Johnny Cecotto | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Cecotto in 1978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Caracas, Venezuela | 25 January 1956||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Formula One World Championship career | |
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Active years | 1983–1984 |
Teams | Theodore, Toleman |
Entries | 23 (18 starts) |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Career points | 1 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1984 British Grand Prix |
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
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Years | 1981, 1996, 1998 |
Teams | Team Bigazzi SRL, Team BMW Motorsport |
Best finish | 8th (1996) |
Class wins | 0 |
Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer.[1] He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youngest motorcycle road racing world champion at the age of 19.[2] Despite the auspicious beginning to his motorcycle racing career, he suffered numerous injuries and mechanical problems which curtailed his success in motorcycle Grand Prix racing.[2]
At the age of 24, Cecotto turned his attention to auto racing where he reached the pinnacle of the sport as a Formula One driver. He later became a successful Touring Car racer. He is the last of a select group of competitors who competed at the highest level in motorcycle and auto racing, which includes John Surtees and Mike Hailwood among others.[3]