Editing Stefano Modena (section)

==Career==
Stefano Modena was born on 12 May 1963 in [[Modena]], [[Emilia-Romagna]], Italy.<!--THIS IS NOT A JOKE--><ref name="WATN">{{cite web |url=http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Stefano_Modena |title= The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? |access-date=29 July 2007 |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |publisher=OldRacingCars.com}}</ref> A former 125cc Junior Karting Champion in Italy, he spent two seasons in the Italian [[Formula Ford]] national series before joining [[Euroracing]] in his domestic Formula 3 series in 1985, placing 15th in an Alfa Romeo engined [[Ralt]]. For 1986 he switched to Team Seresina's [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] chassis and scored three wins to finish 4th overall, also placing 2nd at the [[Monaco Grand Prix Formula Three support race|Monaco support race]] and winning a round of the [[FIA European Formula 3 Championship (established in 1975)|European]] series at Imola. In 1987 he joined [[Onyx Grand Prix|Onyx]] for the [[Formula 3000]] series, winning three rounds and being crowned as champion.<ref name=ifgp/>

His raw speed saw many mark him as a future champion, resulting in Modena being offered a one-off drive for [[Brabham]] in the final race of the [[1987 Formula One season]]. While he impressed by qualifying 15th at the [[1987 Australian Grand Prix]] in [[Adelaide Street Circuit|Adelaide]], his inexperience with the turbo charged [[BMW in Formula One|BMW]] engine saw him stop three times to replace flat-spotted tyres before retiring with exhaustion before mid-distance. Modena was intent on becoming a full-time Grand Prix driver for 1988, testing for [[Benetton Formula|Benetton]] before the season.<ref name=ifgp/> However, for a full-time drive he had to join the new [[EuroBrun]] team, who included many of the same Euroracing mechanics Modena had worked with in 1985. The [[EuroBrun ER188]] with its 3.5 litre [[Cosworth DFZ|Ford Cosworth]] [[V8 engine]] was not competitive however, and Modena was consigned to run near the rear of the field for the year. He did however prove to be faster than his teammate, fellow F1 rookie and former [[Brun Motorsport]] sportscar driver, Argentina's [[Oscar Larrauri]].

1989 saw Brabham reform after a sabbatical in 1988, now owned by Swiss businessman [[Joachim Luthi]] (who had bought the team from [[Walter Brun]], the owner of EuroBrun), but featuring a lot of the same staff as in 1987. Modena was offered one of the seats, driving alongside [[Martin Brundle]]. Equipped with [[Pirelli]] qualifying tyres Modena frequently qualified well, starting inside the top 10 on eight occasions despite using the [[Judd (engine)#CV|Judd]] V8 engine. However, the car wasn't reliable - though Modena's sole points finish would come with his 3rd place at the [[1989 Monaco Grand Prix|Monaco Grand Prix]], his first of two F1 podiums. Before the 1990 season Luthi would be imprisoned for fraud and Brabham endured a difficult year with ownership problems. Modena raised the team's spirits by finishing 5th at the season-opening [[1990 United States Grand Prix|United States Grand Prix]] but after that results were rare.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.f1rogues.com/roguedata/driver/stefano_modena/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122150651/http://www.f1rogues.com/roguedata/driver/stefano_modena/|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 January 2013|title=ROGUE PROFILE OF STEFANO MODENA|publisher=F1Rogues.com|access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref>

He finally got his big break in 1991 when he was signed as replacement for [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]-bound [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]] team leader [[Jean Alesi]]. With a healthy group of sponsors, 1990 spec [[Honda F1|Honda]] engines, Pirelli tyres and a development of the successful [[Tyrrell 020|020]] chassis much was expected of the combination, with some predicting race wins. While his season started off with 4th place at [[1991 United States Grand Prix|Phoenix]] many of the front runners had retired without Modena getting near them. The wet conditions at [[1991 San Marino Grand Prix|Imola]] saw similar attrition allowing Modena to reach 3rd place before transmission failure. The following race at Monaco saw an even better performance as he qualified on the front row alongside his friend and World Champion [[Ayrton Senna]], harrying the [[McLaren (racing)|McLaren]] driver until being held up in traffic and suffering a violent engine failure. A steadier run in [[1991 Canadian Grand Prix|Canada]] was rewarded with 2nd place after [[Nigel Mansell]] retired on the final lap. After that Modena's form dropped off badly as Pirelli struggled to develop a consistent race tyre while the heavy Honda engines made the 020 chassis (originally designed for the [[Cosworth DFR]] V8) difficult to balance. While Modena continued to qualify frequently in the top half of the grid he struggled in races, only scoring one more point for 6th place at the [[1991 Japanese Grand Prix|Japanese Grand Prix]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://racing-reference.info/drivdet/modenst01/1991/F|title=Stefano Modena: 1991 Formula One Results|work=racing-reference.info|publisher=Fantasy Sports Ventures|access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref>

The season was considered a huge disappointment, and Modena left Tyrrell for [[Jordan Grand Prix|Jordan]] the following season.<ref name=ifgp>{{cite web|url=http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-modste.html|title=DRIVERS: STEFANO MODENA|work=Grandprix.com|publisher=Inside F1|access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref> The team had made a strong debut in 1991 and many considered Modena was lucky to land a drive with them. However, their car was hindered by the underpowered [[Yamaha Motor Company|Yamaha]] V12 engine and Modena struggled all season. He failed to qualify for four races and became unpopular with his team for his lack of mechanical sympathy and moody behaviour compared to teammate [[Maurício Gugelmin]]. This was confirmed by Gary Anderson, who had designed the 1992 car. Anderson said of Modena that the failures to qualify took his motivation away from him, and, due to his temper, he accumulated disappointments without being able to get over them. Despite scoring the team's only point of the year at the final round in [[1992 Australian Grand Prix|Australia]] he was unable to find a drive in Grand Prix racing for 1993.

Modena drove instead for [[Alfa Romeo in motorsport|Alfa Romeo]] in the [[Italian Touring Car Championship|Italian]] and [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft|German]] touring categories from 1993 to 1999, winning occasional races but never looking like a serious contender for the title. After a year with [[Opel]] in 2000, he retired from motorsport.<ref name=ifgp/>

After retiring he participated to some twenty-four hours karting races and in 2003 he was hired by [[Bridgestone]], to test first racing tires and then road tires. Over the years he has conducted hundreds of tests in every geographical and climatic condition, including France, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Japan. Always for the Asian company he dedicated himself to the promotion, marketing and development of new road tires, travelling to Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, the United States and Dubai.

Since the late nineties he has been living permanently in [[Rome]] with his wife and former [[Actor|actress]] [[Altieri|Sveva Altieri]], with whom he had two children: Ascanio, an [[Archaeology|archaeologist]] and [[journalist]], and Vittoria, a [[Lawyer|jurisconsult]].

Modena was known for being an eccentric character with bizarre habits verging on the obsessive, including not wanting to have his car parked on the left side of the team garage, and not allowing anyone to touch his race car once he was inside other than the team member who helped him with his safety belts. During his F1 career it was not unusual to see Modena get out of his car after being strapped and get back in before the warm-up lap if he had seen someone else touch the car. Modena was also known to race with his gloves inside out. However, as he has claimed, this wasn't due to superstition.