José Luis Di Palma (born March 31, 1966), is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

racing driver. He was born in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

Buenos Aires province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

Racing career

Early career

Di Palma began his professional career racing in the Argentine

TC 2000 Championship The TC2000 (''Turismo Competición 2000'', formerly ''Súper TC2000'') is a touring car racing series held in Argentina since 1979. Rules Prior to 2012, engines of up to were allowed, with only limited modifications from standard engines ...

in 1984. After three years in the series and few notabile results, Di Palma moved to formula car racing in

Formula Three Sudamericana Fórmula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable ...

in 1987. He finished 8th in points in his rookie season and improved to 7th in 1988. He placed 9th in 1989.

Europe and Indy Lights

In 1990 Di Palma moved to Europe to race in Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries where he finished 9th. In 1991 he raced in British Formula 3000 for Cobra Motorsport and finished 11th. The series became British Formula 2 in 1991 and Di Palma finished fourth in points for AJS. Di Palma continued with the team in British F2 in 1993 and was runner-up in the championship and captured 2 wins. In 1994 he won the championship driving for Madgwick International, again capturing two wins. The series was not held in 1995 so Di Palma competed in eight races in the American

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

series in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

for Leisy McCormack Racing. He finished 19th in points with a best finish of fifth at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. He returned to Indy Lights full-time in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, this time driving for

Tasman Motorsports Tasman Motorsports Group is a former racing team that was owned by Steve Horne, a long-time motorsport figure who spent most of his career in the United States. Previously the team was an American-based open-wheel racing team that competed in th ...

. Di Palma finished 9th in points with a best finish of fourth at Belle Isle. Di Palma's Tasman teammates

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed "TK", is a Brazilian racing driver who is the team principal of Arrow McLaren. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, an ...

and

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...

finished second and seventh in points, respectively.

Return to South America

In 1997, Di Palma competed in the South American Super Touring Car Championship and finished eighth and made four starts in

Turismo Carretera Turismo Carretera ( Road racing, lit., ''Road Touring'') is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the 2nd oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera. ...

. He competed in Turismo Carretera full-time in 1998 and finished seventh. In 1999 in the same series he finished fourth. Di Palma continued to race in Turismo Carretera until 2009, also finishing fourth in points in 2001, matching his career best.José Luis Di Palma - career detail
''Driver Database'', Retrieved 2011-09-27 Di Palma also competed in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

across South America in 2010 and 2011.

Complete motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest race lap)

Indy Lights

Barber Dodge Pro Series

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers Argentine racing drivers Turismo Carretera drivers TC 2000 Championship drivers Top Race V6 drivers Indy Lights drivers British Formula 3000 Championship drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers Dakar Rally drivers Sportspeople from Mar del Plata Racing drivers from Buenos Aires Province Barber Pro Series drivers {{Argentina-autoracing-bio-stub Tasman Motorsports drivers