Stefano Modena

Stefano Modena
Born	(1963-05-12) May 12, 1963 Modena, Italy
Occupation	Racing driver (retired)
Years active	1987–2000
Known for	Formula One driver (1987–1992), 1987 International Formula 3000 champion

Stefano Modena (born 12 May 1963) is a retired Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One from to .

Hailing from Modena, Modena's racing journey began in kart racing, where he secured the junior direct-drive Karting World Cup title in 1978 and clinched consecutive European Championships in 1983 and 1984. He advanced to Italian Formula Three in 1985, achieving multiple victories and securing pole position at the 1986 Macau Grand Prix. In 1987, he competed in International Formula 3000, capturing the championship during his rookie year. Over six seasons, he took part in 81 Formula One Grands Prix representing teams such as Brabham, EuroBrun, Tyrrell, and Jordan, earning two podium finishes and accumulating 17 points.

Career

Modena commenced his career in Italian Formula Ford before moving to Italian Formula 3 in 1985 with Euroracing’s Alfa Romeo-powered Ralt, finishing 15th in the standings. The following year, driving Team Seresina’s Reynard chassis, he secured three wins and concluded the season fourth overall, including a victory in the European series at Imola. In 1987, racing for Onyx in Formula 3000, he triumphed in three events to claim the championship title.

His notable pace led to a one-off appearance with Brabham at the final race of the 1987 F1 season. Although qualifying 15th, his unfamiliarity with the turbocharged BMW engine resulted in an early retirement due to exhaustion. Pursuing a permanent F1 seat in 1988, he tested for Benetton but ultimately signed with new entrant EuroBrun, piloting the Ford Cosworth V8-powered ER188—a car that was uncompetitive. While consistently faster than teammate Oscar Larrauri, Modena remained near the rear of the grid.

In 1989, Modena rejoined Brabham under new ownership by Joachim Luthi alongside Martin Brundle. Utilizing Pirelli qualifying tires, he qualified within the top ten on eight occasions despite limitations of the Judd V8 engine. Mechanical unreliability marred the season; however, Modena achieved his first podium by finishing third at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 1990 campaign proved challenging amid Brabham’s ownership issues following Luthi’s incarceration. Modena managed a fifth-place finish at the US Grand Prix but had few other significant results.

For 1991, Modena replaced Jean Alesi at Tyrrell, supported by substantial sponsorship and equipped with Honda engines and Pirelli tires. Early signs were promising with a fourth place at Phoenix and second place in Canada, along with a front-row start at Monaco beside Ayrton Senna. Nevertheless, inconsistent tire performance and chassis balance problems hampered results; he scored only one additional point for sixth place in Japan. The overall season fell short of expectations.

In 1992, Modena joined Jordan, a team that had impressed during its debut but struggled with an underpowered Yamaha V12 engine. He failed to qualify on four occasions and drew criticism for lacking mechanical sympathy and composure compared to teammate Maurício Gugelmin. Despite earning Jordan’s only point that year at Australia, Modena did not secure an F1 drive for the following season.

Between 1993 and 1999, Modena competed in touring car championships for Alfa Romeo across Italy and Germany, achieving occasional victories but not seriously contending for titles. After a stint with Opel in 2000, he retired from professional racing.

Following retirement, Modena engaged extensively with Bridgestone as a tester for racing and road tires worldwide and contributed to product development and marketing efforts across various continents.

He lives in Rome with his wife Sveva Altieri and has two children: Ascanio, who works as an archaeologist and journalist, and Vittoria, a practicing lawyer.

Recognized for unusual habits during his F1 tenure—such as forbidding others from touching his car once seated and racing with gloves worn inside out—Modena's idiosyncrasies reflected a meticulous mindset rather than superstition.

Career summary

1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge 2 0 0 0 0 14 13th Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Alfa Corse 6 1 1 2 2 74 12th FIA Touring Car World Cup Alfa Corse 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC International Touring Car Series Euroteam 10 0 0 2 1 49 7th 1996 International Touring Car Championship JAS MotorsportAlfa Corse 25 0 0 0 3 92 12th 1997 Super Tourenwagen Cup JAS Motorsport 20 0 0 0 0 129 20th Italian Superturismo Championship N.Technology 2 0 0 1 1 32 15th 1999 Super Tourenwagen Cup Euroteam 19 0 0 0 0 271 13th 2000 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Euroteam 14 0 0 0 0 15 15th

