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Francesco Pizzi

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Francesco Pizzi
Pizzi driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2022 Spielberg Formula 3 round.
NationalityItaly Italian
Born (2004-11-12) 12 November 2004 (age 20)
Rome, Italy
Indy Nxt career
Debut season2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship
Current teamTJ Speed Motorsports
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number55
Starts13
Wins0
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps2
Best finishTBA in 2023
Previous series
2022
2021
2020
2020		FIA Formula 3 Championship
Formula Regional European Championship
Italian F4 Championship
Formula 4 UAE Championship
Championship titles
2023
2020		24 Hours of Daytona LMP2 class
Formula 4 UAE Championship

Francesco Raffaele Pizzi (Italian pronunciation: [franˈt͡ʃe.sko raf.faˈɛ.le ˈpit.t͡si]; born 12 November 2004) is an Italian racing driver who last raced in the 2023 Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports.[1][2]

He was the runner-up of the 2020 Italian F4 Championship behind Gabriele Mini and raced in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Charouz Racing System. Pizzi is also the third youngest class winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning in the LMP2 class with team Proton Competition in 2023.,[3]

Career

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Karting

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In 2013 aged 8 Francesco claimed his maiden win under the rain in the race 2 in Lonato of formula 60 Italian championship. Pizzi made his international karting debut in the Mini ROK International Final in 2014, where he finished ninth. He raced in the 60 Mini class for three years, winning the South Garda Winter Cup in 2016 and becoming vice-champion in the WSK Super Master Series and WSK Champions Cup respectively that same year.[4] The Italian then moved up to drive in the OKJ-category, placing third in the Italian Championship in 2017. He competed in karts until 2019.

Lower formulae

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In January 2020 Pizzi made his single-seater debut with Xcel Motorsport in the Formula 4 UAE Championship.[5] He had a perfect opening round, winning all three races at the first weekend in Dubai. He scored five more victories and won the championship, 26 points ahead of his nearest competitor Lorenzo Fluxá.[6]

The Italian then signed with Van Amersfoort Racing to compete in the Italian F4 Championship, as the team's sole full-time entrant.[7] He started the campaign strongly, taking three podiums, including a win, at the first round in Misano,[8] however, his next win would only come at the fifth round in Monza.[9] Despite two wins at that weekend Pizzi had already lost too much ground to his title rival Gabriele Minì, and in the end finished second, with seven podiums and 208 points to his name.[10]

Formula Regional European Championship

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Pizzi racing in the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship at the Red Bull Ring

In December 2020 Pizzi took part in the post-season rookie test for the Formula Regional European Championship for ART Grand Prix alongside his F4 title rival Gabriele Minì and Grégoire Saucy.[11] After a second test later that month, where Pizzi returned to Van Amersfoort Racing and set the third-fastest laptime of the day, the Dutch team confirmed Pizzi to be one of their drivers for the 2021 season.[12][13] The Italian scored his first points of the season at the Circuit Zandvoort, finishing fifth in the second race. Another points finish at the Red Bull Ring helped Pizzi to finish 20th in the standings. Following the conclusion to the season Pizzi announced his departure from VAR and took part in winter testing with Arden in Barcelona , R-ace GP in Paul Ricard and Monza, MP Motorsport in the second Barcelona test and FA Racing in Mugello.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

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For 2022 Pizzi progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship, partnering László Tóth and Ayrton Simmons at Charouz Racing System.[14] Talking about his sudden move to F3 after just two years of car racing, Pizzi stated that "it's going to be tough, but that's why we race".[15] Pizzi scored his first and only points of the year, having finished in tenth place during the Imola sprint race.[16] In Spa-Francorchamps, Pizzi qualified an astonishing third.[17] During the feature race, Pizzi was pushed wide at the side, and later Kush Maini spun him round which dropped him to the back and left Pizzi to finish 21st.[18] Overall, Pizzi was the only driver in Charouz to score a point for the team that year, having scored his only top-10 finish at Imola, having finished 27th in the standings, the last placed driver to have scored points.[19]

