Emanuele Pirro (; born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Pirro is a five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring with Audi.

Pirro is a two-time Italian Karting Champion (1976, 1979), Formula Fiat Abarth Champion (1980), two-time Italian Superturismo Champion (1994, 1995), and winner of the Super Tourenwagen Cup (1996).

In sportscar racing, Pirro is a two-time American Le Mans Series champion (2001, 2005), three-time winner of Petit Le Mans (2001, 2005, 2008), winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring (1989), and two-time winner of the Macau Guia Race (1991, 1992). He has contested over 500 official national and international races, winning over 90.

Personal life Born in Rome, Pirro traces his roots to the small town of Latera near Viterbo through his mother's family. He is married to Marlene, with whom he has two sons, Cristoforo, born in 1993 (Mechanical Engineer, currently Performance Engineer in F1) and Goffredo, born in 1996 (Automotive Engineer specialised in Motorsport). The family is not related to motorcycle racer Michele Pirro.

Career

Pirro began racing cars in 1980 after having raced seven years in go-karts, where he was two time Italian Champion and runner up in both the European and the World Karting Championships. He went on to win races in all the feeder series he competed in including F3, F3000 and Formula Nippon.

Formula One

In 1988, Pirro was contracted by McLaren to become test driver to develop the new Honda powertrain for the MP4/4, staying on in that role for the following three seasons.

Pirro's racing career in F1 started at the 1989 French Grand Prix for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing Johnny Herbert who was still recovering from injuries sustained in a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons, he raced for BMS Scuderia Italia.

Touring cars Together with his single seater commitments, Pirro raced as a factory driver for BMW in touring car racing up until 1993. He raced and won in ETCC, WTCC, Italian Supertouring and DTM. In DTM, he became one of the only drivers to win in his debut in the series. Notably, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the Macau Guia Race twice, and the Wellington 500 four times, with the legendary BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. After leaving BMW in 1993, he joined Audi to win the 1994 and 1995 Italian Touring Car Championships, followed by the German Touring Car Championship in 1996. Between the years of 1994 and 1996 racing in the Italian and German Supertouring championships, he contested a total of 70 races finishing only once outside of the top-ten after being taken out at the start in 1994 at the Salzburgring.

Sportscars

After his debut in endurance races at the young age of 19, winning in his class with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Gr.5 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning the Kyalami 9 Hours and a terrible experience at Le Mans the same year, Pirro scarcely participated in these races except sporadic appearances in Japan, first with a Nissan Gr.C at the Fuji 1000 km and with a Porsche 962 Gr.C at the Suzuka 1000 km. That is until his return to Le Mans in 1998 with a McLaren F1 alongside Dindo Capello and Thomas Bscher ending with a retirement. In 1999, Audi unveiled the R8R with which he scored his first of a record breaking nine consecutive podiums at the French classic. In 2000, along with Tom Kristensen and Frank Biela, he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the new Audi R8. In 2006 together with Frank Biela and Marco Werner he became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel car, repeating the win in the following year. In 2008 he announced the end of his racing career with Audi sportscars. Between the years of 1999 and 2008, Pirro won five 24 Hours of Le Mans, two ALMS championships, two 12 Hours of Sebring and three Petit Le Mans. After 2008, he competed in a number of additional races including a 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans with Drayson Racing in a Lola-Judd LMP1 car, the 24 hours of the Nürburgring with an Audi R8 GT3, and the 2011 Gold Coast 500 in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.

After racing

Pirro regularly competes in historic racing. In 2010, he won the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in the Formula 3 Class.

In roles still linked to motorsport, Pirro serves as a Brand Ambassador for Audi, and is a member of; FIA Drivers’ Commission, FIA Circuits’ Commission, FIA Historic Motorsport Commission, ACI Circuits and Safety Commission. In addition, he is the President of the Italian Karting Commission, and Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Club and the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans. He is also a Steward for F1 races, TV pundit and is a frequent guest speaker at events hosted by multinational companies.

In 2015, Pirro entered the first round of the British Universities Karting Championship alongside his two sons.

Pirro owns the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort, a 5-star hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Pirro has been a regular player for over 25 years in the Nazionale Piloti football team and the “Star Team for the Children” for Prince Albert of Monaco as well as taking part in other charity events.

Pirro also became the Director of the McLaren Racing Driver Development program.

