Ex-F1 racer de Cesaris killed in motorbike accident

Andrea de Cesaris

Ex-Formula 1 racer Andrea de Cesaris has been killed in a motorcycle accident in Italy at the age of 54, according to reports.

According to Italy’s la Repubblica, de Cesaris, who made his debut in F1 in 1980 and raced in the sport until his retirement in 1994, is understood to have crashed his motorbike while driving in the Bufalotta region, outside Rome.

The Italian, born in 1959, gained a reputation for his erratic driving in the early years of his Formula 1 career before becoming one of the most mature drivers on the grid in his later years.

In a F1 career that covered 14 years, de Cesaris, who ultimately never won in the sport, drove for 10 different teams, most memorably Alfa Romeo, with whom he claimed his sole pole in the sport at Long Beach in 1982.

Stints at McLaren, Ligier, Minardi, Brabham, Rial and Dallara followed without much success, but he notably led the young fledging Jordan Grand Prix team as it made its debut in Formula 1 in 1991, partnering a young Michael Schumacher in his one off appearance with the Irish team at Spa-Francorchamps.

Despite being out qualified by the future seven-time champion, de Cesaris ran second for a large part of the race behind McLaren’s Ayrton Senna and seemed set to claim Jordan’s maiden podium, before cruelly retiring with an engine failure with just three laps remaining.

Two years at Tyrrell followed, while a series of appearances for Jordan and Sauber in 1994 saw him pass the 200 race mark, finishing his career with 208 starts – at the time the second highest number recorded in Formula 1 behind Ricardo Patrese.