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Fabrizio De Simone Niquesa was born in Rome on 30 March 1971. His
sporting career started in 1984 when he took part in the Italian Kart
Championship, 100cc cadet class. After having just missed out on the
title in 1985, in 1986, he secured the World Junior championship in
the 100cc category.
Over the following seasons he came runner-up in the Italian 100cc Int
(1987), runner-up in the World Super 100cc (1988) and runner-up in the
World Formula K 135cc class (1989). He again won the 100cc Super title
in 1990.
De Simone made his Formula 3 debut and was named ‘Rookie of the Year’.
He competed in F3 until 1993, scoring two wins.
In 1994 he switched to Formula 3000 and finished second in Barcelona.
The following year he continued racing in F3000 and then drove well
during an F1 test with Jordan, becoming their official test driver in
1996.
De Simone’s career took another change in 1997 when he made the move
to the Italian Superturismo Championship with the official BMW team.
He stayed until 1999 and topped the podium six times.
He took part in the final few races of the European Turismo
Championship with the AGS Audi team in 2000. In 2002, he competed in
the same series with BMW Team Spain.
De Simone made his FIA GT debut in 2003 in the N-GT category. He was
in the driving seat of a JMB Racing 360 Modena. Paired with Andrea
Bertolini, De Simone claimed four wins (Barcelona, Oschersleben,
Estoril and Monza) and four pole positions, he only just failed to
secure the championship.
In 2004 De Simone drove the Maserati Trofeo Light in the Daytona 24
Hour (USA). He raced for the Maserati of Washington outfit in the
American GrandAm series. He has just started competing in the FIA GT
with the G.P.C. Giesse squad together with Christian Pescatori. At the
wheel of a Ferrari 360 GTC, he was victorious at Brno in the N-GT
category.
Married to Francesca, he lives in Rome. His hobbies are diving, skiing
and listening to music. Even though he does not have a favourite dish,
he loves cooking. |
