Jump to content


Photo

Gianpiero Moretti (MOMO founder) has passed away


  • Please log in to reply
28 replies to this topic

#1 gio66

gio66
  • Member

  • 1,431 posts
  • Joined: April 07

Posted 15 January 2012 - 11:37

@maxpapis: Just heard a sad news my friend and mentor Gianpiero Moretti founder of @MOMO passed away this morning He was a special one RIP

http://images.forum-...simages/336526/

Posted Image

Posted Image

Posted Image

Posted Image

RIP momo, another piece of Italian motorsport history is gone

Advertisement

#2 jj2728

jj2728
  • Member

  • 2,966 posts
  • Joined: January 04

Posted 15 January 2012 - 12:56

R.I.P

#3 rdmotorsport

rdmotorsport
  • Member

  • 535 posts
  • Joined: March 06

Posted 15 January 2012 - 15:00

R.I.P


helped with my F3 team some years a go with steering wheels etc, always approachable,sadly missed.RIP

#4 RStock

RStock
  • Member

  • 2,276 posts
  • Joined: March 08

Posted 15 January 2012 - 16:30

Sad news. :cry:

#5 gio66

gio66
  • Member

  • 1,431 posts
  • Joined: April 07

Posted 15 January 2012 - 17:08

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

#6 Bruno

Bruno
  • Member

  • 563 posts
  • Joined: June 06

Posted 15 January 2012 - 17:13

un Grande, quando arrivera lassu incontrera Enzo

#7 buckaluck

buckaluck
  • Member

  • 149 posts
  • Joined: May 09

Posted 15 January 2012 - 18:00

So sad does anyone know why as he was only 67?

#8 gio66

gio66
  • Member

  • 1,431 posts
  • Joined: April 07

Posted 15 January 2012 - 18:14

So sad does anyone know why as he was only 67?

cancer

#9 ReWind

ReWind
  • Member

  • 3,394 posts
  • Joined: October 03

Posted 15 January 2012 - 18:21

Does anyone know why as he was only 67?

I'm pretty sure he was 71.
He raced as early as 1961 which would have been difficult if he was born in late 1944. I think he was born in March 1940 which makes him nearly 72.
And I think his first name is properly spelled "Giampiero". But I have to leave that to the Italians...


#10 gio66

gio66
  • Member

  • 1,431 posts
  • Joined: April 07

Posted 15 January 2012 - 18:37

And I think his first name is properly spelled "Giampiero". But I have to leave that to the Italians...

In Italy you can find both, there is no precise rule.
On the momo website it says Giampiero, the overlay of the Daytona 24 videoclip says Gianpiero (as Max Papis wrote).
The right name is what he had on his identity card.

I think he was born in March 1940 which makes him nearly 72.

Yes, in the videoclip he says "I'm 58"

Edited by gio66, 15 January 2012 - 18:40.


#11 buckaluck

buckaluck
  • Member

  • 149 posts
  • Joined: May 09

Posted 15 January 2012 - 19:05

I'm pretty sure he was 71.
He raced as early as 1961 which would have been difficult if he was born in late 1944. I think he was born in March 1940 which makes him nearly 72.
And I think his first name is properly spelled "Giampiero". But I have to leave that to the Italians...



Wikipedia/SPEED etc. has him born on Nov. 15th 1944 but yes that would put him at 17 starting his race career and they say he was in a university when he starts to race making 1940 a better birth date. Either way sad news.

#12 Bruno

Bruno
  • Member

  • 563 posts
  • Joined: June 06

Posted 15 January 2012 - 20:36

link

http://brunodaytona6...html#trackbacks

#13 E1pix

E1pix
  • Member

  • 23,429 posts
  • Joined: January 11

Posted 15 January 2012 - 20:41

Oh, that is sad. RIP, Momo. :(

#14 Formula Once

Formula Once
  • Member

  • 868 posts
  • Joined: June 07

Posted 15 January 2012 - 21:34

Very sad news. The last 10 years life was very hard on him, he was a very nice man who put much into the sport. RIP.

#15 Doug Nye

Doug Nye
  • Member

  • 11,524 posts
  • Joined: February 02

Posted 15 January 2012 - 22:03

Sorry to hear this sad news. Condolences to his family and friends. There,my friends, was an enthusiast.

DCN


#16 West3

West3
  • Member

  • 146 posts
  • Joined: November 04

Posted 15 January 2012 - 22:53

Terribly saddened to read this news. "Mister Momo" contributed hugely to our sport on several different levels. A lovely bio can be found here.

I am very fortunate to own the trophy he received for taking top honors at the Trieste-Opicina hillclimb in 1970, driving his beloved 512S. I just finished giving it a nice polish, in tribute to one of the last true gentleman racers...



