Carlo
Facetti

Carlo Giovanni Facetti was born on 26 June 1935 in Cormano, Lombardy. His father, Piero, was a mechanic and racing driver who finished fourth in the 1947 Mille Miglia, and his brothers also went on to race. Facetti began competing in 1953 in the Giro di Calabria, driving a Fiat 8V. By around 1960 he was building and racing Formula Junior cars powered by Lancia Appia engines. In 1963 he moved into touring cars, joining the Lancia works team, HF Squadra Corse, for the inaugural European Touring Car Challenge. In Budapest, sharing with Luigi Cabella, he took his first major international victory. In 1964 he contested the Formula Junior Temporada series in Argentina, with a best result of fifth in Buenos Aires, and in 1965 he finished runner-up in the Italian championship.

From 1969 Facetti worked for Autodelta, Alfa Romeo's competition department, helping to develop its sports cars and racing in the European Touring Car Championship. He finished third in the Spa 24 Hours twice. In 1974 he and Andrea de Adamich reached the podium four times in the World Championship for Makes, the best being second in the 1000 km at the Österreichring. That same year the Scuderia Finotto entered him for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He failed to qualify his Brabham BT42, so his only Formula One entry did not lead to a start.

After leaving Autodelta he developed engines for the Lancia Stratos and raced for Lancia. He won the Giro d'Italia in the Silhouette version of the Stratos. In 1977 he returned to the European Touring Car Championship alongside Martino Finotto, finishing second in the standings that year and fourth in 1978. In 1979 the pair, in a BMW CSL, won the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone and with it the European Touring Car title.

In the 1980s Facetti and Finotto built the Carma FF together, based on the Ferrari 308 GTB. For the Alba Group C Junior prototypes he designed and built the engines. In 1983 Facetti and Finotto were regular class winners in the Alba, helping it to win the Group C Junior Cup. In 1986 he prepared Ferrari engines for the IMSA Camel Lights class. He drove an Alba for the last time in 1988 and then withdrew from international racing. In 1995 he finished fourth in a Coppa GT Special round at Mugello in a Ferrari F355.

Source: Wikipedia, “Carlo Facetti”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.