At the end of the 2022 season, Pizzi partook in the post-season testing with Campos Racing during the first and last day respectively.[20]

USF Pro Championship

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2023

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At the end of October 2022, Pizzi took part in a USF Pro 2000 Championship test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Jay Howard Driver Development.[21] At the start of January the following year, Pizzi confirmed that he would leave Formula 3 and join the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with TJ Speed Motorsports.[1] He debuted in St. Petersburg claiming two front row starts, a pole position and a fastest lap on his first time driving the tricky street circuit, he couldn't finish on the podium in any of the races claiming a 4th and a 5th place. He went on to qualify in the top 3 again in Sebring earning is first podium in race 1 and after a chaotic race 2 he managed to scramble to a 7th place finish. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway weekend was led by controversy after race direction called out a red flag in race 1 for track conditions when the Italian and championship contender Myles Rowe were setting the fastest lap of the race. This forced everyone to put rain tyres on a dry track and the Italian dropped back to 11th. More controversy would lead into race 2 after Pizzi took the lead on lap 1 and led until lap 5, at the end of a FCY procedure he waited to pick the pace back up and the race direction in a for sure debatable situation threw the green causing him and the current top-5 to drop back to around 10th place, he still managed to recover to 7th before the checkered. He later went on to finish in 4th on his debut oval race and grabbed another top 5 finish in road america at the half way mark of the championship earning him 2nd place in the standings despite an underachieving start.

2024

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Pizzi returned in a cameo appearance with TJ Speed Motorsports at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, deputising for Hunter Yeany who was hit with budget issues.[22]

Indy Nxt by Firestone

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In the coverage from Peacock on the 8th round of the 2023 Indy NXT at Iowa Speedway it was rumoured that Pizzi would join Abel Motorsports at Nashville but neither team neither the driver had confirmed it by then.

Endurance racing

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Pizzi made his endurance racing debut at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, teaming up with Proton Competition in the LMP2 category.[23] He ended up winning the race by 16 thousands of a second on his debut becoming the 3rd youngest ever class winner in the race. The win came after an impressive comeback from him and his team mates after qualifying in last following a wreck, they were able to claim the race lead after a quarter of the race had been gone but found themselves 3 laps down with 4 hours to go, thanks to FCY procedures they made it back to the lead lap with the Italian on the car who then left the car in the hand of his team mate James Allen for the last hour.

Karting record

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Karting career summary

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Season Series Team Position
2014 Mini ROK International Final — Bridgestone Final 9th
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini 19th
WSK Final Cup — 60 Mini Lenzokart 31st
2015 WSK Champions Cup — 60 Mini Lenzokart 15th
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini 13th
Italian Championship — 60 Mini 15th
Trofeo delle Industrie — 60 Mini 12th
WSK Night Edition — 60 Mini Noviello Engine 25th
ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK 7th
WSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini Novalux Srl 14th
WSK Final Cup — 60 Mini Giugliano Kart 9th
2016 South Garda Winter Cup — Mini ROK Energy Corse 1st
WSK Champions Cup — 60 Mini Giugliano Kart 2nd
WSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini 2nd
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini 16th
Italian Championship — 60 Mini 19th
Trofeo delle Industrie — 60 Mini 10th
WSK Night Edition — 60 Mini AB Motorsport 11th
ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK Baby Race Srl 17th
WSK Final Cup — 60 Mini Birel ART Racing 33rd
2017 WSK Champions Cup — OKJ Novalux Srl 10th
Italian Championship — OKJ Lenzokart 3rd
South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ 21st
CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ Novalux Srl 29th
ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK Fusion Motorsport 4th
CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ 26th
WSK Final Cup — OKJ 10th
2018 WSK Champions Cup — OKJ Birel ART Racing 5th
South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ 5th
WSK Super Master Series — OKJ 28th
German Karting Championship — OKJ 26th
CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ Lennox Racing Team 62nd
WSK Final Cup — OK 42nd
2019 South Garda Winter Cup — KZ2 Manetti Motorsport DNF
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — KZ2 DNF
WSK Euro Series — OK 33rd
WSK Euro Series — KZ2 NC
WSK Super Master Series — KZ2 37th

