Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti

Birth : 1940-02-28, Montona, Istria, Italy -now Motovun, Istria, Croatia

History

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR (the other being Dan Gurney). He also won races in midget cars, sprint cars, and drag racing. During his career, Andretti won four IndyCar titles (three under USAC-sanctioning, one under CART), the 1978 Formula One World Championship, and IROC VI. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship, and, along with Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver to have won a race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Formula One, and an Indianapolis 500. No American has won a Formula One race since Andretti's victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix. Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits. Andretti had a long career in racing. He was the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades (1967, 1978, and 1984). He was also one of only three drivers to win races on road courses, paved ovals, and dirt tracks in one season, a feat that he accomplished four times. With his final IndyCar win in April 1993, Andretti became the first driver to win IndyCar races in four different decades and the first to win automobile races of any kind in five. In American popular culture, his name has become synonymous with speed, similar to Barney Oldfield in the early twentieth century and Stirling Moss in the United Kingdom. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mario Andretti licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Mario Andretti

Movies

Shelby American
Carroll Shelby came from humble beginnings working as a chicken farmer in rural Texas. He exploded into the auto-racing scene by beating all the top-tier drivers of the era and winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. All while still wearing his chicken-overalls. Carroll had a heart condition that nearly killed him, forcing him to retire from racing. He started Shelby American and assembled a rag-tag team of hot-rodders to execute his vision of building groundbreaking sports cars like the Shelby Cobra. He also led Ford and the GT40 to multiple victories at Le Mans over Ferrari. Shelby’s cars, driven by the greatest drivers in the history of racing, cemented his legacy. He is the only man in history to win Le Mans as both a driver and a manufacturer. And is still the only American auto-manufacturer to win the World Manufacturing Championship.
Rapid Response
Self
Dr. Stephen Olvey and his team develop revolutionary procedures to make motor sports safer for the drivers.
Drive Like Andretti
Himself
A documentary of legendary driver Mario Andretti's career, including the driver himself discussing his childhood and involvement in the world of racing. Having spent nearly 50 years in the sport, Andretti is still involved in racing, and this documentary shows his journey from a refugee to an icon. Drive Like Andretti was released as a half-century celebration of his 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory.
Superswede: A film about Ronnie Peterson
Self
Ronnie Peterson nicknamed “Superswede” was the fastest formula 1-driver in the 70s who never became a world champion.
The 24 Hour War
Himself
In the early 1960s, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari went to war on the battlefield of Le Mans. This epic battle saw drivers lose their lives, family dynasties nearly collapse, and the development of a new car that changed racing.
8 Meters
Himself
In a war fought by titans of industry – one from Michigan, the other from Maranello – on the roads of rural France, the battle for sports car supremacy came to a head in 1966 when three of Ford Motor Company’s GT40s beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the closest endurance racing finish of all time. Exactly half a century later, “8 Meters,” a new documentary produced by Kahn Media, explores what really happened on those final, fateful laps.
The Routes to Roots: Napa and Sonoma
Himself
California makes some of the finest wines in the world and few places are better than Napa and Sonoma. This entertaining film looks at the wines, wineries and winemakers of Napa and Sonoma, providing fascinating insight into what makes great wines and great winemakers. From the wine novice to the sommelier, there is something for everyone in this tour of the wine culture.
McLaren
Self
The story of New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who founded the McLaren Motor Racing team, showing the world that a man of humble beginnings could take on the elite of motor racing and win.
Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
Self
The world knows Paul Newman as an Academy Award winning actor with a fifty-plus year career as one of the most prolific and revered actors in American Cinema. He was also well known for his philanthropy; Newman's Own has given more than four hundred and thirty million dollars to charities around the world. Yet few know the gasoline-fueled passion that became so important in this complex, multifaceted man's makeup. Newman’s deep-seated passion for racing was so intense it nearly sidelined his acting career. His racing career spanned thirty-five years; Newman won four national championships as a driver and eight championships as an owner. Not bad for a guy who didn't even start racing until he was forty-seven years old.
1
Self
Set in the golden era of Grand Prix Racing '1' tells the story of a generation of charismatic drivers who raced on the edge, risking their lives during Formula 1's deadliest period, and the men who stood up and changed the sport forever.
Cars
Thanks
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
Cars
Mario Andretti (voice)
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
Dust to Glory
Self
An action-adventure documentary chronicling the most notorious and dangerous race in the world--the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Rivaling the Indy 500 and 25 Hours of Daytona, the race across Baja's peninsula is unpredictable, grueling and raw--just like the uncharted American West of yesteryear.
Super Speedway
Himself
We follow the Newman-Haas (Andretti) racing team through the process of building, testing, and racing for a season. This includes extensive race speed on-track footage, including some pre-race footage with a full squad of cars. From time to time, we check in with a small shop building/restoring one of the first roadsters Mario Andretti raced; the finale includes him taking it for a spin.
Lap of the Gods
Self
An A-to-Z driver's eye view track tour of 23 Formula One Grand Prix circuits in the 1970's and 1980's. Narrated by Murray Walker.
1981 FIA Formula One World Championship Season Review
Himself
This fascinating record of one season of Grand Prix racing is the first ever FOCA review programme and sets the high standard for which these programmes have since been renowned. From the first green light at West Long Beach the season is charged with controversy. The aerodynamic "skirts" have gone and new hydraulic devices are in place. Carbon fibre bodies appear as the F1 cars get re-invented during the winter months.
Pole Position: i guerrieri della Formula 1
Self
This is the follow up documentray to 1978's Speed Fever.
Formula 1 - Speed fever
Self
Interspersed with interviews that the actress Sydne Rome gives to some of the most famous "Formula 1" champions - from Lauda to Regazzoni, from Andretti to Fittipaldi, from Villeneuve to Reutemann - the film shows some moments of the races on the most famous tracks of the world, and above all, the accidents that have caused it.
The Speed Merchants
Self
The Speed Merchants is the story of the 1972 manufacturer's Championship Series as told by drivers Mario Andretti (Ferrari 312P) and Vic Elford (Alfa Romeo T33TT/3). The film takes you behind the scenes at Daytona, Sebring, the Targa Florio, the Nurburgring, Le Mans and Watkins Glen, focusing on Mario and Vic, as well as Jacky Ickx, Helmut Marko, and Brian Redman. You visit with the drivers at their homes in France, Belgium, Austria and England where they relax with their families between races. Woven into the film is rare footage of both the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo factories where the cars are prepared before each race.
The Racing Scene
Himself
The story of James Garner's year with his racing team, from the time he bought the car, and assembled his team through Mexico, England, Florida and Canada.