Vittorio Zoboli
Vittorio Zoboli (born June 24, 1968 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian racing driver. His career has spanned Formula Three, Formula 3000 and sports car racing, in addition to two appearances in the Formula One Indoor Trophy.
Career
Formula Three
Zoboli competed in the Italian Formula Three Championship for 1989, driving a Dallara chassis run by the Forti Corse team. He finished in sixteenth place in the drivers' championship, with two points to his name.
Formula 3000
Zoboli moved up to the British Formula 3000 series for 1990, driving for the GA Motorsport team. He scored two podium finishes and set a fastest lap on his way to fifth position overall.
At the end of the season, he took part in the final two rounds of the more prestigious International Formula 3000 season, again with GA Motorsport. However, he failed to qualify in both of these appearances. He moved to the Junior Team outfit for the 1991 season, competing in the first eight of the championship's ten rounds and qualifying for five of them, but failing to score any points. Another move, to the one-car Advance Racing team, for 1992 brought about an improvement to thirteenth in the championship with three points. He also finished in fourth position in the season-opening, non-championship F3000 World Cup event held at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez. He then moved to the ambitious Il Barone Rampante team for 1993, but it folded mid-season without Zoboli scoring any points.
Formula One
Despite being left without a permanent drive until 1995, Zoboli made an appearance at the Formula One Indoor Trophy in 1993, driving for the Jordan team alongside regular team member Rubens Barrichello. In the preliminary rounds he scored enough points to beat BMS Scuderia Italia drivers Michele Alboreto and Fabrizio Barbazza, but was then knocked out by his team-mate in the semi-finals. He did, however, take third place after defeating Alboreto again in an additional race for the position.
He returned to the event in 1995 after it was not held the previous year. On this occasion, he returned to his F3 employer Forti (now an F1 team) alongside Andrea Montermini and Giovanni Lavaggi, but was knocked out in the preliminary rounds.
Sports car racing
With his single-seater career petering out, Zoboli turned to sports car racing. His début in the category came in 1995, when he competed in two rounds of the BPR Global GT Series in a Jolly Club-run Ferrari F40. He then competed in the Lamborghini GTR Supertrophy between 1997 and 2002.
Between 2002 and 2004 he competed in nine rounds of the FIA GT Championship, driving a Ferrari 550 Maranello for the Force One Racing and Wieth Racing teams. In 2006 he drove in the FIA GT3 Lamborghini Manufacturers' Cup, finishing in fourth position.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Italian Formula Three | Forti Corse | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16th |
| 1990 | British Formula 3000 | GA Motorsport | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5th |
| International Formula 3000 | GA Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 1991 | International Formula 3000 | Junior Team | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1992 | International Formula 3000 | Advance Racing | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13th |
| Formula 3000 World Cup | Advance Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4th | |
| 1993 | International Formula 3000 | Il Barone Rampante | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Formula One Indoor Trophy | Jordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 3rd | |
| 1995 | BPR Global GT Series | Jolly Club | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Formula One Indoor Trophy | Forti | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th | |
| 1997-2002 | Lamborghini GTR Supertrophy | ||||||
| 2002 | FIA GT Championship | Force One Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2003 | FIA GT Championship | Wieth Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ? |
| 2004 | FIA GT Championship | Wieth Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2006 | FIA GT3 Lamborghini Manufacturers' Cup | Reiter Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4th |
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | GA Motorsport | Reynard 90D | Cosworth | A | DON | SIL | PAU | JER | MNZ | PER | HOC | BRH | BIR | BUG DNQ |
NOG DNQ |
NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Junior Team | Reynard 91D | Judd | A | VAL Ret |
PAU DNQ |
JER Ret |
MUG DNQ |
PER Ret |
HOC DNQ |
BRH 13 |
SPA Ret |
BUG | NOG | NC | 0 | |
| 1992 | Advance Racing | Reynard 92D | Cosworth | A | SIL Ret |
PAU 4 |
CAT 12 |
PER | HOC 14 |
NUR 12 |
SPA 15 |
ALB 13 |
NOG 12 |
MAG Ret |
13th | 3 | |
| 1993 | Il Barone Rampante | Reynard 93D | Cosworth | A | DON Ret |
SIL 12 |
PAU DNQ |
PER Ret |
HOC | NUR | SPA | MAG | NOG | NC | 0 |
External links
- Official website (under construction) (Italian)
- Vittorio Zoboli career details at driverdb.com
- FIA GT Championship website profile