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	Fastest laps	Podiums	Points	Final standing
1985	Italian Formula Three	Euroteam	13	0	0	1	0	5	15th
1986	Italian Formula Three	Euroteam	13	3	1	4	5	38	4th
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	1	0	0	N/A	13th
1987	International Formula 3000	Onyx Racing	11	3	0	1	4	41	1st
	Macau Grand Prix	Euroteam	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	15th
	Formula One	Brabham	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1988	1988 Formula One World Championship	EuroBrun Racing	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1989	1989 Formula One World Championship	Motor Racing Developments (Brabham)	15	0	0	0	1	4	16th
1990	1990 Formula One World Championship	Brabham	16	0	0	0	0	2	16th
1991	1991 Formula One World Championship	Braun Tyrrell Racing Honda	16	0	0	0	1	10	8th
1992	align=left 1992 Formula One World Championship	align=left Jordan Grand Prix Yamaha (Sasol)	12	0	0	0	0	1	17th
rowspan=2 1993 Italian Superturismo Championship Euroteam 20 0 0 0 0 46 11th
rowspan=3 1994 Italian Superturismo Championship Euroteam 13 3 3 6 5 116 6th
rowspan=2 1995 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Euroteam 11 0 0 1 1 26 16th
rowspan=2 1998 Super Tourenwagen Cup Euroteam 18 0 0 0 0 146 18th

Full International Formula 3000 Results

(key) (Races shown in italics denote fastest lap.)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Points
1987	Onyx Racing	SIL 4th	VAL 1st	SPA Retired	PAU Retired	DON 2nd	PER 6th	BRH 4th	BIR 1st	IMO 1st	BUG Retired	JAR 6th	Champion	40

Complete Formula One Results

(key)

rowspan=2 | Template:F1 rowspan=2 ! rowspan=2 | Brabham rowspan=2 | Template:F1 rowspan=2 ! rowspan=2 | Braun Tyrrell Honda Template:F1

Year	Team	Car Model	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Championship Standing (WDC)	Points
Template:F1	Brabham	Brabham BT56	BMW Straight-4																	0
Template:F1	EuroBrun Racing	EuroBrun ER188	Cosworth V8		Excluded Excluded								0
Template:F1	Brabham BT58	Judd V8 engine			style="background:#ffdf9f;" | 1989 Monaco Grand Prix 3rd						16th	4
rowspan=2 | Judd V8 engine	style="background:#dfffdf;" | USA 5th	style="background:#efcfff;" | BRA Retired
	2
rowspan=2 | Tyrrell 020 Honda V10	style="background:#dfffdf;" | USA 4th		8th	10
Sasol Jordan Yamaha	Jordan 192 Yamaha V12								17th	1

Full Italian Superturismo Championship Results

Year	Team Name	Vehicle Model	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Final Standing (DC)	Points Total (Pts)
1993	Euroteam	BMW 318i	MNZ Race 1 Template:Small 8th	MNZ Race 2 Template:Small 9th	[[ACI Vallelunga Circuit VAL Race 1]] Template:Small Retired	VAL Race 2 Template:Small Retired	[[Misano World Circuit MIS Race 1]] Template:Small 8th	MIS Race 2 Template:Small 6th	[[Autodromo di Magione MAG Race 1]] Template:Small 15th	MAG Race 2 Template:Small 11th	[[Autodromo del Levante BIN Race 1]] Template:Small 6th	BIN Race 2 Template:Small 7th	[[Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari IMO Race 1]] Template:Small 8th	IMO Race 2 Template:Small 12th	[[Autodromo Riccardo Paletti VAR Race 1]] Template:Small 8th	VAR Race 2 Template:Small 6th	MIS Race 3 Template:Small 9th	MIS Race 4 Template:Small Retired	[[Autodromo di Pergusa PER Race 1]] Template:Small 10th	PER Race 2 Template:Small 7th	[[Mugello Circuit MUG Race 1]] Template:Small 14th	MUG Race 2 Template:Small 9th	12th Place	45 Points
1994	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	style="background:#CFCFFF;" | [[Autodromo Nazionale Monza MNZ Race 1 ]] Template:Small 15th	style="background:#DFFFDF;" | MNZ Race 2 Template:Small 4th	style="background:#FFFFBF;" | [[ACI Vallelunga Circuit VAL Race 1 ]] Template:Small 1st	style="background:#DFFFDF;" | VAL Race 2 Template:Small 7th	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | [[Autodromo di Magione MAG Race 1 ]] Template:Small Retired	[[Autodromo di Magione MAG Race 2 ]] Template:Small DNS	style="background:#DFFFDF;" | [[Autodromo del Levante BIN Race 1 ]] Template:Small 4th	style="background:#CFCFFF;" | BIN Race 2 Template:Small 16th	style="background:#EFCFFF;" | [[Misano World Circuit MIS Race 1 ]] Template:Small Retired	[[Misano World Circuit MIS Race 2 ]] Template:Small DNS	style="background:#FFFFBF;" | VAL Race 3 Template:Small 1st	style="background:#DFDFDF;" | VAL Race 4 Template:Small 2nd	style="background:#DFDFDF;" | [[Mugello Circuit MUG Race 1 ]] Template:Small 2nd	style="background:#FFFFBF;" | MUG Race 2 Template:Small 1st					style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MUG Race 3 Template:Small Retired		6th Place	116 Points

