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Fabrizio Barbazza

Started by nigel5 , Jan 22 2008 13:38

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23 replies to this topic

#1 nigel5

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Posted 22 January 2008 - 13:38

I look for informations about the italian driver Fabrizio Barbazza.
I remember that he had a terrible accident in IMSA.
Do you know what he does today ?
Thank you

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#2 szautke

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Posted 22 January 2008 - 14:50

Last I heard he's running a fishing service out of Cuba, yes Cuba. No joke.

http://www.oldracing...stname=Fabrizio

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#3 Barry Boor

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Posted 22 January 2008 - 23:20

No help to nigel5 but here is a picture of Fabrizio in his F.3000 days:

Posted Image

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#4 simonlewisbooks

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Posted 23 January 2008 - 11:19

Didn't he develop , or act as a consultant on , some kind of safety device in the wake of his massive accident?

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#5 bigears

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Posted 23 January 2008 - 12:41

Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
Didn't he develop , or act as a consultant on , some kind of safety device in the wake of his massive accident?

It was mostly Armco design. I am sure I can find more information about it from an other forum.

EDIT>>

http://f1rejects.cro.../biography.html

Out of a drive again in 1994, Barbazza devoted his energies to developing an idea for impact-absorbing barriers to be manufactured by his father's company, and to be used in F1, but it would take time before his design was implemented anywhere.

Indeed, the impact-protection system barriers (IPS) were only first seen at Imola in 2000, where they were used along a 60-metre stretch at the Rivazza corner.

Ironically, and sadly, it was a horrific accident that curtailed his own racing career. In 1995, Barbazza had gone to the IMSA series in America, driving a Ferrari 333SP for the Euromotorsports team. At the Daytona 24hr classic in the car shared with Massimo Sigala, Gianfranco Brancatelli and Elton Julian, he had come 8th overall, and a superb 2nd in their class. But at Sebring they came 7th in their class, and a lowly 22nd overall.

But his next entry would be his last. Joining Jay Cochran at Road Atlanta on 30 April that year, he spun to avoid two other spinning Porsches, but his car lay across the track and was smashed from side-on by Jeremy Dale's Oldsmobile at more than 100 mph. Barbazza's car split into two, and he sustained head injuries, a collapsed lung, a broken arm and leg, and went into a sedative-induced coma.

It took Fabrizio a year to recover from his injuries, and after that he announced his retirement from racing to concentrate on his barrier designs. However, he has not been forgotten by race fans, especially in America. In the 1999 Road Atlanta round of the Women's Global GT series, Kiki Wolfkill's car even carried a sticker saying 'Racing for Fabrizio' in Barbazza's honour.

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#6 scags

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Posted 23 January 2008 - 13:12

The thing I remember most from that accident was the in- car footage from Dale's car, showing the Ferrari sideways, and then the impact. Lucky to live through...

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#7 Hugewally

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 00:29

The Road Atlanta accident...

http://videos.street...ffd1b83d58d.htm

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#8 TecnoRacing

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 06:01

Last I heard he's running a fishing service out of Cuba, yes Cuba. No joke.

Interesting...Hopefully he's enjoying himself...

That shot from Dale's car remains one of the most brutal of onboard footage...

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#9 Nanni Dietrich

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 10:05

What did really happen to Jeremy Dale?
The accident is horrific, seems to me very similar to Zanardi's.
Hope he completely recovered.

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#10 Fiorentina 1

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 11:35

Originally posted by Nanni Dietrich
What did really happen to Jeremy Dale?
The accident is horrific, seems to me very similar to Zanardi's.
Hope he completely recovered.

He was a racing instructor with Skip Barber after the accident and now manages RuSort champcar team. His legs were destroyed in the accident. After many opperations, he now walks on his own without any canes or any other assistance, but still has a limp.

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#11 nigel5

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 13:54

Horrible accident

Thanks at all for these answers.
I hope both Barbazza and Dale are ok today.

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#12 bigears

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 16:45

Originally posted by Barry Boor
No help to nigel5 but here is a picture of Fabrizio in his F.3000 days:

http://62.149.36.46/...in/fabrizio.jpg

Where the photo was taken?

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#13 Barry Boor

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 16:48

Silverstone International Trophy. Year? Er......

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#14 Le Castellet

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 20:27

Very hard to find some Fabrizio Barbazza, Formula 1, IndyCar and IMSA HiRes pictures.
Can someone help ?
Thanks :up:

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#15 bigears

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 21:02

Originally posted by Barry Boor
Silverstone International Trophy. Year? Er......

Must be 1990 as I can see the FILLING sponsor on the Crypton Engineering Leyton House car. I can just see Gary Brabham's NEC sponsored car on the extreme right?

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#16 RA Historian

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Posted 26 January 2008 - 17:38

Originally posted by Fiorentina 1
He was a racing instructor with Skip Barber after the accident and now manages RuSort champcar team.

Make that the past tense. He was let go by RuSport early in 2007 when it underwent one of its several transformations during the season. RuSport no longer exists as it folded after the final Champ Car race of 2007.

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#17 RA Historian

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Posted 27 January 2008 - 20:38

I saw Fabrizio run several times in the US in the 1986-89 time frame when he was driving for Frank Arciero in ARS, then CART. Perhaps the best memory is of his girl friend sunning herself on the roof of the Arciero transporter.....topless!