Ignazio Giunti

Who was Ignazio Giunti?

Ignazio Giunti was an Italian racing driver who made his name in saloon and Sports Car Racing in the late 1960s.

Giunti was born in Rome. In 1968, driving for Alfa Romeo, he was second in the Targa Florio and fourth in the Le Mans 24 Hours race co-driving with Nanni Galli.

In 1970, Giunti was signed by Ferrari primarily for their sports-car team and won the Sebring 12hrs and the Targa Florio as well as achieving several other high placings. His success earned him a Formula One chance and he did splendidly to finish 4th on his debut in the Belgian GP at Spa and raced three more times that year.

Ferrari were also trialling the Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni and he put in some excellent drives to restrict Giunti's chances though he was re-signed by Ferrari for 1971.

Tragedy struck in his first drive in 1971 whilst racing in the 1000 km Buenos Aires race, when his Ferrari 312PB prototype ploughed into the back of the Matra 660 of Jean-Pierre Beltoise, who was pushing the car along the track after it had run out of fuel. The impact and the subsequent fire gave the popular Italian no chance of survival.