Francesco Pizzi Explained

Francesco Pizzi
Nationality: Italian
Birth Place:Rome, Italy
Birth Date:12 November 2004
Racing Licence: FIA Silver
Current Series:Indy Nxt
First Year:2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship
Current Team:TJ Speed Motorsports
Car Number:55
Starts:13
Fastest Laps:2
Poles:1
Wins:0
Podiums:1
Best Finish:TBA
Year:2023
Prev Series:FIA Formula 3 Championship
Formula Regional European Championship
Italian F4 Championship
Formula 4 UAE Championship
Prev Series Years:2022
2021
2020
2020
Title Years:2023
2020
Titles:24 Hours of Daytona LMP2 class
Formula 4 UAE Championship

Francesco Raffaele Pizzi (pronounced as /it/; born 12 November 2004) is an Italian racing driver who last raced in the 2023 Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports.[1]

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.,[2]

Career

Karting

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.[3] 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

In January 2020 Pizzi made his single-seater debut with Xcel Motorsport in the Formula 4 UAE Championship.[4] 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.[5]

The Italian then signed with Van Amersfoort Racing to compete in the Italian F4 Championship, as the team's sole full-time entrant.[6] He started the campaign strongly, taking three podiums, including a win, at the first round in Misano,[7] however, his next win would only come at the fifth round in Monza.[8] 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.[9]

Formula Regional European Championship

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.[10] 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.[11] [12] The Italian scored his first points of the season at the Zandvoort Circuit, 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

For 2022 Pizzi progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship, partnering László Tóth and Ayrton Simmons at Charouz Racing System.[13] 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".[14] Pizzi scored his first and only points of the year, having finished in tenth place during the Imola sprint race.[15] In Spa-Francorchamps, Pizzi qualified an astonishing third.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]

At the end of the 2022 season, Pizzi partook in the post-season testing with Campos Racing during the first and last day respectively.[19]

USF Pro Championship

2023

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.[20] 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.[21] 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

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

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

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

Karting career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamPosition
2014Mini ROK International Final — Bridgestone Final9th
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini19th
WSK Final Cup — 60 MiniLenzokart31st
2015WSK Champions Cup — 60 MiniLenzokart15th
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini13th
Italian Championship — 60 Mini15th
Trofeo delle Industrie — 60 Mini12th
WSK Night Edition — 60 MiniNoviello Engine25th
ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK7th
WSK Super Master Series — 60 MiniNovalux Srl14th
WSK Final Cup — 60 MiniGiugliano Kart9th
2016South Garda Winter Cup — Mini ROKEnergy Corse1st
WSK Champions Cup — 60 MiniGiugliano Kart2nd
WSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini2nd
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — 60 Mini16th
Italian Championship — 60 Mini19th
Trofeo delle Industrie — 60 Mini10th
WSK Night Edition — 60 MiniAB Motorsport11th
ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROKBaby Race Srl17th
WSK Final Cup — 60 MiniBirel ART Racing33rd
2017WSK Champions Cup — OKJNovalux Srl10th
Italian Championship — OKJLenzokart3rd
South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ21st
CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJNovalux Srl29th
ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROKFusion Motorsport4th
CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ26th
WSK Final Cup — OKJ10th
2018WSK Champions Cup — OKJBirel ART Racing5th
South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ5th
WSK Super Master Series — OKJ28th
German Karting Championship — OKJ26th
CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJLennox Racing Team62nd
WSK Final Cup — OK42nd
2019South Garda Winter Cup — KZ2Manetti MotorsportDNF
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — KZ2DNF
WSK Euro Series — OK33rd
WSK Euro Series — KZ2NC
WSK Super Master Series — KZ237th

