Maurício Gugelmin

Maurício Gugelmin (born 20 April 1963) is a Brazilian former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and CART from 1993 to 2001.

Born and raised in Joinville, Gugelmin began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning several regional and national titles. He progressed to Formula Ford in 1982, dominating the British and European championships. Gugelmin then won the 1985 British Formula Three Championship, further winning the Macau Grand Prix to emulate Ayrton Senna two years prior. Gugelmin signed for March in , making his Formula One debut at his home Grand Prix in Brazil. In his rookie season, he scored points finishes at the British and Hungarian Grands Prix, driving the Adrian Newey-designed 881. Retaining his seat for , Gugelmin achieved his only career podium finish at the season-opening . After two further seasons at the re-branded Leyton House—including a non-classified championship finish in —Gugelmin moved to Jordan for his campaign, but was unable to score points again and departed at the end of the season.

After exiting Formula One, Gugelmin competed in CART IndyCar from 1993 to 2001. Across 147 races, Gugelmin achieved eight podiums, including one victory at the Molson Indy Vancouver in 1997, finishing a career-best fourth in the standings that year. His best result at the Indianapolis 500 came in 1995, where he finished sixth after leading 59 laps. For a period, he held the world speed record for a closed race track, set at California Speedway in 1997 at a speed of . Gugelmin retired from motor racing at the end of 2001 following the death of his son.

Personal and early life

Gugelmin was born to a wealthy family in Joinville, Brazil on 20 April 1963. His father is a timber merchant and a collector of antique cars. Gugelmin is married to Stella Maris,

Career

Before Formula One

Gugelmin started racing go-karts as a child in Brazil in 1971, winning his local championship nine years in a row from 1971 to 1979. He progressed to the Brazilian national championship in 1980, which he also won. He progressed to single-seater racing cars in 1981, when he won the Brazilian Formula Fiat Championship. Senna, having previously been a Formula Ford driver with the Van Diemen team, used his influence within the organisation to secure Gugelmin a race seat with them for 1982. He followed this up by finishing as runner-up in the British Formula Ford 2000 cc series the following year. He moved to the European Formula Ford series in 1984, and won the title at his first attempt.

Formula One

Gugelmin entered Formula One, the highest category of circuit racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body, with the March team in the 1988 season, as team-mate to Ivan Capelli. He had previously been in contention for a drive with Lotus in the 1986 championship at the request of his friend Ayrton Senna, however the British team could not promote two Brazilian drivers and he was overlooked in favour of Johnny Dumfries. At the , Gugelmin was involved in a large accident at the start of the race which resulted in a spectacular barrel roll. A photograph of the accident was later selected for a London Exhibition as one of Formula One's most striking photographs. The race was stopped as a result; Gugelmin took the restart from the pit lane and set the race's fastest lap, the only one of his F1 career. and between them they failed to qualify six times during the season, including at the . However, at the next race, the , modifications had been made to the car, Gugelmin retired from fourth position mid-race with engine problems but he went on to score a single point for finishing in sixth place in the later in the season. The car lacked pace and both Gugelmin and Capelli struggled; the team scored just one point all season. Gugelmin's best result amounted to three seventh-place finishes, although he retired from eight of the season's sixteen races. In September, the team's principal, Akira Akagi, was arrested on suspicion of fraud. and scored only one point all year. The team's Yamaha engine was underpowered, In the 1994 season, Gugelmin signed with Chip Ganassi Racing to partner Michael Andretti who returned to the series after a season in Formula One. Andretti was more successful than Gugelmin, and took two wins, including Reynard's first win in Champ Car at Surfers Paradise. Gugelmin was hindered by a lack of cooperation between his and Andretti's crews,

The 1995 season commenced with Gugelmin finishing in second place to Jacques Villeneuve in the first round of the year at Miami. He went on to finish in sixth position at the Indianapolis 500 after leading the most laps of any driver. Eight additional points finishes, including a third place at the final round at Laguna Seca, meant he finished tenth in the final drivers' points standings,

