Giovanna
Amati

Giovanna Amati was born in Rome on 20 July 1959. She began racing in Formula Abarth in 1981, then competed in Italian Formula Three in 1985 and 1986 and moved up to Formula 3000 in 1987. She spent a short spell in Japan in 1989 before returning to International Formula 3000 in 1990 and 1991. At the end of 1991 she tested a Formula One car for the first time, a Benetton.

In early 1992 she signed for Brabham alongside Eric van de Poele. She was the first woman since Desiré Wilson in 1980 to be entered for a Formula One race. She failed to qualify in South Africa, Mexico and Brazil, so she never started a Grand Prix. Brabham replaced her with Damon Hill.

Afterwards Amati raced in the Porsche Supercup's Women's European Championship in 1993, in the Ferrari Challenge from 1994 to 1996 and later in sports car events. In 1999 she finished third in the SR2 class of the SportsRacing World Cup. After her racing career she worked briefly as a commentator and columnist.

Source: Wikipedia, “Giovanna Amati”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.