Past the other Lotus of Elio de Angelis for second. Alboreto had continued to put his name up in lights in what was now called the World Endurance Championship, as Lancia moved up to Group 6 with its svelte barchetta, the LC1. In fact, Alboreto’s next batch of points would come on what were very much ‘power tracks’ – sixth at the original Paul Ricard with its mile-long Mistral Straight, fourth at the original Hockenheim and fifth at Monza. Yet Alboreto, like eventual champion Keke Rosberg (Williams) and the McLaren drivers (Niki Lauda and John Watson) was at the forefront of the Cosworth battle. Ford would not win again in F1 for six years, while Tyrrell would never win again. Back in the early ’80s, he’d raced for Lancia in the World Sportscar Championship, and he’d enjoyed the fast and fun camaraderie with compariots Riccardo Patrese, Teo Fabi and Piercarlo Ghinzani. "I am here to defend Senna's memory," he said. The idea of joining Williams had resurfaced one year on when he learned Mansell was heading in the other direction to replace him at Ferrari, and now Frank’s squad was a far more enticing prospect for he had inked a deal with Renault, the French manufacturer returning to Formula 1 for the start of the new normally-aspirated regs. And over the years it was always good to see him. It wouldn't last. Alboreto 1989-ben a Tyrrellnél folytatta a pályafutását, de csak az első 6 nagydíjon vett részt. I started learning the day I arrived and I was still learning the day I left. The message was clear – Alboreto was an excellent driver but also a lovely guy. We had one of the quickest cars at the start of the year, the other teams caught up, we tried to find more power, and then the reliability went. Back in spring 2001, I was planning to attend the Vintage Sports Car Club event at Donington in the UK, with the primary intention of meeting Michele Alboreto, who was due to demonstrate a mighty Auto Union from the epic between-the-wars Grand Prix era. So unexpectedly bulky was it that the team, now branded for its title sponsor Footwork, had to start the year with the Porker shoehorned into an A11C, while designer Alan Jenkins hastily revised the dimensions of his ‘definitive’ 1991 car, the FA12. But don't tell me, either, that Michele didn't have his days of greatness. As a teenager, Michele used to travel to Monza each year for the Italian GP and would stand among the Ferrari-worshipping tifosi, waving his Lotus banner. He was a perfect man. When Audi asked Joest to run its works sportscar team, Alboreto was one of those selected, and it led to a happy and fulfilling new portion of his career, and a close bond with one of his co-drivers, Rinaldo “Dindo” Capello. “Absolutely fantastic. "I remember so clearly,” said Capello. Johansson wishes longtime buddy and polesitter Michele good luck before the start of their ultimately victorious run in the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours. Whenever he was quicker than me, it was not a problem. We’ll phone up Stefan Johansson and the three of us can go racing as a group!’ I said, ‘No, Michele, that’s what you do – I don’t want to hurt myself any more.’ Maybe he should have stopped racing some years ago, but he just couldn’t leave it, and he died doing what he loved.”, Rosberg said: “Outside of the guys I’ve actually worked with, in my life in motor racing there were two others I thought exceptional people, in every sense of the word. But Michele didn't care. He said of his 37-year-old compatriot: "We spent a lot of time together – testing, practice, driving to and from hotels. Following Alboreto’s Vegas triumph the previous year, Enzo Ferrari had publicly commented: “I have said, and I confirm it, that the day Alboreto becomes available, I will be happy to put a car at his disposal.” In the mean time, for 1983 Il Commendatore had retained Villeneuve’s replacement, Patrick Tambay, and signed Arnoux from Renault, following Pironi’s F1 career-ending shunt at Hockenheim. Team manager Marco Piccinini is in shades, while Michele is obscuring one of Enzo Ferrari's 'lieutenants', Franco Gozzi. Chasing Piquet's Lotus while holding off Patrese's Williams at Rio in ’88. Michele won again for Ken through the streets of Detroit the following summer (the final win for both the Tyrrell marque and the Cosworth DFV engine) before signing up with the Prancing Horse. ‘Uncle Ken’, also lacking a major sponsor, signed up Albo for the San Marino Grand Prix, the wheels to the deal having been oiled by funds from Count Zanon (one of Peterson’s former supporters who had become a friend of Alboreto), and sponsorship from Imola Ceramica, a local tiling company. But