Ghinzani began his racing career in Formula Ford before progressing to Formula Three, initially racing with the Allegrini Team. In 1976, he switched to Team Euroracing, and in 1977, he secured the European Formula Three Championship title, giving March their first championship win in the series. He continued his success, winning the Italian Championship in 1979.
Ghinzani debuted in Formula One at the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, replacing the injured Miguel Angel Guerra for Osella. In 1983, he tested for Tyrrell, lapping faster than Michele Alboreto, Danny Sullivan, Chico Serra and Stefan Johansson, but Ken Tyrrell ultimately retained his existing drivers. This led to Ghinzani signing with Osella for his first full Formula One season.
Ghinzani remained with Osella for 1984, where he achieved his only points finish at the Dallas Grand Prix. The race was marked by high attrition, crumbling tarmac, and oppressive heat. After starting 20th at the 1984 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami-historic)-grand-prix-circuit), his Osella crashed during the morning warm-up at high speed through the Jukskei Sweep, resulting in burns to his hands and face that kept him out of the race.
In 1985, Ghinzani joined Toleman halfway through the season, partnering Teo Fabi. Despite occasional competitiveness, with Fabi qualifying on pole in Germany, the car suffered from reliability issues. He returned to Osella in 1986, but this stint proved unsuccessful with a turbocharged Alfa Romeo V8 engine.
For 1987, Ghinzani moved to Ligier alongside René Arnoux. Plans to use a new turbocharged Alfa Romeo engine were abandoned after Arnoux criticized the engine, leading Fiat to withdraw support. The team hastily adapted their cars to Megatron engines, missing the opening race in Brazil while redesigning the rear suspension. Ghinzani occasionally ran in the points, notably in Germany, before retiring. During qualifying for the British Grand Prix, his Ligier ran out of fuel in front of the pits, and mechanics refuelled and push-started the car on the track, resulting in his exclusion from the remainder of the event.
In 1988, Ghinzani drove for Zakspeed, which ran its own 4 cylinder turbo engine, but generally without success. His best finish for the year was 14th in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. In his final Formula One season in 1989, racing with Osella as teammate to Nicola Larini, Ghinzani announced his retirement before official practice of the Australian Grand Prix. His race ended when his Osella was hit from behind by Nelson Piquet’s Lotus on lap 19.
In 1982, Ghinzani drove for Lancia in sports car racing, winning a Group C World Championship event with Michele Alboreto at Mugello. He competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times between 1980 and 1983 but retired on each occasion due to mechanical faults.
In 1992, Ghinzani founded Team Ghinzani, which competed in Italian, German and Formula 3 Euro Series from 2000, and in Italian Formula 3000/Euro Formula 3000 between 1999 and 2002. From the 2005–06 season, the team managed A1 Team Italy in the A1 Grand Prix series in collaboration with Arco Motorsport.
Ghinzani holds the record for the most Formula One appearances without qualifying in the top-ten.
[unverified] Further study of Ghinzani’s career within the context of Italian motorsport in the 1980s belongs to specialist motorsport historians rather than this article’s corpus.
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