For the 1996 championship, Gugelmin was partnered at PacWest by the British driver Mark Blundell. He established a reputation for being quick at superspeedway tracks after taking a second and a third place at the two events at Michigan International Speedway. On top of this he took four other points finishes, finishing the season in 14th place. For the 1997 season, Gugelmin had lost under a fitness programme, The package was competitive throughout the year and Gugelmin and Blundell finished fourth and sixth in the championship respectively. Gugelmin's notable races of the year include the Detroit Indy Grand Prix, where Gugelmin was leading the race on the last lap when he ran out of fuel, and the Molson Indy Vancouver, where Gugelmin won his first Champ Car race. One of the most popular men in the championship, virtually the entire pit-lane was full of happiness for him. In qualifying for the final race of the season at the California Speedway, Gugelmin set a world record for the fastest ever lap of a closed race track at . This record stood until 2000 when Gil de Ferran surpassed it with a lap of , also at California Speedway. Gugelmin went on to finish the race in fourth place.

The 1998 championship proved not to be as successful. Setbacks plagued the team and they struggled to get to grips with the new chassis. Gugelmin showed determination, That year, his best finish was a second place at Nazareth Speedway and was 17th in the points standings. The event was eventually cancelled after drivers complained of dizziness, nausea and blurred vision, which were caused by the high g-forces experienced when driving at speed on the track. During the week before the race at Nazareth Speedway, Gugelmin's son, Giuliano, died from respiratory complications. Giuliano was quadriplegic and a lifelong sufferer from cerebral palsy owing to complications at birth. He qualified on pole position for the Grand Prix of Cleveland later in the season. At the end of 2001, Gugelmin decided to retire from the sport, stating "I definitely want to spend more time with my family. After those two big accidents, and Alex [Zanardi]'s deal in Germany, I said, 'That's it. Forget it.' "

After Champ Car

In 2003, Gugelmin was announced as a competitor by the organizers of the new Renault Megane Super Cup in his native Brazil. However, the series did not launch and since then Gugelmin has made no competitive appearances in motorsport. Following his retirement, Gugelmin put his Florida mansion in Coral Gables up for sale for $17 million, and moved back to live in Brazil full-time. He runs the family business along with his brother, Alceu, and has also done consultancy work for Mercedes-Benz subsidiary AMG.

Racing record

Career summary

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

!Season

!Series

!Team

!Races

!Wins

!Poles

!F/Laps

!Podiums

!Points

!Position

!1982

|align=left|Formula Ford 1600

|align=left|Van Diemen

|22

|13

|16

|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st

!1983

|align=left|Formula Ford 2000

|align=left|Van Diemen

|23

|12

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

!1984

|align=left|Formula Ford 2000 Europe

|align=left|Rushen Green

|24

|12

|128

|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st

!rowspan=2|1985

|align=left|British Formula Three

|align=left|West Surrey Racing

|18

|12

|84

|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st

|align=left|Macau Grand Prix

|align=left nowrap|West Surrey Racing w/ Theodore Racing

|N/A

|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st

!1986

|align=left|International Formula 3000

|align=left|West Surrey Racing

|13th

!1987

|align=left|International Formula 3000

|align=left|Team Ralt

|11

|29

|4th

!1988

|align=left|Formula One

|align=left|Leyton House March Racing Team

|16

|13th

!1989

|align=left|Formula One

|align=left|Leyton House Racing

|15

|16th

!1990

|align=left|Formula One

|align=left|Leyton House

|11

|18th

!1991

|align=left|Formula One

|align=left|Leyton House

|16

|NC

!1992

|align=left|Formula One

|align=left|Sasol Jordan Yamaha

|16

|NC

!1993

|align=left|PPG Indy Car World Series

|align=left|Dick Simon Racing

|NC

!1994

|align=left|PPG Indy Car World Series

|align=left|Chip Ganassi Racing

|16

|39

|16th

!1995

|align=left|PPG Indy Car World Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|17

|80

|10th

!1996

|align=left|PPG Indy Car World Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|16

|53

|14th

!1997

|align=left|CART PPG World Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|17

|132

|4th

!1998

|align=left nowrap|CART FedEx Championship Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|19

|49

|15th

!1999

|align=left|CART FedEx Championship Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|20

|44

|16th

!2000

|align=left|CART FedEx Championship Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|20

|39

|17th

!2001

|align=left|CART FedEx Championship Series

|align=left|PacWest Racing

|19

|17

|24th

!colspan="10"|