Mario Andretti : A Photographiv Portrait

by Spurring, Quentin

• ISBN13: 9781844254996
• ISBN10: 1844254992
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Motorbooks Intl

Summary

Mario Andretti's life story captures the essence of the great American dream. Born near Trieste, Italy, in the early months of the Second World War, his family spent the first seven years of his life in a displaced persons camp before immigrating to the USA in 1955. Childhood memories of Alberto Ascari and the Mille Miglia fueled Mario's passion for racing, a passion that was to take him to the very top as the 1978 Formula 1 World Champion, as well as to a glorious reputation as one of racings most versatile drivers of all time, winning regularly not only in F1 but also in Champ cars, oval races and long-distance sports car races. He made the transition to F1 like a duck to water, qualifying in pole position in his first race for Lotus in 1968. He secured his first F1 win in 1971 when he drove for Ferrari at Kyalami but he did not join F1 full-time until 1975 with the Parnelli team. It was a disappointing year for Andretti and it prompted him to rejoin Lotus for the following season. After a disappointing start, results started to improve towards the end of 1976, culminating in a win at the seasons finale in Japan leading to the 1978 Drivers Championship with victories in six Grand Prix. His retirement was short-lived when he answered a call from Ferrari in 1982. It was a fitting end to Andrettis F1 career when he was asked to replace the injured Didier Pironi and race for the Italian team at Monza. Much to the admiration of the Italian fans, Andretti finished third and was asked to race in the final GP of the season at Las Vegas, where he was forced to retire with suspension problems. He was 53 years old when he won his last Champcar race at Phoenix, Arizona, in 1993, and although he celebrated his 60th birthday at the start of 2000 he was still angling after a drive at Le Mans. He remains the elder statesman of US racing and is now helping to guide the career of his grandson Marco, who tested an F1 car for Honda in December 2006.

Author Biography

Quentin Spurring was variously editor or executive editor of Autosport in the period 1976-88, and from 1992 published the magazine Racecar Engineering. The author of several books for Haynes, including Gilles Villeneuve, he lives in Surrey, England.