#17 JacnGille

JacnGille
  • Member

  • 2,806 posts
  • Joined: July 02

Posted 15 January 2012 - 23:40

Sad news

#18 barrykm

barrykm
  • Member

  • 807 posts
  • Joined: February 02

Posted 16 January 2012 - 03:57

R.I.P.

#19 Arjan de Roos

Arjan de Roos
  • Member

  • 2,583 posts
  • Joined: July 02

Posted 16 January 2012 - 08:01

I'll never forget his last stint at Le Mans. June 7th 1998, the sun shone bright. Apparantly his mechanics had changed bodywork. Moretti flew underneath the Dunlop bridge, wizzed downhill, slamming his shiny red Momo 333 SP into the Esses! Forza!

Advertisement

#20 Julian Roberts

Julian Roberts
  • Member

  • 736 posts
  • Joined: May 06

Posted 16 January 2012 - 09:08

I'll never forget his last stint at Le Mans. June 7th 1998, the sun shone bright. Apparantly his mechanics had changed bodywork. Moretti flew underneath the Dunlop bridge, wizzed downhill, slamming his shiny red Momo 333 SP into the Esses! Forza!


So well put. I admired him as a proper racer.


#21 richardspringett

richardspringett
  • Member

  • 211 posts
  • Joined: September 03

Posted 16 January 2012 - 10:33


Rest in Peace -- Giampiero. Condolences to his family and friends.

A true Italian.

Richard


#22 timbo

timbo
  • Member

  • 535 posts
  • Joined: December 07

Posted 16 January 2012 - 11:24

Gianpiero Moretti's long tail Porsche 935 at Calder Park during a support race for the Australian GP.

Posted Image

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

#23 Mike Argetsinger

Mike Argetsinger
  • Member

  • 948 posts
  • Joined: April 00

Posted 16 January 2012 - 17:54

JJ O'Malley phoned from Daytona this morning to tell me the sad news. I had already read about it on TNF. JJ told me the story of how Giampiero Moretti was responsible for bringing the 6-Hour race back to Watkins Glen (the race had run from 1968 though 1980). Apparently Moretti had announced that 1995 would be his final full season running the entire IMSA Camel series although he would continue to run in selected events. O'Malley, then Watkins Glen's Director of Communications, asked him what it would take to bring him back to the Glen. "I'll come back if you bring back the 6-hour race," Moretti answered, according to JJ. JJ brought it up with then WGI President John Saunders and, in fact, the race was brought back on the 1996 calendar. The best part of the story is that Moretti and co-driver Max Papis won the race in the Momo Ferrari 333SP. The 6-hour remains a fixture on the Watkins Glen calendar.

#24 Catalina Park

Catalina Park
  • Member

  • 6,768 posts
  • Joined: July 01

Posted 17 January 2012 - 07:03

Gianpiero Moretti's long tail Porsche 935 at Calder Park during a support race for the Australian GP.

Posted Image

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I met Giampiero at that meeting. A very nice true gentleman.
Fancy bringing that car all the way to Calder for a short sprint support race at a Calder AGP. A lot of effort for a very simple race. I guess it shows what an enthusiast he was.


#25 Ralf Pickel

Ralf Pickel
  • Member

  • 622 posts
  • Joined: December 05

Posted 17 January 2012 - 07:34

Very sad to read about his passing away.
He was a regular at my hometrack Norisring for a few years during the Grp.5 era.
I always liked him due to him gentleman racer apperance and the good looking MOMO livery of his cars - an interesting addition to the usual contenders in Germany at that time.

#26 Ralf Pickel

Ralf Pickel
  • Member

  • 622 posts
  • Joined: December 05

Posted 17 January 2012 - 07:39

Could not find a better shot at the moment, sorry...
Norisring 1981 - his car stirred up quite an interested on the grid.

Posted Image

#27 wildman

wildman
  • Member

  • 294 posts
  • Joined: September 00

Posted 17 January 2012 - 17:54

Laguna Seca, 1984: Moretti in the Cosworth-powered Alba AR3:
Posted Image

#28 David M. Kane

David M. Kane
  • Member

  • 5,402 posts
  • Joined: December 00

Posted 18 January 2012 - 17:07

Very sad news indeed I remember seeing him race at the Daytona-24 Hour in his last racing season I believe. What a true force in racing!

God Bless his Soul.

#29 karlcars

karlcars
  • Member

  • 660 posts
  • Joined: February 00

Posted 19 January 2012 - 10:54

A tremendous enthusiast indeed. I knew him well as my company, Formula 1 Enterprises, imported his steering wheels to the USA in the late 1960s.

He was the moving force behind the creation of Ferrari's F333 SP sports-racer.

R.I.P. indeed.