Race results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Martini Racing Beppe Gabbiani Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Gr.5 47 DNF DNF Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Competition Dr. Thomas Bscher Rinaldo Capello McLaren F1 GTR-BMW GT1 228 DNF DNF Audi Sport Team Joest Frank Biela Didier Theys Audi R8R LMP 360 3rd 2nd Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Frank Biela Audi R8 LMP900 368 1st 1st Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Frank Biela Audi R8 LMP900 321 1st 1st Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Frank Biela Audi R8 LMP900 375 1st 1st Champion Racing Stefan Johansson JJ Lehto Audi R8 LMP900 372 3rd 1st ADT Champion Racing JJ Lehto Marco Werner Audi R8 LMP1 368 3rd 3rd ADT Champion Racing Frank Biela Allan McNish Audi R8 LMP1 364 3rd 3rd Audi Sport Team Joest Frank Biela Marco Werner Audi R10 TDI LMP1 380 1st 1st Audi Sport Team Joest Frank Biela Marco Werner Audi R10 TDI LMP1 369 1st 1st Audi Sport North America Frank Biela Marco Werner Audi R10 TDI LMP1 367 6th 6th Drayson Racing Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker Lola B09/60-Judd LMP1 254 NC NC

Complete European Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Onyx Race Engineering March 842 BMW SIL HOC THR VAL MUG PAU HOC MIS PER DON BRH 6th 18

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts 1985 Onyx Racing March 85B Cosworth SIL THR EST NÜR VAL PAU SPA DIJ PER ÖST ZAN DON 3rd 38 1986 Onyx Racing March 86B Cosworth SIL VAL PAU SPA IMO MUG PER ÖST BIR BUG JAR 3rd 29

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts 1988 Team LeMans SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ SUZ 3rd 25 1989 Team LeMans SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ SUZ 6th 11 1991 Team Hayashi SUZ AUT FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ FUJ NC 0

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts Benetton Formula Ltd Benetton B188 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN FRA GBR 23rd 2 Benetton B189 Ford HBA4 3.5 V8 GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Dallara 190 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS NC 0 Scuderia Italia SpA BMS Dallara 191 Judd GV 3.5 V10 USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 18th 1

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pts 1989 BMW M Team Schnitzer BMW M3 Evo ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MFA1 MFA2 AVU1 AVU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 HOC1 HOC2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 NC 0 1990 Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 AVU1 AVU2 MFA1 MFA2 WUN1 WUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 15th 36 1992 BMW M Team Bigazzi BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL1 ZOL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 WUN1 WUN2 AVU1 AVU2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 BRN1 BRN2 DIE1 DIE2 ALE1 ALE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 12th 85 2004 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC EST ADR LAU NOR SHA1 NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC 11th 11 1 – A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.

Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts 1992 CiBiEmme Engineering BMW M3 Sport Evolution S1 MNZ14 MNZ23 MAG13 MAG21 MUG1 MUG2 BIN1 BIN2 VAL14 VAL23 IMO1 IMO2 MIS1Ret MIS26 PER1 PER2 VAR1 VAR2 MNZ1 MNZ2 6th 82 1993 Scuderia Bigazzi BMW 318i MNZ1 MNZ2 VAL1 VAL2 MIS1 MIS2 MAG1 MAG2 BIN1 BIN2 IMO1 IMO2 VAR1 VAR2 MIS1 MIS2 PER15 PER24 MUG14 MUG2Ret 13th 28 1994 Audi Sport Italia Audi 80 Quattro MNZ12 MNZ22 VAL110 VAL21 MAG11 MAG21 BIN11 BIN21 MIS14 MIS24 VAL12 VAL21 MUG14 MUG22 PER14 PER24 VAR12 VAR22 MUG110 MUG22 1st 269.5 1995 Audi Sport Italia Audi A4 Quattro MIS12 MIS21 BIN11 BIN21 MNZ11 MNZ22 IMO11 IMO21 MAG11 MAG22 MUG13 MUG25 MIS11 MIS21 PER15 PER24 VAR12 VAR21 VAL11 VAL22 1st 317 1996 A.Z.K./ROC Audi A4 Quattro MUG1 MUG2 MAG1 MAG2 MNZ1 MNZ2 BIN1 BIN2 MIS1 MIS2 IMO1 IMO2 PER1 PER2 PER1 PER2 VAR1 VAR2 VAL15 VAL24 15th 18

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts 1994 Racing Organisation Course Audi 80 Quattro Competition AVU2 WUN3 ZOL3 ZAN2 ÖST4 SALRet SPA5 NÜR2 3rd 87 1995 Racing Organisation Course Audi A4 Quattro ZOL1 ZOL2 SPA1 SPA2 ÖST1 ÖST2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAL1 SAL2 AVU110 AVU27 NÜR11 NÜR21 16th 105 1996 A.Z.K./ROC Audi A4 Quattro ZOL11 ZOL21 ASS13 ASS22 HOC11 HOC21 SAC13 SAC21 WUN12 WUN21 ZWE12 ZWE23 SAL18 SAL210 AVU14 AVU21 NÜR11 NÜR211st 678 1997 A.Z.K./ROC Audi A4 Quattro HOC1 HOC2 ZOL1 ZOL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 REG1 REG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 6th 357 1998 Abt Sportsline Team Audi Audi A4 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 REG1 REG2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 16th 205

Complete American Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)