Renzo Zorzi

Renzo Zorzi (12 December 1946 – 15 May 2015) was a racing driver from Italy who participated in seven Formula One Grands Prix between 1975 and 1977, for the Williams and Shadow teams. He began in Formula Three while working with Pirelli before progressing to Formula One. He later raced in sports cars before returning to work with Pirelli, running a driving school. He is the only driver from the province of Trentino to have competed in Formula One.

Career Formula Three The son of a miner, Zorzi was born in Ziano di Fiemme, Trentino, near the Austrian border. He became an engineer with Pirelli, and began his motor racing career in 1972, driving a Tecno for Scuderia Mirabella in Italian Formula Three. He debuted at Monza on 3 September, where he failed to qualify for the final.

Zorzi competed more regularly the following year, initially with a Brabham BT38C, and then with a Quasar, finishing 12th at Vallelunga, before finishing 13th at Casale with the Brabham. He then managed 10th at Misano driving a Branca, before his best result of the season, sixth place at Varano in a Brabham BT35.

In 1974, Zorzi campaigned a GRD 374 for Scuderia Mirabella, with Giorgio Francia as his team-mate. and fifth at Monza beating Francia, before fifth place at Monaco driving a March 743. Back in the GRD, he managed 13th at the Nürburgring in a race won by Francia, followed by fifth again at Casale and sixth at Monza. He finished tenth in the championship.

For 1975, Zorzi helped to develop a Formula Three engine for Lancia, built by the Repetto company. As he was still without a win in the Italian category, it was a surprise when he won the European Formula Three Monaco Grand Prix support race in May, having qualified second to Larry Perkins and won heat two by eleven seconds. In a chaotic final, he gained two places when Tony Brise and Alex Ribeiro collided in front of him, and finished second on the track, 21 seconds behind Conny Andersson. When Andersson was penalised a minute for a jump start, Zorzi inherited the victory, just 0.89 seconds ahead of the Safir of Patrick Nève.

Back in the Italian championship, Zorzi subsequently finished seventh at Vallelunga, and sixth at Mugello. In the European category, he achieved two sixth places at the Nürburgring and the Ring Djursland in Denmark. But his Monaco success had provided the impetus for a step towards Formula One before the end of the 1975 season. He qualified the car 22nd of the 28 entrants, just 0.71 seconds slower than his team-mate Jacques Laffite in the newer FW04. Running as high as 12th in the race, he was delayed by a puncture and finished 14th and last, six laps adrift of winner Clay Regazzoni.

The arrangement continued at the first race of 1976, the Brazilian Grand Prix, although the team was now 60% owned by Walter Wolf and renamed Wolf-Williams. Zorzi drove the FW04 while new team-mate Jacky Ickx drove the new FW05. Zorzi qualified 17th of the 22 entrants, outqualifying 19th placed Ickx. He finished ninth of 14 classified finishers, just 2.44 seconds behind Ickx.

1977: Shadow Zorzi returned to Formula One in 1977 with the Shadow team as team-mate to the highly-rated Welsh driver Tom Pryce, backed by their Italian sponsor Franco Ambrosio. Ambrosio demanded an Italian driver as part of the agreement for his financial support, and Zorzi was chosen for this reason rather than through the choice of the team. At the first race in Argentina, driving the team's older DN5B, he qualified last of the 21 entrants, and climbed to 18th at the start before retiring on lap three with a gearbox failure.

At the next race in Brazil, Zorzi qualified 18th and in a race of attrition, finished sixth of the seven finishers, winning his only World Championship point in only his fourth Grand Prix.

However, tragedy struck in the following race in South Africa. Driving the team's new DN8, Zorzi qualified 20th, and was running near the back of the field when he pulled off the track with a fuel leak caused by a broken metering unit. the first marshal narrowly avoided the passing cars but the second marshal, Frederick Jansen Van Vuuren, was struck and killed by the car of Zorzi's teammate Pryce. Van Vuuren's fire extinguisher struck Pryce on his helmet, causing fatal head and neck injuries. Pryce was replaced by future World Champion Alan Jones, who outperformed Zorzi at the following two races. At Long Beach, Zorzi qualified 20th and retired with a gearbox failure, and in Spain he qualified 24th and retired with an engine failure. His last appearance in the event came in 1985, when the Porsche 956 he shared with Oscar Larrauri and Massimo Sigala for Brun Motorsport finished sixth.

Racing record Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts 1975 Frank Williams Racing Cars Williams FW03 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA ESP MON BEL SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA NC 0 1976 Frank Williams Racing Cars Wolf–Williams FW04 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA JPN NC 0 1977 Shadow Racing Team Shadow DN5B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA 19th 1 Shadow DN8 RSA USW ESP MON BEL SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN JPN

Complete British Formula One Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts 1980 Charles Clowes Racing Arrows A1 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 OUL BRH SIL MAL THR MNZ MAL SNE BRH THR OUL SIL NC 0