make no mistake, on his best days he was a match for anyone, while also remaining an affable, loveable person of great modesty – and huge enthusiasm for the sport. By the end of the season we had neither.". But in Belgium, Alboreto and Arnoux locked out the front row, and Michele led from start to finish, while Arnoux took third. The Ferrari rocketed back out of the pits and Alboreto began a series of mesmerizing, qualifying-style laps. Rather than rush up the ladder series, 22-year-old Alboreto stayed on in F3 for ’79 and put his experience to good use, beating future F1 winner Thierry Boutsen’s Martini-Toyota to the European crown, while also grabbing third in the Italian Series. And for another, he reckoned he had a Williams deal in the bag for ’89. His early success with Tyrrell led him to Ferrari in 1984 and the Old Man of Maranello hoped that he finally had an Italian driver who could win a World Championship. One was Elio [de Angelis] and the other was Michele.”, The Finn also said: “When [Alboreto] was at Ferrari, he was at the peak of his career, and he was very, very good. I wasn't surprised at how quick he still was, but I couldn't believe how much pleasure he got just from driving – even that car!”. The problem was that the car just wasn’t good enough to win the championship, and so he finished second to Alain in ’85.”. He was quiet but could explode with fiery Latin passion. Aside from a brilliant drive from the back in Dallas, Arnoux was overshadowed by Alboreto in ’84, but never let it affect their relationship. The Ferrari rocketed back out and Alboreto began a series of mesmerizing, qualifying-style laps, grazing the Armco barriers. He was like you or I – a pure fan – long before he became a driver, and each year he’d make the 45min journey from home in Milan to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Millimeter perfect, Monaco ’85, on his day of days. If the Cosworths had been struggling in ’82, things became even tougher the following season. However, a dispute over clashing cigarette sponsors – Tyrrell landed a Camel deal, Michele was a long-time Marlboro man – ended the relationship midseason. I like Mr. Ferrari because he is such a strong man. Then came three impressive drives in the inaugural season of the Indy Racing League, when the teams were using the uber-powerful one-year-old CART cars. Before the season finished, the team dissolved and merged into Minardi, where Alboreto spent his last F1 season. The Lola was no good and the team fell apart and in the end merged with Minardi. – but off track we were friends. At the season-opening Brazilian GP, Alboreto took pole position and finished second to Prost's McLaren. But by then his morale was shot. Piquet and Honda's departure from Williams chould have left a vacancy for Albo, but the team opted to retain Patrese – and the same situation would arise again one year later. The passion remained with him. And when he got good results, I would say, 'Congratulations, I am very happy for you'. But there was one exception. The 1982 Las Vegas GP saw young Italian Michele Alboreto welcomed to the Grand Prix winners' circle and since he would repeat the trick at the 1983 Detroit GP, in the process gaining Tyrrell's and Cosworth's last victory, he was a star in the making. The final outing for the wretched Porsche V12, at Canada in ’91. Was it the car?… I think the middle of the season was the worst time. Rene Arnoux, an 18-time polesitter, was recognized as one of the very quickest drivers in Formula 1 in the early ’80s, and might reasonably have been upset when Alboreto joined him at Ferrari and outpaced him most weekends in ’84. Two weeks before Monaco, at Imola, one of his rear wheels fell off in pitlane and injured some Ferrari and Lotus mechanics, and a few days after that, he was in Brazil attending Senna’s funeral. It's very easy for there to be war between teammates, but with Michele and me it was impossible! Even so, the season was an alphabet soup of DNFs, DNQs and DNPQs (Did Not Pre-Qualify in an era of 30-plus entrants for F1 races). I was only 22 and Michele was like a father to me. Now he is dead everyone will write that he was a fine fellow but those who were at Pau in 1981 will tell you how Michele put Kenny Acheson over a wall and into some trees in the Formula 2 race there. On track we would fight each other – there was no-one else to fight at the speed we were going! I hoped it would turn into a nice long career retrospective, but realized ‘Albo’ would be at Donington as an ambassador for Audi, and would likely have several demands on his time.

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