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Gastón Mazzacane

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Gastón Mazzacane
Mazzacane in 2018
Born (1975-05-08) 8 May 1975 (age 49)
La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityArgentina Argentine
Active years2000–2001
TeamsMinardi, Prost
Entries21
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2000 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2001 San Marino Grand Prix

Gastón Hugo Mazzacane (born 8 May 1975)[1] is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in 21 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 2000 Australian Grand Prix. His father, Hugo Mazzacane, named him after the late Argentine touring car racer Gastón Perkins.[2]

Mazzacane has also raced in Turismo Carretera and was the first TC Pick Up champion in 2018.[3]

Racing career

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Mazzacane driving for Minardi in 2000

Mazzacane is often known as a "pay driver".[4][5] He began his Formula One career in 1999 as the test driver for Minardi. In late February 2000, it was announced that he would be the teammate of Marc Gené in the race team. "I intend to learn over the first half of the season and then I feel I will have the confidence to perform well," Mazzacane told the press at the launch of the Minardi M02. His debut year in Formula One began with a broken gearbox at his first race, the 2000 Australian Grand Prix, followed by a 10th place in Brazil. He went on to outqualify Gené at Imola, a feat he later accomplished twice more. The German Grand Prix was a relative high point for him; after outqualifying his teammate, he finished 11th. His highlight in the spotlights this season was on a damp Indianapolis track when he famously overtook Mika Häkkinen, who was struggling after an early gamble on dry tyres. After running up to third without stopping, he ran over his pitcrew and dropped out of the race later. Nevertheless, he finished 11 of the 17 races that year and ranked third among drivers with the most kilometres raced.

At the start of 2001, Mazzacane tested for Arrows, but finally settled into the Prost team, taking over the seat of the Sauber-bound Nick Heidfeld. He beat CART's Oriol Servia for the Prost spot, and was announced as the second driver in January 2001. However, the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix was his final Formula One race. Alain Prost fired him by using a performance clause in his contract, and the vacancy was filled by Luciano Burti, who had recently been sacked from Jaguar Racing.

He would be the last Argentinian to drive in Formula One until the 2024 Italian Grand Prix when Franco Colapinto drove for Williams.

Mazzacane signed a contract with the reformed DART team a/k/a Phoenix, which had plans to race in the 2002 season. However, it was not to be as the team was barred from racing.

He then went to the US and competed in the last half of the 2004 Champ Car season with the Dale Coyne Racing #19 car.

Motorsport career results

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Complete International Formula 3000 results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1996 Auto Sport Racing NÜR
Ret 		PAU
DNQ 		PER
14 		HOC
Ret 		SIL
11 		SPA
19 		MAG
Ret 		EST
10 		MUG
Ret 		HOC
Ret 		22nd 0
1997 Auto Sport Racing SIL
10 		PAU
DNQ 		HEL
Ret 		NÜR
10 		PER
15 		HOC
10 		A1R
17 		SPA
11 		MUG
10 		JER
Ret 		28th 0
1998 Team Astromega OSC
6 		IMO
7 		CAT
Ret 		SIL
6 		MON
12 		PAU
9 		A1R
Ret 		HOC
Ret 		HUN
Ret 		SPA
DNQ 		PER
13 		NÜR
Ret 		21st 2
1999 GP Racing IMO MON CAT MAG SIL
DNQ 		A1R HOC HUN SPA NÜR NC 0
Sources:[4][6]

Complete Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
2000 Telefónica Minardi Fondmetal Minardi M02 Fondmetal V10 AUS
Ret 		BRA
10 		SMR
13 		GBR
15 		ESP
15 		EUR
8 		MON
Ret 		CAN
12 		FRA
Ret 		AUT
12 		GER
11 		HUN
Ret 		BEL
17 		ITA
10 		USA
Ret 		JPN
15 		MAL
13† 		NC 0
2001 Prost Acer Prost AP04 Acer V10 AUS
Ret 		MAL
12 		BRA
Ret 		SMR
Ret 		ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 25th 0
Sources:[6][7]

† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

American Open-Wheel

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(key)

Champ Car

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Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points Ref
2004 Dale Coyne LBH MTY MIL
16 		POR
13 		CLE
12 		TOR
6 		VAN
18 		ROA
18 		DEN
15 		MTL
12 		LS
13 		LVS
15 		SRF MXC 17th 73 [8]
Source:[4]

References

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  1. ^ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. ^ "Gastón Mazzacane - Full Biography". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Mazzacane es el primer Campeón. Campeones - 25-11-2018". Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  4. ^ a b c "Gaston Mazzacane – Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motor Sport Online. Retrieved 17 October 2018. Gastón Mazzacane bought his way onto the Formula 1 grid at the start of 2000 but his 21 starts proved he did not belong at the top level. Even the cash-strapped Prost Grand Prix invoked a performance clause in his contract to replace him with Luciano Burti after four races in 2001.
  5. ^ Jim Weeks (14 July 2017). "Formula 1's Strange Relationship with 'Pay Drivers'". Vice Sports. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Gaston Mazzacane Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  7. ^ "All championship race entries, by Gaston Mazzacane". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Gastón Mazzacane – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
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