Giovanni Giuseppe Gilberto “Nanni” Galli (2 October 1940 – 12 October 2019) was an Italian racing driver who made his name in saloon cars and sports cars before taking his talents into Formula One during the 1960s and 1970s.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Italian |
| Birthplace | Bologna, Italy |
| Born | 2 October 1940 |
| Died | 12 October 2019 |
| First Grand Prix | 1970 Italian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1973 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1970–1973 |
| Current/Last Team | Frank Williams Racing Cars |
Career
Born in Bologna, Galli built his reputation in endurance racing, and 1968 proved to be a particularly strong year. He won the Circuit of Mugello and, sharing with Ignazio Giunti, took second place in the famously punishing Targa Florio. The pair also teamed up for the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, bringing their Alfa Romeo T33/2 home an impressive fourth overall.
Galli returned to Le Mans in 1969, this time partnering Robin Widdows in a Matra. They finished seventh, giving Galli another solid result at the world’s most famous endurance race. His third and final contemporary appearance at Le Mans came in 1970, when he shared an Alfa Romeo T33/3 with Rolf Stommelen. This time there would be no chequered flag, with the car failing to finish.
By then, Formula One was calling. Galli made his World Championship debut at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, driving a McLaren-Alfa. Opportunities followed over the next couple of seasons, although machinery capable of putting him near the front was rather harder to come by. One of his better single-seater results arrived in 1972, when he finished third for the small Tecno team in the non-championship Grand Prix of the Italian Republic at Vallelunga.
That same year brought the biggest opportunity of his Formula One career: a drive for Ferrari. Galli joined the Scuderia for the 1972 French Grand Prix at Circuit Charade, near Clermont-Ferrand. It was a chance to wear racing’s most famous shade of red, although the weekend itself proved less glamorous. He qualified 20th and crossed the line 13th.
Galli also raced for Tecno during the 1972 Formula One season, including an appearance at the Italian Grand Prix. For 1973 he made half a dozen outings in an uncompetitive car entered by Frank Williams. With little prospect of fighting at the sharp end, Galli subsequently called time on his Formula One career.
In all, he participated in 20 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. Despite his success elsewhere and spells with some famous names, he never scored a World Championship point.
Retirement did not quite mean that Galli had finished with racing cars forever. Remarkably, he returned to competition at the 2014 Le Mans Classic, driving a Lola T290 and finishing 21st. It was his first race appearance in four decades: his previous competitive outing had come in the 1974 World Endurance Championship, when he drove an Osella-Abarth.
It made for a fitting late chapter in a career that stretched from Italian road races and Alfa Romeo sports cars to Formula One machinery and Ferrari. Galli died in Prato on 12 October 2019, ten days after his 79th birthday.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 20 |
| Race Starts | 17 |
| Did Not Start | 1 |
| Best Race Start | 15th |
| Best Race Finish | 9th |
| Retirements | 9 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 1 |
| Not Classified | 1 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 2 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 19 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 2 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | McLaren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1971 | March | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1972 | Tecno, Ferrari | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1973 | Frank Williams Racing Cars | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | NC |
Stats by Constructor
| Constructor | Years | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | 1970 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| March | 1971 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Tecno | 1972 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | – | 0 | 0 |
| Ferrari | 1972 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Williams Racing Cars | 1973 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head
| Teammate | Years | Races | Qualifying H2H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Gethin | 1970 | 1 | 0-0 |
| Andrea de Adamich | 1970, 1971 | 6 | 1-3 |
| Denny Hulme | 1970 | 1 | 0-0 |
| Alex Soler-Roig | 1971 | 3 | 1-2 |
| Ronnie Peterson | 1971 | 9 | 0-7 |
| Niki Lauda | 1971 | 1 | 0-1 |
| Mike Beuttler | 1971 | 1 | 0-1 |
| Derek Bell | 1972 | 1 | 0-1 |
| Jacky Ickx | 1972 | 1 | 0-1 |
| Howden Ganley | 1973 | 5 | 0-5 |
