Giovanni Lavaggi

thumb|Lavaggi driving his self designed Lavaggi LS1 at Spa in 2009

Giovanni Lavaggi (born 18 February 1958) is an Italian former racing driver.

Despite Lavaggi being a nobleman by background, he could not count on personal financial resources; therefore he started racing only at the age of 26.

Early life

Lavaggi was born in Augusta, Sicily on 18 February 1958, being of noble heritage. He studied mechanical engineering at Milan Polytechnic. He raced in the series again in 2003. After entering several races of the Le Mans Endurance Series in 2004 and 2005, Lavaggi founded his own team "Scuderia Lavaggi" ahead of the 2006 Le Mans Series season. With that, he also became a race car constructor, designing and building his own Le Mans Prototype, the Lavaggi LS1. He raced the car in the Le Mans Series until 2009.

Lavaggi was nicknamed "Johnny Carwash" (an approximate translation of his name from Italian to English, John Washes) by people in the paddock; US talk show host David Letterman helped bring the nickname to popular attention.

Family

The Lavaggi noble family moved from Genoa to Sicily (Palermo) in 1420 and then from Palermo to Augusta in 1711. A cousin of Giovanni’s grandfather, also called Giovanni Lavaggi, was a war hero. He was a pilot of the Italian Air Force and he died because of the sabotage of his airplane, while bringing to Asmara the Italian minister of public works Luigi Razza, who also was killed in the crash. In the cities of Catania and Augusta, Via Giovanni Lavaggi (Giovanni Lavaggi Road) is named after him.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Team

! Co-Drivers

! Car

! Class

! Laps

|align="left"| Porsche Kremer Racing

|align="left"| Kunimitsu Takahashi Bruno Giacomelli

|align="left"| Porsche 962C

| C1

| 303

| DNF

|align="left"| Team Davey

|align="left"| Max Cohen-Olivar Tim Lee-Davey

|align="left"| Porsche 962C

| C1

| 306

| 19th

|align="left"| Porsche Kremer Racing

|align="left"| Manuel Reuter John Nielsen

|align="left"| Porsche 962CK6

| C3

| 334

| 7th

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

|align="left"| Porsche Kremer Racing

|align="left"| Jürgen Lässig Wayne Taylor

|align="left"| Porsche 962CK6

| C2

| 328

| 12th

| 7th

|align="left"| Repsol Racing Engineering

|align="left"| Tomás Saldaña Jesús Diez Villaroel

|align="left"| Porsche 911 GT3-R

| GT

| 78

| DNF

! colspan="8" |

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! DC

! Points

|rowspan=2| 1991

! nowrap| Crypton Engineering

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| VAL

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| PAU

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| JER

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MUG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| PER

|colspan=5|

!rowspan=2| NC

!rowspan=2| 0

! nowrap| Roni Team

|colspan=5|

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| HOC

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| BRH

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| SPA

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| BUG

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NOG

! colspan="14" |

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

PPG Indycar Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Team

! No.

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! Rank

! Points

! Ref

|rowspan=2| 1994

! nowrap| Euromotorsports

! 50

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Lola T9300

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Ilmor C

| SRF

| PHX

| LBH

| INDY

| MIL

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DET

| POR

|colspan=9|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" rowspan=2| 38th

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" rowspan=2| 0

!rowspan=2|

! nowrap| Leader Cards Racing

! 23

|colspan=7|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CLE

| TOR

| MCH

| MDO

| NHA

| VAN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ROA

| NAZ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| LAG

! colspan="23" |

Complete Formula One results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! WDC

! Points

! nowrap| Pacific Grand Prix Ltd

! nowrap| Pacific PR02

! nowrap| Ford V8

|| BRA

|| ARG

|| SMR

|| ESP

|| MON

|| CAN

|| FRA

|| GBR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GER

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| HUN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BEL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA

|| POR

|| EUR

|| PAC

|| JPN

|| AUS

! NC

! 0

! nowrap| Minardi Team

! nowrap| Minardi M195B

! nowrap| Ford V8

|| AUS

|| BRA

|| ARG

|| EUR

|| SMR

|| MON

|| ESP

|| CAN

|| FRA

|| GBR

|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| GER

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HUN

|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| BEL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POR

|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| JPN

! NC

! 0

! colspan="23" |

† Driver did not finish the race, but was still classified as they completely 90% of the race distance.

Complete Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Class

! Car

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! Pts

| 2004

! nowrap| Auto Palace

! GT

! nowrap| Ferrari 360 Modena GTC

! nowrap| Ferrari 3.6L V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MNZ

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NÜR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SIL

|style="background:#;"| SPA

|colspan=2|

! 22nd

! 4

| 2005

! nowrap| James Watt Automotive

! GT2

! nowrap| Porsche 911 GT3-RS

! nowrap| Porsche 3.6L Flat-6

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#;"| MNZ

|style="background:#;"| SIL

|style="background:#;"| NÜR

|style="background:#;"| IST

! NC

! 0

| 2006

! nowrap| Lavaggi Sport

! LMP1

! nowrap| Lavaggi LS1

! nowrap| Ford (PME) 6.0L V8

|style="background:#;"| IST

|style="background:#;"| SPA

|style="background:#;"| NÜR

|style="background:#;"| DON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| JAR

! NC

! 0

| 2007

! nowrap| Scuderia Lavaggi

! LMP1

! nowrap| Lavaggi LS1

! nowrap| Ford (PME) 6.0L V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MNZ

|style="background:#;"| VAL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NÜR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#;"| SIL

|style="background:#;"| INT

! NC

! 0

| 2008

! nowrap| Scuderia Lavaggi

! LMP1

! nowrap| Lavaggi LS1

! nowrap| AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAT

|style="background:#;"| MNZ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NÜR

|style="background:#;"| SIL

! NC

! 0

| 2009

! nowrap| Scuderia Lavaggi

! LMP1

! nowrap| Lavaggi LS1

! nowrap| AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8

|style="background:#;"| CAT

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SPA

|style="background:#;"| ALG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NÜR

|style="background:#;"| SIL

! NC

! 0

References

External links

Profile on F1 Rejects
Driver Website
Race Team Website