Emanuele Pirro

Pirro began racing in go-karts and became a two-time Italian Karting Champion (1976, 1979), runner-up in both the European and the World Karting Championships. He transitioned to cars in 1980, winning races across the feeder series he contested, including Formula 3, Formula 3000, and Formula Nippon.

In 1988, Pirro was contracted by McLaren as test driver to develop the new Honda powertrain for the MP4/4. His racing career in F1 began at the 1989 French Grand Prix for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing Johnny Herbert who was recovering from a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons he raced for BMS Scuderia Italia.

Alongside single-seater commitments, Pirro raced as a factory driver for BMW in touring car racing until 1993, competing and winning in the ETCC, WTCC, Italian Supertouring, and DTM. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1989, the Macau Guia Race in 1991 and 1992, and the Wellington 500 four times, with the BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. He became one of the only drivers to win on his DTM debut.

After leaving BMW in 1993, he joined Audi and won the 1994 and 1995 Italian Touring Car Championships and the German Touring Car Championship (Super Tourenwagen Cup) in 1996. Between 1994 and 1996, contesting a total of 70 races across those championships, he finished outside the top ten only once — when taken out at the start at the Salzburgring in 1994.

Pirro debuted in endurance racing at age 19, winning in class with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Gr.5 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, also winning the Kyalami 9 Hours that same year. He later made sporadic appearances in Japan with a Nissan Gr.C at the Fuji 1000 km and a Porsche 962 Gr.C at the Suzuka 1000 km.

He returned to Le Mans in 1998 with a McLaren F1 alongside Dindo Capello and Thomas Bscher, retiring from the race. In 1999 Audi unveiled the R8R with which he scored the first of nine consecutive podiums at Le Mans. In 2000, alongside Tom Kristensen and Frank Biela, he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the new Audi R8. In 2006, alongside Frank Biela and Marco Werner, he became the first driver to win Le Mans with a diesel car, repeating the win in 2007.

Between 1999 and 2008, Pirro won five 24 Hours of Le Mans, two American Le Mans Series championships (2001, 2005), two 12 Hours of Sebring, and three Petit Le Mans (2001, 2005, 2008).

After his full-time Audi sportscar career ended in 2008, he competed in additional races including a 12 Hours of Sebring and a Le Mans with Drayson Racing in a Lola-Judd LMP1 car, the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in an Audi R8 GT3, and the 2011 Gold Coast 500 in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.

Pirro serves as a Brand Ambassador for Audi and holds roles in FIA governance: member of the FIA Drivers' Commission, FIA Circuits' Commission, and FIA Historic Motorsport Commission. He is also a member of the ACI Circuits and Safety Commission, President of the Italian Karting Commission, Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers' Club and the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans, and a Steward for F1 races.

He won the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in the Formula 3 Class in 2010. He became Director of the McLaren Racing Driver Development program. Pirro also owns the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

His son Cristoforo (born 1993), a Mechanical Engineer, works as a Performance Engineer in F1; his son Goffredo (born 1996) is an Automotive Engineer specialised in Motorsport.

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