Víctor Rosso

Víctor Rubén Rosso
Born 16 October 1960
Marcos Juárez, Córdoba Province, Argentina
Nationality Argentine-Italian
Occupation Team Principal of RAM Racing

Victor Rubén Rosso is an Argentinean former international racing driver.

Early life

Dubbed “Vichín” by his mother, Rosso was passionate about motorsport from a young age, and had his first experience while karting in 1973. In the subsequent years, Rosso gained more experience by racing in different categories of karting. Rosso debuted in Fórmula Renaut (ex Fórmula 4) at the age of 18, the category in which he won his first national title two years later. He became the first champion of the division and the youngest driver to win a national title.

Short biography

From 1975 to 2002, Rosso raced in Argentina, England, Germany, and Japan. Since then, he has been working with racing teams in the role of Team Principal and taking part in different motorsport events such as Rally Master. Until 2011 he worked as Team Principal in Honda Racing in TC 2000, winning four drivers' titles and six manufacturer championships. In 2012 he became the Team Principal of Renault in Súper TC2000 and won the manufacturers championship, which was the team's first title in 19 years.

Driver career

History as CEO in competition teams

After several years as driver, Rosso decided to retire to begin his own racing team (including the formats Formula 3, rally and TC2000). He created the Pro Racing team with Dario and Gustavo Ramonda, Jorge Recalde, Pablo Peón and Luis Soppelsa, in his first role as Team Principal.

Honda Racing

The Honda Civic is now the car model with more wins in TC2000 history (92 wins). This success positioned Honda in a privileged place in the Argentinian market, at the same level as other popular brands such as Ford, Chevrolet and Renault.

In his 13 years in TC2000 he won four drivers' titles (1998 with Omar Martínez, 1999 with Juan Manuel Silva, 2008 and 2009 with José María "Pechito" Lopez) and 6 manufacturer championships (1998,1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010).

National and international projects as a leader (abstract)

National and international drivers invited: Markku Alen, Miki Biasion, Stig Blomqvist, Timo Salonen, Ari Vatanen, Jorge Recalde, Gabriel Raies, Gustavo Trelles, Jimmy McRae, Alister McRae, Bruno Thiry, Uwe Nittel, Manfred Stohl, Giggi Galli, Miguel Campos, Jani Paasonen.

Leonel Pernía in WTCC: Leonel Pernia became the first Argentine to compete in WTCC in 2010, debuting on May 23 in Monza, Italy. He raced with one Chevrolet Cruze LT of the official Chevrolet Team.

José María López USF1: On January 22 2010, José María López was confirmed as one of the drivers of the new USF1 Formula 1 Team, which was led by journalist Peter Windsor. Three days after that, López and Windsor were received by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Argentina's Government House to pay 25% of the $8 million required by the U.S. team. However, in the end, the USF1 team did not compete in Formula 1 due to problems in development and withdrawal of the financial support from YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. The project was headed by Rosso and Felipe McGough.

Team drivers

Relations with international team drivers

Trivia

During all his projects, from his early karting, he had as his manager of engineering his childhood friend and business partner, Leonardo Monti. Rosso shared the track with Ayrton Senna, and won two pole positions over the multiple Brazilian champion (at Mallory Park and Brands Hatch).

Renault LoJack Team: Marcelo Ambrogio (Director General), Victor de la Rosa (engineer), Oscar Falcinelli (designer), Alexander Venturi (Chief Designer). Toyota Team Argentina: Diego Bruna (Chief Designer). Chevrolet YPF: Luciano Monti (Chief Designer), Victor Vega (engineer), Rafael Croceri (engineer). Fiat Petronas: Javier Ciabattari (Chief Designer), Alejandro Saparrat (electronic engineer), Matías Bustos (engineers). Peugeot LoJack Team: Ulises Armellini (Director General), Andrew Rodriguez (engineer).