The Crittenden Automotive Library

NEW GC600 DRIVER FOR SBR

Topics: Emanuele Pirro, Gold Coast 600

NEW GC600 DRIVER FOR SBR

Stone Brothers Racing
September 29, 2011

Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) has appointed experienced touring car racer Emanuele Pirro to the co-driver’s seat of Shane van Gisbergen’s #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon for the Gold Coast 600 next month.

Pirro’s call-up comes after an eleventh-hour withdrawal from Kiwi IndyCar ace Scott Dixon.

Pirro started his racing career in karts at the age of 11 and quickly progressed through the ranks to Formula One – where he raced in 40 grands prix, first for Benetton and later for Scuderia Italia.

After leaving Formula One, Pirro switched to touring cars, winning the Macau Guia race twice in 1991 and 1992 at the wheel of a BMW M3 Evolution, and the Italian Touring car championship in 1994 and 1995 driving for Audi.

Further success followed in sports car racing, with three wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in three consecutive years (2000 to 2002) partnered with Frank Biela and Tom Kristensen for Audi Sport Team Joest.

In 2006, Pirro made history by becoming the first driver to win the Le Mans 24-hour race in a diesel-powered car. Pirro was driving the Audi R10 Diesel when it completed a record 380 laps of the La Sarthe circuit. The team repeated the feat the following year.

Pirro, alongside teammates Dindo Capello and Allan McNish won a historic race at Petit Le Mans in 2008, driving for Audi Sport North America.

Pirro retired from full-time racing at the end of the 2008 season having finished second in the American Le Mans series, and took an ambassadorial role with Audi in 2009. But In 2010 he returned to race tracks as a third driver for private LMP1 Drayson Racing team.

Pirro and van Gisbergen will first take to the streets of Surfers Paradise on Friday 21 October.