Born in Turin, Italy, Fiorio was the son of Sandro Fiorio, who was chief of the public relations department of Lancia. He began his racing career with Fiat, winning the Italian GT championship in 1961. An accident resulted in his elimination from his only Monte Carlo Rally.
Fiorio joined Lancia management in February 1963, establishing the HF Squadra Corse racing team. Initially, Lancia was hesitant about racing, but Fiorio aimed to change this, preparing Lancia Fulvia cars for local rallies, achieving several victories. In 1965, the team became a semi-works operation, and Fiorio hired engineers to improve the Fulvia, leading to Ove Andersson’s win in the 1967 Spanish Rally and Sandro Munari’s victory in the Tour de Corse.
In 1969, the team moved to the Lancia factory and became Lancia’s official motorsport department, winning the European title with Harry Kallstrom, defeating competitors like Alpine, Ford, and Porsche. Following Fiat’s acquisition of Lancia, Fiorio remained at the team’s head. Munari secured victory in the 1972 Monte Carlo Rally, and the team won the International Championship for Manufacturers, with Munari later winning the 1973 European Rally Championship title. Fiorio successfully advocated for the development of the Stratos, securing Dino engines from Ferrari, resulting in World Rally Championship manufacturers’ titles in 1974, 1975, and 1976.
Alongside his rallying work, Fiorio was an active powerboat racer, winning 31 races, six European titles, and two World titles in his classes. Lancia also competed in sportscar racing from 1979 with the Monte Carlo model, followed by the LC1 and LC2 prototypes, winning the World Championship for Makes in 1981, continuing the program until 1985.
In 1980, Lancia considered building a turbocharged F1 engine for the Toleman team, but the plan did not materialize. Rallying remained the primary focus with the Lancia 037, which won the World Championship in 1983, followed by the Delta S4. In 1984, Fiorio was appointed head of Fiat’s sporting activities and joined the board of directors of Juventus FC in 1988. When Fiat acquired Alfa Romeo, he became head of Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo.
Fiorio debuted as sporting director of Ferrari in 1989, tasked with improving the team’s competitiveness. The team achieved race wins in Brazil with Nigel Mansell, and in Hungary and Portugal with Gerhard Berger, but reliability issues hindered their challenge against McLaren and Williams. In 1990, Ferrari signed reigning World Champion Alain Prost, and nearly won the title, losing it at the Japanese Grand Prix due to a collision between Prost and Ayrton Senna. Fiorio’s relationship with Ferrari ended weeks before the 1991 season, though he remained with the team until the 1991 Monaco Grand Prix.
He returned to Formula One in 1994 as team manager of Ligier, owned by Flavio Briatore, but was released the following year after Tom Walkinshaw took over the team. He briefly worked with the Forti team in 1996 before returning to Ligier until it became Prost Grand Prix. In 1998, he joined Minardi as sporting director, resigning in mid-2000 after a disagreement with team owner Gabriele Rumi. In 1994, Fiorio was appointed Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana. From 1995 to 2017, he worked as a commentator for Italian TV station RAI.
Fiorio owns Camarda Farm, located between Ostuni and Ceglie Messapica in the province of Brindisi, producing extra virgin olive oil, primitivo wine, corn, vegetables, cheese, fruit, and eggs. In 2017, he suffered a serious cycling accident, requiring hospitalization, but made a full recovery. The movie Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia is based on his life, with Riccardo Scamarcio portraying Fiorio.
Gallery · 3 related images
