Versatile racer and ex-Formula 1 driver Andrea de Adamich has died at the age of 84.
The Italian started 29 world championship grands prix between 1968 and 1973, driving for Ferrari, McLaren, March, Surtees and Brabham. He never quite scored a podium but finished fourth at both the 1972 Spanish and 1973 Belgian GPs – and scored top-threes in a trio of non-championship F1 events.
Having started in hillclimbs and Formula Junior, de Adamich became best known for his exploits in touring car and sportscar racing. He became an Alfa Romeo stalwart and was the 1966 European Touring Car champion, with four wins, driving Alfa’s successful 1600 GTA run by the factory Autodelta squad.
He took the Division 2 class title again the following season and won the Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park, that year run for touring cars.
At the same time, de Adamich had continued competing in single-seaters, taking the 1965 Italian F3 crown. He then won the 1968 F2 Temporada series in Argentina with Ferrari against a strong field that included future world champion Jochen Rindt.
It was with the famous Italian team that the bespectacled de Adamich, who studied law, made his first F1 starts: the non-championship 1967 Spanish GP and the points-paying 1968 South African GP. But he was not kept by Ferrari following a big crash at the Brands Hatch Race of Champions.
After a long recovery, de Adamich returned and was soon back in the Alfa fold, which was more to his liking. McLaren ran Alfa’s V8 in a third car for de Adamich during the 1970 F1 season, but the engine was not a match for the Cosworth DFV that powered much of the field and he rarely qualified.
De Adamich and Alfa switched to March for 1971, but it was a similar story. It wasn’t until he joined Surtees – with Cosworth power – the following year that things improved. But only slightly as fourth at Jarama was his only points score of the campaign.
He joined Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham during 1973, taking another fourth at Zolder, but was the main victim of the infamous Jody Scheckter-triggered multi-car crash at the British GP. It took nearly an hour to free de Adamich from the wreckage and the serious leg injuries he sustained ended his frontline career at the age of 31, despite some Alfa appearances in 1974. “I couldn’t stand for three months,” de Adamich told Autosport in 2013.
Rarely a pacesetter, de Adamich had nevertheless always been a fine sportscar exponent. He twice started the Le Mans 24 Hours with Alfa, finishing fourth in 1972 alongside Nino Vaccarella in a T33/3. He also won two world sportscar championship races against the powerful Porsche 917s in 1971, the Brands Hatch 1000Km with Henri Pescarolo and the Watkins Glen season finale with Ronnie Peterson.
After retiring, de Adamich remained involved with the sport, as a journalist, TV personality and boss of a driving school. His links with Alfa Romeo also continued, de Adamich becoming a director of the N.Technology squad that scored numerous successes in touring car racing in the early part of the 21st century.
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