Pedro Lamy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pedro Lamy

Formula One Career
Nationality Portugal Portuguese
Active years 1993 - 1996
Team(s) Lotus, Minardi
Grands Prix 32
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First Grand Prix 1993 Italian Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix 1996 Japanese Grand Prix

José Pedro Lamy Viçoso, OIH, better known as Pedro Lamy, pron. IPA: ['peðɾu la'mi], is a professional racing driver from Portugal, notable for being the first Portuguese driver to score a point in a World Championship event, in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, for Minardi. He was born in Aldeia Galega, a village near Alenquer, Portugal, March 20, 1972.

After graduating from karting, Lamy won the Portuguese Formula Ford Championship in his debut year, in 1989, at the age of 17. Taking on Domingos Piedade as a manager, Lamy moved to Formula Opel Lotus and won the championship in his second attempt, in 1991. With Piedade's help, Pedro went to Germany to race in the local Formula 3 series. Signing for Willi Weber's team, he defeated Marco Werner in the fight for the Championship, in 1992, also winning the Marlboro Masters in Zandvoort and finishing second in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1993 he raced for Crypton Engineering in Formula 3000 and finished second in the series, one point behind champion Olivier Panis, although he scored a win at Pau, a narrow street course considered even more difficult than Monaco.

In the same year, Lamy got the chance to race in the final four Formula 1 races of the season, replacing injured Alessandro Zanardi in the Lotus team. He scored no points, but was signed for the team to drive the full 1994 season. Unfortunately, Lamy suffered a crash in private testing at Silverstone, breaking both legs and sitting in the sidelines for over a year. After intense physical therapy, he managed to sign a contract to race in the second half of the season for Minardi, replacing Pierluigi Martini, and scoring the team's only point of the season in Adelaide. Lamy stayed with Minardi for 1996, but the team's lack of resources meant the car received little development, and the Portuguese driver finished his F1 career, after 32 Grand Prix starts.

Afterwards, Lamy moved to the FIA GT Championship, where he won the GT2 class in 1998 in an Oreca Dodge Viper. He then raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the DTM for the works Mercedes team, but was unhappy with his treatment within the team. Switching to the Zakspeed outfit, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring twice in a row (in 2002 and 2003), taking the V8STAR series crown as well, in 2003. In 2004 he drove for BMW Motorsport in a few selected events, and won the GTS class in the Le Mans Endurance Series in a Larbre Competition Ferrari 550 Maranello. For 2005, Lamy is an Aston Martin works driver for the Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans, also racing for BMW at Nürburgring and the Larbre team in the FIA GT Championship.

In 2005, Lamy was announced as the driver of A1 Team Portugal in the 2005 A1 Grand Prix. However, Lamy never went beyond testing, and Álvaro Parente was appointed the main driver's seat. Instead, Lamy remained with the Aston Martin Racing squad, taking part in the American Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Team WDC Points
1993 Lotus RSA
BRA
EUR
SMR
ESP
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
11
POR
ret
JPN
13
AUS
ret
  Lotus NA 0
1994 Lotus BRA
10
PFC
8
SMR
ret
MON
11
ESP
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
POR
EUR
JPN
AUS
  Lotus NA 0
1995 Minardi BRA
ARG
SMR
ESP
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
9
BEL
10
ITA
ret
POR
ret
EUR
9
PFC
13
JPN
11
AUS
6
Minardi 18th 1
1996 Minardi AUS
ret
BRA
10
ARG
ret
EUR
12
SMR
9
MON
ret
ESP
ret
CAN
ret
FRA
12
GBR
ret
GER
12
HUN
ret
BEL
10
ITA
ret
POR
16
JPN
12
  Minardi NA 0
In other languages