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Venezuelan history
Steven LynchSeptember 9, 2013
Has Venezuela produced any F1 drivers apart from Pastor Maldonado? asked Robin Marks
Pastor Maldonado is the only Venezuelan to win a Grand Prix - he pulled off a surprise victory for Williams in Spain last year - but he was the third driver from his country to enter one. The first was Ettori Chimeri, who was actually born in Italy: he entered the season-opening Argentine GP in 1960, but retired after 23 of the race's 80 laps. He planned to compete in the rest of that year's races, but was killed in practice for a race in Cuba two weeks later. The other Venezuelan driver was Johnny Cecotto, who had two seasons in uncompetitive cars in 1983-84: he picked up one point for finishing sixth in the United States GP West at Long Beach in only his second race, driving a Theodore. Cecotto was much better known as a motor-cyclist: he won the world 350cc title in 1975, when he was only 19. His son, Johnny Cecotto junior, currently lies 16th in the GP2 standings.
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