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Luca Badoer
Nationality	Italian
World Championship Career
Active years	1993, 1995 - 1996, 1999
Team(s)	Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti
Races	56
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1993 South African Grand Prix
Last race	1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Luca Badoer (born January 25, 1971 in Montebelluna, Veneto) is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi and Forti Corse teams.

Contents 1 Career 2 Complete Formula One results 3 Trivia 4 External links

Prior to Formula One he was regarded as an upcoming driver from Italy. He graduated through the honored route of karting, in which he was Italian champion. He beat Alex Zanardi in the final round of the 1990 Italian Formula 3 Championship. In 1991 he won four races in a row, but was disqualified after a technicality concerning his tyres. For 1992 he was offered a ride in Team Crypton for the F3000 Championship, in which he emerged as champion.

His start in Formula One was mired by Scuderia Italia's Lola-Ferraris in 1993, which probably was the slowest car in the championship. He regularly beat experienced team-mate Michele Alboreto, but lost out to him for the second drive when Minardi bought the team. He was retained as test driver however, and took over the drive in 1995 when Alboreto retired. In the underfunded team his best results were eighth places in Canada and Hungary and ninth in Japan. In 1996 he switched to Forti Corse, where he achieved even less, returning to Minardi in 1999 after a two year spell away from Formula One, during which he had been official test driver for Ferrari.

When Michael Schumacher broke his leg in an accident in Silverstone in July 1999, he thought it would be his great chance to demonstrate his excellence, but the team chose to run Mika Salo instead, a decision which former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi publicly criticised.

By 2000 he had achieved the dubious recognition of being the driver who had competed in the most Grands Prix (48) without achieving a single point; making it even harder on him when his car suffered a gearbox failure when he was in fourth place towards the end of the European GP at the Nürburgring in 1999.

In 2000, unable to find a full time Formula One drive, he made the decision to become Ferrari test driver for the rest of his career. He remains the number one test driver at Ferrari, annually completing thousands of kilometres at the Mugello Circuit and Fiorano test circuits. Badoer has likely driven more kilometres in a Ferrari F1 car than any other Italian in history, and has avoided the stigma Ferrari attaches to Italian drivers, who have rarely gained the opportunity to test or race for the team.

At the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Badoer was chosen to demonstrate the power and beauty of Ferrari F1 by driving the team's 2005 car to the centre of the stadium, revving the engine, and performing several Doughnuts, creating a large cloud of tire smoke, and leaving circular black marks on the white platform.. The event was witnessed by billions of television viewers worldwide, further giving stock to Badoer as a Ferrari stalwart.

(key)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1993	Scuderia Italia	RSA Ret	BRA 12	EUR DNQ	SMR 7	ESP Ret	MON DNQ	CAN 15	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 13	ITA 10	POR 14	JPN	AUS		Scuderia Italia	-	0
1995	Minardi	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR 14	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN 8	FRA 13	GBR 10	GER Ret	HUN 8	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 14	EUR 11	PFC 15	JPN 9	AUS DNS	Minardi	-	0
1996	Forti	AUS DNQ	BRA 11	ARG Ret	EUR DNQ	SMR 10	MON Ret	ESP DNQ	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR DNQ	GER DNP	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN		Forti	-	0
1999	Minardi	AUS Ret	BRA Inj	SMR 8	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 10	FRA 10	GBR Ret	AUT 13	GER 10	HUN 14	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	MYS Ret	JPN Ret		Minardi	-	0

Preceded by Christian Fittipaldi

International Formula 3000 Champion 1992

Succeeded by Olivier Panis

On the BBC2 TV Program, Top Gear, one of the programs presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, was testing the Porsche 911 GT3RS against a Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale on the Test Track with Badoer at the wheel of the Ferrari. Clarkson later concluded that the performance of these two cars were identical (as proven on the Power Laps board, both cars achieving a 1:22:30 time) and was able to overtake Badoer on the track, and after this, Badoer was unable to keep up with Clarkson.

• Luca Badoer Official Site (Italian only)
• Olympic Doughuts video
• Profile on F1 Rejects