Max
Papis

Massimiliano "Max" Papis was born in Como on 3 October 1969 and grew up in Italy. He won several karting races at a young age. He was also a race winner in Formula 3000, and in 1994 he was a test driver for Lotus.

He competed in Formula One in 1995. In the middle of the season he took over Gianni Morbidelli's seat at Footwork and contested seven races, with Taki Inoue as his team-mate. His debut at Silverstone was hit by a puncture and a suspension failure after he brushed the wall of the pit lane following a tyre stop. At Hockenheim a transmission failure meant he stayed on his grid slot. At the Italian Grand Prix his spin on the first lap led to a collision involving several cars and a restart. In the restarted race he narrowly failed to score a point when Jean-Christophe Boullion's Sauber passed him on the final lap. After Morbidelli came back, Papis lost his seat.

In 1996 he moved to CART, replacing Jeff Krosnoff, who had died in the previous race at Toronto. He drove for Rahal in 1999 and finished fifth in the championship. He won the 2000 season opener, and in 2001 he added two more wins and finished sixth overall, giving him three Champ Car victories in total. In 2002 he drove for Sigma Autosport and took third places at Long Beach and Milwaukee. He started the Indianapolis 500 in 2002 and 2006 for Cheever Racing, finishing fourteenth in 2006.

Papis also raced sports cars. At the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona he finished second in a Ferrari 333SP, and his closing stint earned him the nickname "Mad Max". He made his NASCAR debut in 2006 in the Busch Series at Watkins Glen. In 2007 he finished third at the NAPA 200 in Montreal, and in 2008 he made his Cup debut. In his first Cup season with a full-time ride he finished eighth at Watkins Glen. In 2013 he stood in for Tony Stewart in the Cup race at Watkins Glen. He also raced in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, where he finished second at Tours. In 2016 he was appointed a race steward for the IndyCar Series and made his debut in Stadium Super Trucks.

Source: Wikipedia, “Max Papis”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.