFF;" |MNZ 18 style="background:#FFFFBF;" |MIS 1 style="background:#CFCFFF;" |KNU 11	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |JAR 1 style="background:#DFFFDF;" |KAS 5 style="background:#DFFFDF;" |ZOL 4
		Toyota								style="background:#EFCFFF;" |SIL Ret
nowrap | Euroracing	nowrap |Alfa Romeo	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |VLL 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |NÜR 5	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |DON 6	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |ÖST 1	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |ZOL 1	style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MAG 2	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |LAC 6	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |ZAN 1	style="background:#DFDFDF;" |SIL 2	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |CET 1	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |MIS 1	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |KNU 1	style="background:#DFDFDF;" |JAR 2	style="background:#FFFFBF;" |IMO 1	style="background:#FFFFFF;" |MUG DNS		style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 1st	style="background:#FFFFBF;" | 94

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
Template:F1	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A4	Cosworth V8	RSA DNQ	BRA 10	USW DNQ	SMR	BEL NC	MON DNQ	DET Ret	CAN 8	NED 6	GBR 9	FRA Ret	GER Ret	AUT 6	SUI DNQ		CPL 11	25th	2
		Arrows A5																ITA 12
Template:F1	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 183T	Alfa Romeo V8	BRA Ret	USW Ret	FRA Ret	SMR 10	MON 6	BEL Ret	DET 12	CAN 10	GBR 7	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED 5	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	RSA Ret		16th	3
Template:F1	Spirit Enterprises Ltd.	Spirit 101D	Hart Straight-4	style="background:#EFCFFF;" Brazilian GP Retired | style="background:#EFCFFF;" Portuguese GP Retired | style="background:#EFCFFF;" San Marino GP Retired | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |	NC	0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Category	Completed Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Martini Racing	Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Paolo Barilla Template:Country data FRGTemplate:Namespace detect showall Hans Heyer	Lancia LC2-Ferrari	C1	275	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Martini Lancia	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Henri Pescarolo	Lancia LC2-Ferrari	C1	358	7th	7th
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Liqui Moly Equipe	Price Cobb Rob Dyson	Porsche 956 GTi	C1	318	9th	7th
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data CHETemplate:Namespace detect showall Sauber Mercedes-Benz	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall James Weaver Template:Country data FRGTemplate:Namespace detect showall Jochen Mass	Sauber C9-Mercedes-Benz	C1	-	DNS	DNS
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data CHETemplate:Namespace detect showall Sauber Mercedes-Benz	Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Kenny Acheson Template:Country data ITATemplate:Namespace detect showall Gianfranco Brancatelli	Sauber C9-Mercedes-Benz	C1	384	2nd	2nd
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Peugeot Talbot Sport	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Philippe Alliot Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Peugeot 905	C1	22	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Peugeot Talbot Sport	Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Philippe Alliot Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	345	3rd	3rd

American Open Wheel racing results

(Template:American Open Wheel driver results legend#key)

IndyCar World Series

Year	Team	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final Rank	Points Earned
1994 IndyCar season#1994	Payton/Coyne Racing	19	1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix#SRF	PHX	LBH	1994 Indianapolis 500#INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	MDO 19	NHM	VAN	ROA	NZR	LAG	47th	0

Sources

• Driver profile on www.grandprix.com