Stefano Modena

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Stefano Modena (born 12 May 1963) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1.

Born and raised in Modena, Modena began his career in kart racing. After winning the junior direct-drive Karting World Cup in 1978, as well as back-to-back direct-drive European Championships in 1983 and 1984, Modena progressed to Italian Formula Three in 1985. Following several race victories the next season—and taking pole position at the Macau Grand Prix—Modena moved to International Formula 3000 in 1987, winning the championship in his debut season. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix for Brabham, EuroBrun, Tyrrell, Jordan, debuting at the 1987 Australian Grand Prix. Modena achieved two podiums and 17 championship points across six seasons.

Career

Stefano Modena was born on 12 May 1963 in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.<ref name="WATN">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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 chassis and scored three wins to finish 4th overall, also placing 2nd at the Monaco support race and winning a round of the European series at Imola. In 1987 he joined 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, his inexperience with the turbo charged 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 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 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 V8 engine. However, the car wasn't reliable - though Modena's sole points finish would come with his 3rd place at the 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 United States Grand Prix but after that results were rare.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He finally got his big break in 1991 when he was signed as replacement for Ferrari-bound Tyrrell team leader Jean Alesi. With a healthy group of sponsors, 1990 spec Honda engines, Pirelli tyres and a development of the successful 020 chassis much was expected of the combination, with some predicting race wins. While his season started off with 4th place at Phoenix many of the front runners had retired without Modena getting near them. The wet conditions at 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 driver until being held up in traffic and suffering a violent engine failure. A steadier run in 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 Japanese Grand Prix.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The season was considered a huge disappointment, and Modena left Tyrrell for Jordan the following season.<ref name=ifgp>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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 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 Australia he was unable to find a drive in Grand Prix racing for 1993.

Modena drove instead for Alfa Romeo in the Italian and 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 actress Sveva Altieri, with whom he had two children: Ascanio, an archaeologist and journalist, and Vittoria, a 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.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1985	Italian Formula Three	Euroteam	13	0	0	1	0	5	15th
1986	Italian Formula Three	Euroteam	13	3	1	4	5	38	4th
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	1	0	0	N/A	13th
1987	International Formula 3000	Onyx Racing	11	3	0	1	4	41	1st
	Macau Grand Prix	Euroteam	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	15th
	Formula One	Brabham	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1988	Formula One	EuroBrun Racing	10	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1989	Formula One	Motor Racing Developments	15	0	0	0	1	4	16th
1990	Formula One	Motor Racing Developments	16	0	0	0	0	2	16th
1991	Formula One	Braun Tyrrell Honda	16	0	0	0	1	10	8th
1992	Formula One	Sasol Jordan Yamaha	12	0	0	0	0	1	17th
1993	Italian Superturismo Championship	Euroteam	20	0	0	0	0	46	11th
	FIA Touring Car Challenge		2	0	0	0	0	14	13th
1994	Italian Superturismo Championship	Euroteam	13	3	3	6	5	116	6th
	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Alfa Corse	6	1	1	2	2	74	12th
	FIA Touring Car World Cup		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1995	Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft	Euroteam	11	0	0	1	1	26	16th
	International Touring Car Series		10	0	0	2	1	49	7th
1996	International Touring Car Championship	JAS Motorsport Alfa Corse	25	0	0	0	3	92	12th
1997	Super Tourenwagen Cup	JAS Engineering	20	0	0	0	0	129	20th
1998	Super Tourenwagen Cup	Euroteam	18	0	0	0	0	146	18th
	Italian Superturismo Championship	Nordauto Engineering	2	0	0	1	1	32	15th
1999	Super Tourenwagen Cup	Euroteam	19	0	0	0	0	271	13th
2000	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Euroteam	14	0	0	0	0	15	15th
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Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1987	Onyx Racing	SIL Template:Small	VAL Template:Small	SPA Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	DON Template:Small	PER Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	BIR Template:Small	IMO Template:Small	BUG Template:Small	JAR Template:Small	1st	40
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Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
Template:F1	Brabham	Brabham BT56	BMW Str-4	BRA	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	ESP	MEX	JPN	AUS Template:Small	NC	0
Template:F1	EuroBrun Racing	EuroBrun ER188	Cosworth V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	NC	0
Template:F1	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT58	Judd V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	16th	4
Template:F1	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT58	Judd V8	USA Template:Small	BRA Template:Small															16th	2
		Brabham BT59				SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small
Template:F1	Braun Tyrrell Honda	Tyrrell 020	Honda V10	USA Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	8th	10
Template:F1	Sasol Jordan Yamaha	Jordan 192	Yamaha V12	RSA Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	17th	1
Template:Small {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Pts
1993	Euroteam	BMW 318i	MNZ 1 Template:Small	MNZ 2 Template:Small	VAL 1 Template:Small	VAL 2 Template:Small	MIS 1 Template:Small	MIS 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small	BIN 1 Template:Small	BIN 2 Template:Small	IMO 1 Template:Small	IMO 2 Template:Small	VAR 1 Template:Small	VAR 2 Template:Small	MIS 1 Template:Small	MIS 2 Template:Small	PER 1 Template:Small	PER 2 Template:Small	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	12th	45
1994	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	MNZ 1 Template:Small	MNZ 2 Template:Small	VAL 1 Template:Small	VAL 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small	BIN 1 Template:Small	BIN 2 Template:Small	MIS 1 Template:Small	MIS 2 Template:Small	VAL 1 Template:Small	VAL 2 Template:Small	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	PER 1	PER 2	VAR 1	VAR 2	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	6th	116