Complete Karting World Championship results

Racing record

Racing career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
2020Formula 4 UAE ChampionshipXcel Motorsport19835103001st
Italian F4 ChampionshipVan Amersfoort Racing203127 2082nd
ADAC Formula 4 Championship900005411th
2021Formula Regional European Championshipalign=left nowrap=""Van Amersfoort Racing2000001220th
2022FIA Formula 3 Championshipalign=left nowrap=""Charouz Racing System180000127th
2023USF Pro 2000 ChampionshipTJ Speed Motorsports1801 212595th
IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2Proton Competition110010NC
Indy NXTAbel Motorsports400005524th
2024USF Pro 2000 ChampionshipTJ Speed Motorsports

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

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

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

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

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

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

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

American open-wheel racing results

USF Pro 2000 Championship

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

Indy NXT

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Francesco Pizzi steps up to Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports . 26 July 2023 .
  2. Web site: Allen 'wasn't breathing' in Rolex 24 LMP2 photo finish . 30 January 2023 .
  3. Web site: WSK: Four podiums for Energy at Castelletto. 26 April 2021.
  4. Web site: 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. 27 December 2019. 27 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191227113940/https://www.gazzettaregionale.it/notizie/pizzi-pronto-per-l-esordio-a-dubai-nuova-avventura-non-vedo-l-ora. dead.
  5. Web site: 7 March 2020. Francesco Pizzi wins F4 UAE title in Dubai finale. 26 April 2021.
  6. Web site: 12 March 2020. VAR SIGNS FRESH UAE F4 CHAMPION FRANCESCO PIZZI FOR EUROPEAN F4 CAMPAIGN. 12 March 2020.
  7. Web site: 2 August 2020. Francesco Pizzi holds off Mini at Misano to take Italian F4 lead. 26 April 2021.
  8. Web site: 18 October 2020. Pizzi wins again ahead of Mini in Monza Italian F4 race two. 26 April 2021.
  9. Web site: 22 November 2020. Gabriele Mini crowned Italian F4 champion at Imola with second place to Crawford. 30 December 2020.
  10. Web site: 7 December 2020. Mini, Pizzi and Saucy to drive for ART GP in 'FREC' rookie test. 30 December 2020.
  11. Web site: Wood. Elliot. 19 December 2020. Montoya and Beganovic star in Euroformula and FREC test at Barcelona. 21 January 2021. FormulaScout.
  12. Web site: 12 February 2021. Francesco Pizzi chooses Van Amersfoort Racing for FREC graduation. 26 April 2021.
  13. Web site: Charouz Racing System add Italian rookie Pizzi to their team for 2022. 28 January 2022. 12 March 2022. FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. en.
  14. Web site: 'It's going to be tough but that's why we race' – Pizzi preparing for a difficult debut season. 31 January 2022. 12 March 2022. FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. en.
  15. Web site: Charouz Racing System scores first point at Imola in Round 2 of the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship. 25 April 2022. 8 October 2022. Charouz Racing System..
  16. Web site: 2022 Round 7 post-Qualifying press conference. 26 August 2022. 8 October 2022. FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. en.
  17. Web site: FEATURE RACE: Maloney bounces back to bring home first win in Trident 1-2. 28 August 2022. 8 October 2022. FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. en.
  18. Web site: Driver Standings for the FIA Formula 3 2022 Championship. 8 October 2022. FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. en.
  19. Web site: Campos Racing to test new talents in FIA Formula 3 collective testing. 6 January 2023. Campos Racing. en.
  20. Web site: Largest Field Entered for USF Pro Fall Combine Open Test. 20 October 2022. www.usfpro2000.com.
  21. Web site: Wood. Ida. 5 January 2023. Francesco Pizzi leaves FIA F3 for USF Pro 2000 move with TJ Speed. 6 January 2023. Formula Scout. en-GB.
  22. Web site: Wood. Ida. 22 May 2024. Indy Nxt’s Bryce Aron steps down to USFP2000 to get oval experience. 23 May 2024. Formula Scout. en-GB.
  23. Web site: IMSA, Francesco Pizzi con Proton Competition a Daytona. 19 January 2023. 20 January 2023. pellemotorsport.com. it.