Luis
Pérez-Sala

Luis Pérez-Sala was born in Barcelona on 15 May 1959. He began in karting and in the early 1980s raced production-based cars, first in a Renault 5 and then, in 1983, in the international Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint Cup. In 1984 he finished tenth in the European Formula 3 Championship, and in 1985 he was seventh in the Italian Formula 3 Championship, with one win. In International Formula 3000 he won at Birmingham and Enna in 1986 and ended the year fourth in the championship. In 1987 he won for Lola at Donington Park and on the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans, and finished as runner-up to Stefano Modena.

He drove for Minardi in Formula One in 1988 and 1989. His first team-mate was fellow Spaniard Adrián Campos, the first time two Spanish drivers had been team-mates in Formula One. He made his debut in Brazil on 3 April 1988, qualifying 20th and retiring with a rear wing failure. From the sixth round in Detroit, Pierluigi Martini took Campos's place alongside him. Pérez-Sala scored his only championship point with sixth place in the 1989 British Grand Prix. It was the first point for a Spanish driver in thirty years, and the first time both Minardi cars finished in the points. He ended the 1989 season 26th in the standings. At the final race of the year in Australia he failed to qualify. Of his 32 entries, 26 resulted in a start.

After Formula One he won the Spanish Touring Car Championship in 1991 and 1993, then moved into sportscar and endurance racing. With Manel Cerqueda he took the GTB class title in the Spanish GT Championship in 2003 and 2004, and he finished second overall in 2008, his final season of competition. He has worked since 1990 as a commentator and analyst for outlets including RTVE, El País and TV3, instructs racing drivers and is involved in the Joves Pilots del Circuit de Catalunya development programme. In 2012 he was team principal of the HRT Formula One team.

Source: Wikipedia, “Luis Pérez-Sala”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.