Felipe Giaffone

Felipe Giaffone
Giaffone as a Fórmula Truck driver.
Nationality	Brazil
Born	January 22, 1975 São Paulo
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	2001–2006
Teams	Mo Nunn Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Starts	61
Wins	1
Poles	0
Best finish	4th in 2002
Previous series
1996–2000 1995	Indy Lights Toyota Atlantic

Felipe Giaffone (Portuguese pronunciation: [fiˈlipi ʒaˈfoni], born January 22, 1975 in São Paulo) is a race car driver from Brazil. He competed in the Indy Racing League between 2001 and 2006. His father, "Zeca" Giaffone is the 1987 Stock Car Brasil champion and Mil Milhas Brasil five times winner in the 1980s.

Racing career

He went to the United States to drive in the Indy Lights series in 1999 where he was coached by Formula One legend and countryman Nelson Piquet. He began racing in the IRL in 2001 and won one race at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. In 2003 Felipe was one of the IRL's representatives in the IROC series, but he only competed in two races due to injury and finished 10th in series standings. In 2005 Felipe made a last minute deal with A.J. Foyt to qualify a third car for him in the Indianapolis 500. With minutes to spare, Giaffone bumped Arie Luyendyk Jr. from the field. Starting in the final 33rd starting position, he avoided attrition and finished 15th. With A.J.'s grandson A.J. Foyt IV leaving the IRL for NASCAR in 2006, A.J. the elder chose Giaffone to be his full-time driver for the 2006 season but he was released after eight races due to what Foyt called "communication problems".

Since 2007, Giaffone has raced in the Fórmula Truck, the Brazilian racing truck series. He won the championship in 2007, 2009 and 2011, and was runner-up in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Racing record

American Open Wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1996	Leading Edge Motorsport	MIA 14	LBH 24	NAZ 13	MIS 10	MIL 9	DET 18	POR 16	CLE 6	TOR	TRO					17th	20
	Brian Stewart Racing											VAN 22	LS 8
1998	Conquest Racing	MIA 19	LBH 24	NAZ 8	STL 4	MIL 2	DET 9	POR 2	CLE 8	TOR 6	MIS 9	TRO 6	VAN 5	LS 18	FON 2	4th	104
1999	Conquest Racing	MIA 17	LBH 10	NAZ 18	MIL 4	POR 10	CLE 3	TOR 4	MIS 3	DET 4	CHI 8	LS 18	FON 20			6th	78
2000	Conquest Racing	LBH 3	MIL 12	DET 2	POR 14	MIS 1	CHI 4	MDO 13	VAN 2	LS 6	STL 7	HOU 3	FON 7			4th	118

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
2001	Treadway Racing	G-Force GF05B	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	PHX 6	HMS 4	ATL 10	INDY 10	TXS 2	PPI 7	RIR 11	KAN 4	NSH 8	KTY 8	STL 20	CHI 10	TX2 21					6th	304
2002	Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force GF05C	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS 7	PHX 19	FON 6	NZR 2	INDY 3	TXS 5	PPI 4	RIR 3	KAN 4	NSH 7	MIS 3	KTY 1	STL 21	CHI 6	TX2 17			4th	432
2003	Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force GF09	Toyota Indy V8	HMS 9	PHX 3	MOT 3	INDY 33	TXS 17	PPI 13	RIR 6	KAN 22	NSH Inj	MIS Inj	STL Inj	KTY Inj	NZR Inj	CHI 15	FON 16	TX2 19		20th	199
2004	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara IR-04	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY 15	TXS 9	RIR 10	KAN 16	NSH 15	MIL 13	MIS 16	KTY 16	PPI 16	NZR 16	CHI 8	FON 20	TX2 11		20th	214
2005	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Panoz GF09C	Toyota Indy V8	HMS	PHX	STP	MOT	INDY 15	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPIR	SNM	CHI	WGL	FON	31st	15
2006	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI6R V8	HMS 8	STP 9	MOT 15	INDY 21	WGL 5	TXS 16	RIR 17	KAN 19	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI				17th	142

IndyCar Series career summary

Year	Team	Starts	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
2001	Treadway Racing	13	0	304	6th
2002	Mo Nunn Racing	15	1	432	4th
2003	Mo Nunn Racing	11	0	199	20th
2004	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	13	0	214	20th
2005	Foyt Enterprises	1	0	15	30th
2006	Foyt Enterprises	8	0	142	17th

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2001	G-Force GF05B	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	33	10	Treadway Racing
2002	G-Force GF05C	Chevrolet Indy V8	4	3	Mo Nunn Racing
2003	G-Force GF09	Toyota Indy V8	16	33	Mo Nunn Racing
2004	Dallara IR-04	Chevrolet Indy V8	25	15	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2005	Panoz GF09C	Toyota Indy V8	33	15	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
2006	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI6R V8	21	21	A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Family

The Giaffone family has had great involvement in motorsport.

• José "Zeca" Giaffone - Felipe's father; 1987 Stock Car Brasil champion and five times winner of Mil Milhas Brasil: 1981, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1989. The founder of JL Racing, the biggest racing engine supplier in Brazil and Stock Car Brasil chassis supplier, and the owner of Granja Viana international kart circuit in Cotia, near São Paulo city.
• José "Zequinha" Giaffone - Felipe's brother; He competed in some races in the 1996 Indy Lights.
• Affonso Giaffone Filho - Felipe's uncle, Zeca's elder brother; The winner of the first ever race of Stock Car Brasil in 1979, the champion of the 1981 season and two times winner of Mil Milhas Brasil: 1981 and 1986. His four sons all competed in the Brazilian national kart championships.
• Affonso Giaffone - Felipe's cousin, Affonso Filho's son; He competed in the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season.
• Silvana Giaffone - Felipe's cousin and later wife of Rubens Barrichello. This makes Barrichello a cousin-in-law of Felipe.

References

External links

• History of the kart circuit - from Granja Viana kart circuit official website
• Felipe Giaffone career summary at DriverDB.com