Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli (born 13 July, 1974 in Pescara, Italy) is an Italian Formula One auto racing driver currently in the employ of the Toyota team.

Related Topics:
13 July - 1974 - Pescara - Italy - Formula One - Auto racing - Toyota

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Trulli's parents were motorsport fans, and named their son after Jarno Saarinen, the Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion who had been killed at Monza in 1973. This Finnish forename caused a certain amount of confusion when he first entered Formula One, with many not initially realising that he was Italian. His father's enthusiasm also meant that, like many successful racers, he was involved in karting from an early age.

Related Topics:
Jarno Saarinen - Finnish - Grand Prix motorcycle racing - Monza - 1973 - Karting

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After winning the Italian and then European Go-Karts championships he won the German Formula Three championship in 1996, and in 1997 made his debut in F1 with Minardi. After 7 races he replaced the injured Olivier Panis at Prost and impressed immediately, finishing fourth at the German Grand Prix and even led the Austrian Grand Prix until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium at the 1999 European Grand Prix. In 2000 he moved to Jordan; after two irregular seasons he moved to Renault, and after a tough 2002 he experienced a good season in 2003, scoring 33 points and 1 podium at the German Grand Prix.

Related Topics:
Formula Three - 1996 - 1997 - Minardi - Olivier Panis - Prost - German Grand Prix - Austrian Grand Prix - 1999 - European Grand Prix - 2000 - Jordan - 2002 - 2003

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In 2004 the Renault was more competitive still and he won his first Grand Prix race at Monaco. However, his relationship with Renault (particularly with team owner and Trulli's ex-manager Flavio Briatore) deteriorated after it was made clear he would not be retained by the team in 2005 despite having so far outperformed his highly-rated teammate Fernando Alonso in the 2004 championship. Trulli was consistently off the pace in the latter half of the year, and made claims of favoritism in the team towards teammate Alonso (though the two teammates themselves remained friendly). He subsequently announced he was joining Toyota for the following year and in fact left Renault early, driving the Toyota in the last two races of the 2004 season.

Related Topics:
2004 - Monaco - 2005 - Fernando Alonso

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In 2005, his first full season with Toyota, Trulli finished 2nd place in the grand prix of Malaysia and Bahrain, the Toyota team's best ever results to date. Currently, Trulli has 43 points towards the World Championship, which places him fifth among the contenders for the 2005 season.

Related Topics:
2005 - Toyota - Malaysia - Bahrain

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