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1994	Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	HOC 1	HOC 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	MUG 1	MUG 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	NOR 1	NOR 2	DON 1	DON 2	DIE 1	DIE 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	AVU 1 Template:Small	AVU 2 Template:Small	ALE 1 Template:Small	ALE 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	12th	74
1995	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	AVU 1 Template:Small	AVU 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	ALE 1 Template:Small	ALE 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small											16th	26
2000	Euroteam	Opel Astra V8 Coupé DTM 2000	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	OSC 1 Template:Small	OSC 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	SAC 1 Template:Small	SAC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	LAU 1 Template:Small	LAU 2 Template:Small	OSC 1 Template:Small	OSC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small							15th	15
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Complete International Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1995	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	HEL 1 Template:Small	HEL 2 Template:Small	DON 1 Template:Small	DON 2 Template:Small	EST 1 Template:Small	EST 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small																	7th	49
1996	JAS Motorsport Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	EST 1 Template:Small	EST 2 Template:Small	HEL 1 Template:Small	HEL 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	DIE 1 Template:Small	DIE 2 Template:Small	SIL 1 Template:Small	SIL 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	MAG 1 Template:Small	MAG 2 Template:Small	MUG 1 Template:Small	MUG 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	INT 1 Template:Small	INT 2 Template:Small	SUZ 1 Template:Small	SUZ 2 Template:Small	12th	92
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Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Pts
1997	JAS Engineering	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	ZOL 1 Template:Small	ZOL 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	SAC 1 Template:Small	SAC 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	WUN 1 Template:Small	WUN 2 Template:Small	ZWE 1 Template:Small	ZWE 2 Template:Small	SAL 1 Template:Small	SAL 2 Template:Small	REG 1 Template:Small	REG 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	20th	129
1998	Euroteam S.R.L.	Alfa Romeo 156	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	SAC 1 Template:Small	SAC 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	REG 1 Template:Small	REG 2 Template:Small	WUN 1 Template:Small	WUN 2 Template:Small	ZWE 1 Template:Small	ZWE 2 Template:Small	SAL 1 Template:Small	SAL 2 Template:Small	OSC 1 Template:Small	OSC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	18th	146
1999	Euroteam	Alfa Romeo 156	SAC 1 Template:Small	SAC 2 Template:Small	ZWE 1 Template:Small	ZWE 2 Template:Small	OSC 1 Template:Small	OSC 2 Template:Small	NOR 1 Template:Small	NOR 2 Template:Small	MIS 1 Template:Small	MIS 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	SAL 1 Template:Small	SAL 2 Template:Small	OSC 1 Template:Small	OSC 2 Template:Small	HOC 1 Template:Small	HOC 2 Template:Small	NÜR 1 Template:Small	NÜR 2 Template:Small	13th	271