Giovanna Amati

She had been kidnapped for ransom on 12 February 1978 by three gangsters in a group led by Jean Daniel Nieto, who had allegedly raped her and then romanced.[6]

Amati had been taken out of a car she was sitting in near her parents' villa and was taken away in a van. Her captors took her into a house located near to her parents' home but was moved when police came searching for Amati.[7] She was kept in a wooden cage for 75 days and was physically and mentally abused but Nieto comforted her.[7] Amati was released on an 800 million-lira ($933,000 in 1978) ransom on 27 April using box office receipts for the film Star Wars[8] and her mother sold some of her jewellery and managed to get into her servants' life savings to pay the ransom.[7] Magistrates ordered that all of the assets belonging to the Amati family would be frozen to prevent payment.[9]

Nieto, a French citizen, was later arrested after a meeting with the former kidnapped. When he was released, newspapers published stories detailing the strong emotional relationship between Nieto and Amati.[10] He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Nieto escaped prison in 1989 and remained a fugitive until he was arrested in April 2010.[11][12]

To increase her skills in order to prepare her for Motor Racing, Amati attended a motor racing school with her friend, Elio de Angelis. She began racing professionally in the Formula Abarth series in 1981, winning several times over the next four years before moving up to Italian Formula Three in 1985–86, again scoring a few wins. By 1987 she had moved up to Formula 3000 racing three times, but only qualified for the race at Donington.[13] Amati competed in F3000 for 1988 with Lola and managed to secure two 10th places at Monza and Jerez. At Jerez, she finished behind future Formula One drivers Jean-Denis Délétraz, Jean Alesi and Marco Apicella. Amati moved to the Japanese F3000 for 1989 but she had no success. In 1990, Amati returned to Europe to the International F3000. Within the first four rounds, she raced with Roni Motorsports in a Reynard 90D Cosworth before moving to Lola for round five. Her final team change was to Cobra Motorsports for the last five rounds.[13] In 1990, Amati was involved in a crash with British driver Phil Andrews, in which she ran him off the road during a test session prior to the Brands Hatch race that year.[14] She would never score any points during her tenure in Formula 3000.

In 1991, Amati joined GJ Motorsports driving a Reynard 91D Cosworth for the entire season. She qualified for six rounds and managed to finish a few times. By the end of the year, Amati tested for Benetton driving for 30 laps.[13]

Amati signed with the Brabham team in January 1992 to partner Eric van de Poele after the team was unable to sign Japanese F3000 driver Akihiko Nakaya, who was not granted a superlicence due to the FIA not recognising the Japanese F3000 series as a stepping stone in motor racing. The announcement of a female driver gained publicity for the Brabham team. Before the first round in South Africa, Amati had little experience in driving Formula One machinery as mechanics were still working on her car.[15]

At South Africa, Amati's inexperience showed on the track after spinning six times during practice. During Qualifying, she was unable to qualify after setting a time that was nine seconds slower than pole sitter Nigel Mansell and four seconds slower than teammate Van de Poele.[15]

At Mexico, Amati had failed to qualify for the second consecutive race having setting a time more than 10 seconds slower than Mansell.[15]

At Brazil, Amati once again failed to qualify for the race having a time 11 seconds slower than Mansell in Friday qualifying. Saturday qualifying saw a slight improvement but Amati still did not qualify. Soon after the race, Amati was sacked by Brabham and was replaced by Damon Hill.[15]

Amati went into the Porsche SuperCup for 1993 to win the Women's European Championship. From 1994 to 1996, she raced in the Ferrari Challenge and was consistent in the series. She left the series for a sabbatical for 1997 before returning in 1998. Once again racing in the Ferrari Challenge with a Ferrari 355 and also raced in the International Sports Racing Series driving an Alfa Romeo Giudici Gaiero SPN. Amati raced in the 1998 Sebring 12 Hours in a BMW M3, driving alongside Craig Carter and Andy Petery but retired due to clutch trouble. She also raced the 1000 km of Monza racing alongside Loic Depailler, Marco Lucchinelli, and Xavier Pompidou but were unable to start but came 11th at Le Mans during a two-hour race alongside Guido Knycz and Giovanni Gulinelli.[16] In 1999, Amati raced in the SportsRacing World Cup driving a Tampolli RS2-RTA99 for the Cauduro Tampolli team alongside Angelo Lancelotti in the SR2 class. She was placed third overall in the SR2 class championship in 1999. Amati has also moved into media, writing columns in Italy for motorsport publications and providing television commentary.[16]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key)