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Didier Pironi
Sign in to saveAlso known as Didier Joseph Louis PIroni
French racing driver (1952-1987)
Key facts
- Born
- Didier Joseph Louis Pironi , ( 1952-03-26 ) 26 March 1952, Villecresnes , Val-de-Marne , France
- Died
- 23 August 1987 (1987-08-23) (aged 35), English Channel , off the Isle of Wight , England
- Cause of death
- Injuries sustained whilst offshore powerboat racing
- Relatives
- José Dolhem (half-brother)
- Nationality
- French
- Active years
- 1978 – 1982
- Teams
- Tyrrell , Ligier , Ferrari
- Entries
- 72 (70 starts)
- First entry
- 1978 Argentine Grand Prix
- First win
- 1980 Belgian Grand Prix
- Last win
- 1982 Dutch Grand Prix
- Last entry
- 1982 German Grand Prix
- Participating years span years
- 1976 – 1978 , 1980
- Best finish
- 1st ( 1978 )
- Class wins
- 1 ( 1978 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- France
- Place of birth
- Villecresnes
- Place of death
- Isle of Wight
- Occupation
- racing driver
- Languages spoken
- French
- Participant in
- 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Sport
- auto racing
- Image
- Didier Pironi 1982.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- Commons category
- Didier Pironi
- date of birth
- 1952-03-26
- date of death
- 1987-08-23
- member of
- Equipe Ligier
- Commons gallery
- Didier Pironi
- name in native language
- Didier Pironi
- competition won
- Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race
- cause of death
- maritime accident
- birth name
- Didier Joseph Louis Pironi
- number of wins
- 3
- points for
- 101
- pole positions
- 4
- podium finishes
- 13
- number of matches played/races/starts
- 72
- end of work period
- 1987-08-23
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Didier Joseph Louis Pironi (26 March 1952 – 23 August 1987) was a French racing driver and offshore powerboat racer, who competed in Formula One from 1978 to 1982. Pironi was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1982 with Ferrari, and won three Grands Prix across five seasons. In endurance racing, Pironi won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 with Renault.
Born and raised in Val-de-Marne, Pironi was the half-brother of racing driver José Dolhem. After initially studying engineering, he enrolled at the Winfield Racing School at Paul Ricard, earning a scholarship to compete in Formula Renault, where he won the Eurocup in 1974 and 1976. After finishing third in the 1977 European Formula Two Championship, Pironi progressed to Formula One in 1978 with Tyrrell, making his debut at the Argentine Grand Prix. Pironi retained his seat at Tyrrell the following season, achieving his maiden podium at the Belgian Grand Prix. He moved to Ligier in 1980 to partner Jacques Laffite, taking his maiden win in Belgium—amongst several podiums—as he finished fifth in the standings.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Didier Pironi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.