31/8/1942
Record updated 10-Mar-08
Italian racing driver who drove a Gulf backed Rondini Tyrrell 007 for three races in 1976 after minor success in Formula 3 and Formula 2.
Pesenti-Rossi was born in Bergamo, Italy. He was an Italian national F3 racer who did quite well in 1974 driving a GRD, encouraging him to undertake a couple of F2 races in a March with sponsorship from Beta. In 1975 Alessandro again did quite well, scoring a second place on aggregate at Mugello.
Then in 1976 he tried to break into F1 with a privately entered, Gulf-Rondini backed, year old Tyrrell 007. His short F1 career spanned four entries and three starts.
At the German Grand Prix held at Nürburgring on August 1, most drivers started the race on wet tyres, except German Jochen Mass who had a lot of experience at the Nürburgring and expected a change for better weather. On lap two, most drivers pitted for dry tyres and Mass was leading. Niki Lauda had also changed his tyres and was trying hard to make up for the lost time before he crashed at Bergwerk. Lunger and Ertl collided with the wreck before pulling Lauda out of the burning Ferrari. Pesenti-Rossi finished in 14th one lap down on James Hunt.
At the Austrian Grand Prix held at Österreichring on August 15 Pesenti-Rossi scored the best finish finishing 11th. He then failed to qualify in Holland and in Italy after a good qualifying session he crossed the line in 18th, three laps down on Ronnie Peterson.
For 1977 he sensibly decided to return to Formula 2 with a March 772. Three fourth places at Vallelunga, Mugello and Misano were his best results and after failing to qualify for the Preis von Wurttemberg at Hockenheim in a Chevron at the start of 1978, he retired from serious competition.