Full Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters Results

(Legend) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Pos.	Points
1994	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	HOC 1	HOC 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	MUG 1	MUG 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	NOR 1	NOR 2	DON 1	DON 2	DIE 1	DIE 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	AVU 1 1	AVU 2 1	ALE 1 2	ALE 2 2	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 7	12th	74
1995	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 DNS	AVU 1 5	AVU 2 2	NOR 1 5	NOR 2 4	Diepholz Airfield Circuit#DIE#1 12	Diepholz Airfield Circuit#DIE#2 Ret	Nürburgring#NÜR#1 Ret	Nürburgring#NÜR#2 DNS	Alemannenring#ALE#1 Ret	Alemannenring#ALE#2 DNS	Hockenheimring#HOC#1 14	Hockenheimring#HOC#2 Ret											16th	26
2000	Euroteam	Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2000	HOC < br / > 1 < br / > 13	HOC < br / > 2 < br / > 10	OSC < br / > 1 < br / > 12	OSC < br / > 2 < br / > Ret	NOR < br / > 1 < br / > 10	NOR < br / > 2 < br / > 10	SAC < br / > 1 < br / > 14	SAC < br / > 2 < br / > Ret	NÜR < br / > 1 < br / > 19	NÜR < br / > 2 < br / > 15	LAU < br / > 1 < br / > C	style = " background : #FFFFFF ; " [[ EuroSpeedway Lausitz LAU 2 ]] {{ small C }}	style= background: #efcfff;	[[ Nürburgring NÜR 1 ]] { { small Ret } }	style= background: #FFFFFF;	[[ Nürburgring NÜR 2 ]] { { small DNS } }	style= background: #dfffdf;	[[ Hockenheimring HOC 1 ]] { { small 9 } }	style= background: #dfffdf;	[[ Hockenheimring HOC 2 ]] { { small 4 } }	colspan=6 |	15th ! 15	-	colspan= "29"	{ { center | { { small | Sources: } } } }

Full International Touring Car Championship Results

(legend) (Entries shown in bold denote pole positions) (Entries in italics signify fastest laps)

Year	Team	Vehicle	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	26	Pos.	Points
1995	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	MUG 1 6	MUG 2 11	HEL 1 2	HEL 2 Ret	DON 1 6	DON 2 13	EST 1 20	EST 2 5	MAG 1 5	MAG 2 6																	7th	49
1996	JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 DNS	NÜR 1 17	NÜR 2 Ret	EST 1 DNS	EST 2 9	HEL 1 7	HEL 2 Ret	NOR 1 3	NOR 2 13	DIE 1 4	[[Diepholz Airfield Circuit#DIE 2]] "3"	[[Silverstone Circuit#SIL 1]] "4"	[[Silverstone Circuit#SIL 2]] "Ret"	[[Nürburgring#NÜR 1]] "13"	[[Nürburgring#NÜR 2]] "10"	[[Circuit de Nevers#MAG 1]] "13"	[[Circuit de Nevers#MAG 2]] "7"	[[Mugello Circuit#MUG 1]] "Ret"	[[Mugello Circuit#MUG 2]] "14"	[[Hockenheimring#HOC 1]] "Ret"	[[Hockenheimring#HOC 2]] "10"	[[Autódromo José Carlos Pace#INT 1]] "2"	[[Autódromo José Carlos Pace#INT 2]] "8"	[[Suzuka Circuit#SUZ 1]] "5"	[[Suzuka Circuit#SUZ 2]] "4"	12th	92

Full Super Tourenwagen Cup Results

(legend) (Entries in bold signify pole positions) (Entries in italics denote fastest laps)

Year	Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Final Position	Points
1997	JAS Engineering	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	HOC 1 10	HOC 2 17	ZOL 1 14	ZOL 2 27	NÜR 1 23	NÜR 2 20	SAC 1 23	SAC 2 Ret	NOR 1 27	NOR 2 7	WUN 1 14	WUN 2 Ret	ZWE 1 18	ZWE 2 20	SAL 1 19	SAL 2 17	REG 1 16	REG 2 10	NÜR 1 DNS	NÜR 2 Ret	20th	129
1998	Euroteam S.R.L.	Alfa Romeo 156	HOC 1 18	HOC 2 18	NÜR 1 15	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(NÜR 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(SAC 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(SAC 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#EFCFFF;")(NOR 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#FFFFFF;")(NOR 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(REG 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#EFCFFF;")(REG 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#EFCFFF;")(WUN 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(WUN 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(ZWE 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(ZWE 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(SAL 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#EFCFFF;")(SAL 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(OSC 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(OSC 2)Template:Small\	(style="background:#CFCFFF;")(NÜR 1)Template:Small\	(style="background:#DFFFDF;")(NÜR 2)Template:Small\	18th	146
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