Complete Karting World Championship results

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Year Team Car Quali Heats Main race
2017 United Kingdom Fusion Motorsport OKJ 24th 26th

Racing record

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Racing career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2020 Formula 4 UAE Championship Xcel Motorsport 19 8 3 5 10 300 1st
Italian F4 Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 20 3 1 2 7 208 2nd
ADAC Formula 4 Championship 9 0 0 0 0 54 11th
2021 Formula Regional European Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 20 0 0 0 0 12 20th
2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship Charouz Racing System 18 0 0 0 0 1 27th
2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship TJ Speed Motorsports 18 0 1 2 1 259 5th
IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 Proton Competition 1 1 0 0 1 0 NC
Indy NXT Abel Motorsports 4 0 0 0 0 55 24th
2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship TJ Speed Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 5 32nd

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2020 Xcel Motorsport DUB1
1
1 		DUB1
2
1 		DUB1
3
1 		DUB1
4
C 		YMC1
1
1 		YMC1
2
4 		YMC1
3
1 		YMC1
4
11† 		YMC2
1
Ret 		YMC2
2
5 		YMC2
3
2 		YMC2
4
1 		DUB2
1
4 		DUB2
2
1 		DUB2
3
1 		DUB2
4
6 		DUB3
1
4 		DUB3
2
5 		DUB3
3
2 		DUB3
4
Ret 		1st 300

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points
2020 Van Amersfoort Racing MIS
1
2 		MIS
2
3 		MIS
3
1 		IMO1
1
6 		IMO1
2
10 		IMO1
3
2 		RBR
1
6 		RBR
2
8 		RBR
3
6 		MUG
1
9 		MUG
2
Ret 		MUG
3
5 		MNZ
1
1 		MNZ
2
1 		MNZ
3
4 		IMO2
1
9 		IMO2
2
25† 		IMO2
3
5 		VLL
1
2 		VLL
2
C 		VLL
3
Ret 		2nd 208

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points
2020 Van Amersfoort Racing LAU1
1 		LAU1
2 		LAU1
3 		NÜR1
1
5 		NÜR1
2
14 		NÜR1
3
9 		HOC
1
5 		HOC
2
7 		HOC
3
6 		NÜR2
1
5 		NÜR2
2
6 		NÜR2
3
Ret 		RBR
1 		RBR
2 		RBR
3 		LAU2
1 		LAU2
2 		LAU2
3 		OSC
1 		OSC
2 		OSC
3 		11th 54

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2021 Van Amersfoort Racing IMO
1
18 		IMO
2
17 		CAT
1
21 		CAT
2
15 		MCO
1
15 		MCO
2
12 		LEC
1
20 		LEC
2
32† 		ZAN
1
13 		ZAN
2
5 		SPA
1
13 		SPA
2
16 		RBR
1
22 		RBR
2
9 		VAL
1
18 		VAL
2
16 		MUG
1
18 		MUG
2
17 		MNZ
1
12 		MNZ
2
16 		20th 12

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
2022 Charouz Racing System BHR
SPR
19 		BHR
FEA
Ret 		IMO
SPR
10 		IMO
FEA
Ret 		CAT
SPR
24 		CAT
FEA
17 		SIL
SPR
24 		SIL
FEA
14 		RBR
SPR
15 		RBR
FEA
24 		HUN
SPR
21 		HUN
FEA
27 		SPA
SPR
19 		SPA
FEA
21 		ZAN
SPR
16 		ZAN
FEA
18 		MNZ
SPR
17 		MNZ
FEA
16 		27th 1

