Franco Scapini

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Franco Scapini (born April 7, 1962) is a former Italian racing driver from Varese. He began his professional career in the European Formula Three Championship in 1981 and participated in partial seasons there until 1983. He moved to Italian Formula Three in 1984 and finished 4th in series points with 3 wins for the Automotor team. Following his success in 1984 he participated in a partial season of Formula 3000 in 1986 with little success. In 1988 he made one more F3000 start as well as making his only American Racing Series appearance. In 1989 he returned to F3000 for 2 more starts. In 1990 he signed on as the official test and reserve driver for the Life team in Formula One, however, as the team only had a single chassis, he reportedly only drove in a single practice session.^[1] The Life team and car was a colossal failure and failed to pre-qualify for the first 14 events of the 1990 Formula One season before the team shut down. He made one CART IndyCar World Series start for Euromotorsport in 1991 at Surfers Paradise where he finished a surprising 11th, good enough for 2 points and 28th in series points. He later competed in Grand-Am and the Spanish GT Series before retiring to become a racing instructor.^[2]