Giorgio Pianta obituary, 1935-2014
Giorgio Pianta, who had a long and varied career as a test driver, motorsport manager and racer, has died at the age of 78


The Italian is perhaps best remembered as test driver, his role when he joined the Fiat Group's Abarth competitions department in the mid-1970s.
He helped develop the Fiat 131 Abarth with which Walter Rohrl took the 1980 World Rally Championship drivers' title and Fiat the manufacturers' crown
Pianta's abilities meant he was quickly promoted within the Abarth organisation and he took on more management responsibilities on the Lancia Rallye 037 and Delta S4 Group B progammes.
That led on to him being put in charge of racing activities at Alfa Romeo after it was incorporated into Fiat in 1986.
Former Lancia motorsport boss Cesare Fiorio told AUTOSPORT: "Giorgio was the guy who decided the set-up of all the rally cars.
"You always need a good driver to do that and he was a good driver, but he also had good technical solutions.
"That's why I gave him more responsibility in terms of the organisation of the service of the rally cars."
Pianta went on to have a 10-year career at Alfa Corse.
Pianta left Alfa Romeo suddenly ahead of the end of the 1996 International Touring Car season, but continued to work for the Italian motorsport federation on a consultancy basis.
He started competing in the late 1950s at the wheel of a Fiat 1100 103 touring car and went on to enjoy success in both racing and rallying.
His career took him through, briefly, Formula 2 and Formula 3, included starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Targa Florio and a stint with the Conrero Opel touring car team.
Pianta was also given occasional appearances aboard both factory and privateer Lancia Beta Montecarlo Group 5 sportscars during his time with the Italian manufacturer.
He made a one-off Formula 1 start in the British Aurora series, finishing fifth at Nogaro in 1979 at the wheel of a David Price Racing-run Williams FW06.

Silverstone ELMS: Tristan Gommendy leads TDS to hard-fought win
AUTOSPORT involved in 'Grid' game

Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
The one-time Schumacher rival rebooting his career Down Under
Joey Mawson made waves in the middle of the last decade, beating future Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher - among other highly-rated talents - to the 2016 German F4 title. A run in F1's feeder GP3 category only caused his career to stall, but now back in Australia Mawson's S5000 title success has set that to rights
The lesson football’s would-be wreckers could learn from racing
OPINION: The greed-driven push for a European Super League that threatened to tear football apart is collapsing at the seams. Motor racing's equivalent, the football-themed Superleague Formula series of 2008-11, was everything that the proposed ESL never could be
The F1 and Indy 'nearly man' that found contentment in Japan
Having had the door to F1 slammed in his face and come within three laps of winning the Indianapolis 500, the collapse of a Peugeot LMP1 shot meant Japan was Bertrand Baguette's last chance of a career. But it's one which he has grasped with both hands
The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"
From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...