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos. Points
2023 Proton Competition LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 V8 DAY
1† 		SEB LGS WGL ELK IMS PET NC† 0†

† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

American open-wheel racing results

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USF Pro 2000 Championship

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2023 TJ Speed Motorsports STP
1
4 		STP
2
5 		SEB
1
3 		SEB
2
7 		IMS
1
11 		IMS
2
7 		IRP
4 		ROA
1
6 		ROA
2
5 		MOH
1
15 		MOH
2
17 		TOR
1
6 		TOR
2
6 		COTA
1
16 		COTA
1
9 		POR
1
6 		POR
2
10 		POR
3
6 		5th 259
2024 TJ Speed Motorsports STP
1 		STP
2 		LOU
1 		LOU
2 		LOU
3 		IMS
1 		IMS
2 		IMS
3 		IRP
18 		ROA
1 		ROA
2 		ROA
3 		MOH
1 		MOH
2 		TOR
1 		TOR
2 		POR
1 		POR
2 		32nd 5

Indy NXT

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Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2023 Abel Motorsports STP BAR IMS DET DET RDA MDO IOW NSH
19 		IMS
16 		GMP POR LAG
12 		LAG
18 		24th 55

References

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  1. ^ a b Wood, Ida (5 January 2023). "Francesco Pizzi leaves FIA F3 for USF Pro 2000 move with TJ Speed". Formula Scout. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Francesco Pizzi steps up to Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports". 26 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Allen 'wasn't breathing' in Rolex 24 LMP2 photo finish". 30 January 2023.
  4. ^ "WSK: Four podiums for Energy at Castelletto". Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. ^ Agrifoglio, Andrea (27 December 2019). "Pizzi pronto per l'esordio a Dubai "Nuova avventura, non vedo l'ora" (Pizzi ready for the debut in Dubai "New adventure, I can't wait")". Gazetta Regionale. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Francesco Pizzi wins F4 UAE title in Dubai finale". 7 March 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  7. ^ "VAR SIGNS FRESH UAE F4 CHAMPION FRANCESCO PIZZI FOR EUROPEAN F4 CAMPAIGN". 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Francesco Pizzi holds off Mini at Misano to take Italian F4 lead". 2 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Pizzi wins again ahead of Mini in Monza Italian F4 race two". 18 October 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Gabriele Mini crowned Italian F4 champion at Imola with second place to Crawford". 22 November 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Mini, Pizzi and Saucy to drive for ART GP in 'FREC' rookie test". 7 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  12. ^ Wood, Elliot (19 December 2020). "Montoya and Beganovic star in Euroformula and FREC test at Barcelona". FormulaScout. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Francesco Pizzi chooses Van Amersfoort Racing for FREC graduation". 12 February 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Charouz Racing System add Italian rookie Pizzi to their team for 2022". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  15. ^ "'It's going to be tough but that's why we race' – Pizzi preparing for a difficult debut season". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Charouz Racing System scores first point at Imola in Round 2 of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship". Charouz Racing System. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  17. ^ "2022 Round 7 post-Qualifying press conference". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  18. ^ "FEATURE RACE: Maloney bounces back to bring home first win in Trident 1-2". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Driver Standings for the FIA Formula 3 2022 Championship". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Campos Racing to test new talents in FIA Formula 3 collective testing". Campos Racing. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Largest Field Entered for USF Pro Fall Combine Open Test". www.usfpro2000.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  22. ^ Wood, Ida (22 May 2024). "Indy Nxt's Bryce Aron steps down to USFP2000 to get oval experience". Formula Scout. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  23. ^ "IMSA, Francesco Pizzi con Proton Competition a Daytona". pellemotorsport.com (in Italian). 19 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by Formula 4 UAE Championship
Champion
2020 		Succeeded by
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