Roberto Ravaglia (born 26 May 1957) is an Italian former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, who currently runs ROAL Motorsport, who operate a Chevrolet operation in the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

. Before retiring in 1997, he was one of the most successful touring car racing drivers, primarily for BMW, and won seven titles in four different championships.

Racing career

He was twice Italian

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

champion and raced in

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in the early 1980s. In 1984 he made his

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

debut, becoming

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

champion in 1986, and successfully defending the title in 1987 and 1988 (though in 1987 it was the

), with some races outside Europe including the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for Touri ...

Guia Touring Car races and the James Hardie 1000 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Later in the 1988 season he was unable to defend his Macau win due to breaking a rib in a road accident driving his

Fiat Uno The Fiat Uno is a supermini manufactured and marketed by Fiat. Launched in 1983, the Uno was produced over a single generation (with an intermediate facelift, 1989) in three and five-door hatchback body styles until 1995 in Europe — and un ...

. He switched with BMW to the DTM in 1989, and the Italian Superturismo Championship in 1990, winning both on the first attempt. He was also champion in 1991 and 1993. One of the few unsuccessful seasons of his career was 1996 in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

, despite finishing a credible 6th and picking up a win at the British GP support race. He also came in 4th at Supertourismo that year. He was now approaching 40 and did not win another championship as a driver. Roberto Ravaglia was also successful in the famed

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

race at the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, winning the race three times. He won his first 24 hours in 1985 driving a BMW 635 CSi partnered by

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

drivers Gerhard Berger and Marc Surer. He followed that win with a 3rd place in 1986 and second in 1987 before winning again in 1988 in a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

partnered by Dieter Quester and Altfrid Heger. His last win in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

round the clock classic came in 1994. Again driving a BMW, this time the BMW 318is partnered by Thierry Tassin and Alexander Burgstaller. Ravaglia made three visits to Australia during his racing career, all to drive in the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

. In his debut race in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

he finished a fine second with

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan people, Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racing, auto racer. He rose to pro ...

in the Schnitzer BMW 635 CSi which had earlier in the year finished 2nd at Spa, with both drivers sharing the "Rookie of the Year" award. The car, run by Australian Greg "Pee Wee" Siddle and under the name of "Goold Motorsport" and sponsored by retired Australian racer and successful tyre retailer Bob Jane, was initially to be driven by

drivers Riccardo Patrese and Gerhard Berger, but the race was run on the same day as the European Grand Prix at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Ravaglia and Cecotto's effort was all the more impressive considering that their Sebring Orange 635 CSi was down on power throughout qualifying and the race with a small electrical gremlin which the Schnitzer mechanics didn't manage to successfully cure. He returned in 1986, again in a Schnitzer 635 for Goold Motorsport, this time painted in BMW's famous cut-away paint scheme, and initially qualified a surprising 2nd before ending up 9th on the grid after the "Hardies Heroes" Top 10 run-off. To his credit Ravaglia stated his time wouldn't have been possible in qualifying proper without the tow he got from one of the faster V8 Holden Commodore's on the run up Mountain Straight and on the almost 2 km long Conrod Straight, and attributed that lack of a tow in the runoff for his falling to 9th. Partnering former ETCC champion Dieter Quester his race unfortunately ended early when he clashed on lap 2 of 163 with the

Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...

of 1985 winner John Goss. In an uncharacteristic show of raw emotion, Ravaglia physically attacked Goss in the pits after Goss finished his opening driving stint believing the Australian to be totally at fault for the accident and had to be restrained by his team. He later apologised to Goss and professed regret for his actions. Goss, who said in an interview with race broadcaster Channel 7 that he was "astounded" about incident in the pits (but didn't name Ravaglia as the other driver), declined the option from race officials to have action taken against the Italian believing it to be just "one of those things". Ravaglia returned to Australia for two rounds of the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

World Touring Car Championship. The first being the 1987 James Hardie 1000, which was a disaster for the Schnitzer team and Roberto. After crashing his BMW M3 at the top of the mountain during qualifying he suffered heavy bruising to his ribs which required strapping. Following his final stint at the wheel during the race he was taken to the tracks medical centre after collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration from the physical effort of having to drive the little car around the 6.213 km long Mount Panorama Circuit with bruised ribs that were reportedly strapped too tight, making it hard for him to breathe. His last race in Australia was a week later in the Bob Jane T-Marts 500 at the Calder Park Raceway in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, a unique track that combined the 2.280 km (1.417 mi) road course with the then new 1.801 km (1.119 mi)

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

style high banked "Thunderdome". Again teamed with Italian Emanuele Pirro, the pair qualified their M3 9th, but would enjoy a much better race than at Bathurst, finishing 2nd behind the Steve Soper /

Pierre Dieudonné file:1976-07-11 BMW-Luigi CSL von Stuck, Xhenceval, Dieudonné.jpg, BMW CSL (Stuck, Xhenceval and Dieudonné), Nürburgring 6h-Race 1973 Pierre Dieudonné (born 24 March 1947 in Brussels) is a Belgium, Belgian auto racing driver and motoring jour ...

Texaco Ford Sierra RS500. Roberto Ravaglia was also successful in other 24-hour races, twice winning the famous Nürburgring 24 Hours. His first win came in 1989 driving a BMW M3 with another F1 driver (and regular ETCC/WTCC co-driver) Emanuele Pirro and Frenchman Fabien Giroix. His last 24-hour win at the famous

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

was in 1995 driving a

BMW 320i Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The ...

with Marc Duez and Alexander Burgstaller.

Team management

In 2001, he founded his own racing team, Ravaglia Motorsport (now ''ROAL Motorsport''), with Aldo Preo. The team took part in the

with support from

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing. The current organisation is a ...

, and their driver Peter Kox won the Super Production class championship in the first season. The entry name of the BMW squad was ''BMW Team Germany'' in 2001, but it changed to ''BMW Team Spain'' in the next season and has been ''BMW Team Italy-Spain'' since 2003. The team currently competes in the

Racing Career Highlights

as Driver

; 1985 : Winner of the 24 Hours of Spa ; 1986 :

champion ; 1987 :

champion : Winner of the Guia Race ; 1988 :

champion : Winner of the 24 Hours of Spa ; 1989 :

Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...

(DTM) champion : Winner of the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

Nordschleife ; 1990 : Italian Touring Car Championship champion ; 1991 : Italian Touring Car Championship champion ; 1992 : Third in Guia Race ; 1993 : Italian Touring Car Championship champion ; 1994 : Winner of the 24 Hours of Spa ; 1995 : Winner of the

Nordschleife

as Team director

; 2001 : FIA European Super Tourring Championship ''Super Production'' class champion for Peter Kox (Ravaglia BMW) ; 2005 : Italian Superturismo Championship champion for Alessandro Zanardi (Ravaglia BMW)

Career results

Results sourced from Driver Database.