Single seat
Happy birthday Tico Martini, 89 years old and single-seater legend!
Tico Martini has left his mark on the history of French motorsport. Photo DPPI
For the young Italian emigrant Tico Martini, born December 6, 1934, it all began on the Channel Island of Jersey where his parents found refuge to escape fascism. It was there that his English friends, unable to pronounce his first name Renato, called him “Tico”, a nickname that has stuck with him ever since. It was also there that he decided to return to Italy to train in mechanics. When he returned to Jersey, he rented a garage, bought a Cooper 500 and, when his bartending job allowed, competed in local races.
It was during these competitions that he met another speed lover, Bill Knight. The result was a friendship which soon opened the doors to a career and a life devoted to motorsport. Thus will be born the Winfield Piloting School which for four decades will reveal the greatest French pilots, Alain Prost understood.
Alain Prost's Martini MK17 in Formula Renault in 1976. Photo DPPI
Manager, instructor and mechanic of the school based in Magny-Cours, he started building single-seaters in the mid-60s, in the blessed days of Formula France and Formula Renault, when motorsport was democratized.
Martini then enjoyed success in Formula 2, with several European titles for Jacques Laffite (1975) and Rene Arnoux (1977), as well as in Formula 3 with Alain Prost in 1979 or in Formula Super VW in the USA with Didier Theys in 1986.
The adventure even extended into Formula 1 during the 1978 season with the MK23 driven by René Arnoux, but it was cut short due to lack of financial means.
Tico returned to the access series to the premier discipline where his single-seaters enjoyed many more years of success. In the 2000s, still on deck, he joined forces with Guy Ligier to manufacture the trays in the LMP3 category.
Good foot and good eye, Tico continues today to fly over the Nièvre at the controls of his microlight and to sing along, performing his own repertoire. A genius jack-of-all-trades, we said, to whom the editorial staff of AUTOhebdo wish a very happy birthday!
ALSO READ > Our Carpooling with Tico Martini
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