• Q and A with Jarno Trulli

  NASCAR news - autosport.com - Found Nov. 18, 2009 AUTOSPORT heard from Jarno Trulli about his NASCAR Sprint Cup test with Michael Waltrip Racing on Wednesday at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.

• Salo relishing NASCAR chance

  NASCAR news - autosport.com - Found Nov. 17, 2009 ... driving for Michael Waltrip Racing at the half-mile New Smyrna Speedway, where former Formula 1 colleague Jarno Trulli is joining his as both...

• Q and A with Nelson Piquet

  NASCAR news - autosport.com - Found Nov. 15, 2009 Along with Jarno Trulli and Mika Salo, Nelson Piquet Jr was also a visitor at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend.

• Q and A with Jarno Trulli

  NASCAR news - autosport.com - Found Nov. 14, 2009 Jarno Trulli has spent the weekend at Phoenix International Raceway with Michael Waltrip Racing learning about NASCAR and the car that he is about to ...

• The All-Motorsport Power Rankings: Week 43

  BleacherReport Nascar - Found Nov. 11, 2009 Jarno Trulli's off to test a NASCAR again (let's see what a Trulli-Train looks like on an oval), Peter Windsor of USF1 is having to make...

• Waltrip serious about Trulli test

  NASCAR news - autosport.com - Found Nov. 10, 2009 ... officials say the team is serious about the upcoming NASCAR test for former Toyota F1 driver Jarno Trulli. Trulli will be driving a Sprint Cup...

• Special Report: Formula One: Start to Finish, a Formula One Season ...

  International Herald Tribune - Found Nov. 10, 2009 His explanation resulted in a penalty for the other driver, Jarno Trulli, which allowed Hamilton to be promoted from fourth to third in the...

• F1 veterans Jarno Trulli and Mika Salo to test Waltrip Toyota NASCAR ...

  Autoblog - Found Oct. 12, 2009 ... to name just a few, and rumors of Nelsinho Piquet's intended move , comes news that Toyota's Jarno Trulli (pictured above) is scheduled to...

• Jarno Trulli Committed To F1 Despite NASCAR Test

  Post Chronicle - Found Oct. 8, 2009 Italian Jarno Trulli says he is fully committed to Formula One despite lining up a two-day NASCAR test with the Michael Waltrip Racing team in

• JARNO TRULLI says, I can't wait for practice to begin

  Florida Times-Union - Found Oct. 29, 2009 ... has scored already this season, having been unfortunate to miss out in the Brazilian Grand Prix when Jarno Trulli was involved in an accident...

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008) (Find sources: Jarno Trulli – news, books, scholar)

Jarno Trulli

Trulli at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix
Nationality Italian
Formula One World Championship career
2009 team	Toyota
2009 Car #	9
2010 team	TBA
Races	219 (216 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	11
Career points	246.5
Pole positions	4
Fastest laps	1
First race	1997 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win	2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last race	2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Jarno Trulli (born July 13, 1974 in Pescara, Abruzzo) is an Italian Formula One auto racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory. Toyota's decision to withdraw from the 2010 season means he is currently without a drive.

Career

Early days

His 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.

Formula 3 and early Formula One career

Trulli driving for Prost at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.

After winning the Italian and then European kart 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 in Germany and even leading in Austria, looking set to finish second until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix. However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and the poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch to Jordan would bring improved results.

2000–2001: Jordan

Trulli leads the midfield on the first lap of the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix.

In 2000 he moved to the Irish squad, but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 1990s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under long-term contract to personal manager (and Renault manager) Flavio Briatore, Trulli secured a contract with the Anglo-French squad for 2002.

2002–2004: Renault

Jarno Trulli driving for Renault at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2003.

Alongside Jenson Button, he often outqualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003 to partner promoted test-driver Fernando Alonso. The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won in Hungary. Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium in Germany, his first since leaving Prost.

Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in 2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums. At Monaco he finally took his first victory after a brilliant display from pole position. Having performed so well, the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello onto the podium in France enraged the team, and from that point his days with the French manufacturer were numbered. For the second half of 2004, Trulli failed to gain any points and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reasons why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified. He was sacked three races before the end of the season and replaced by 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Trulli had already agreed to drive for Toyota in 2005, and his early exit from Renault allowed him to take up his new seat for the last two races of the 2004 season, replacing Ricardo Zonta.

2004–2009: Toyota

Trulli driving the Toyota TF105 in 2005.

2004–2005

In 2005, early season podiums demonstrated Trulli's speed and at Indianapolis he took Toyota's first F1 pole (albeit with very low fuel). For the vast majority of the year he outpaced highly paid team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to seventh in the championship, two points behind the German.

Jarno Trulli in Helsinki in 2006

2006

In 2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season. On the first lap of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, he was taken out by David Coulthard. He seemed to be outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher more often than not, but his reputation was restored when he raced to 6th from 4th on the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix. Following this was a 4th place in the United States Grand Prix. From then on, he would only score 3 more times, with a couple on 7th place finishes in the German Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix and also a 6th place in the Japanese Grand Prix. There was even bad luck here, as his car became troublesome to drive mid-race, and Ralf Schumacher was delayed in the process. Trulli was racing very well in the season finale at Interlagos, but bad luck robbed him again, as his car suffered suspension failure in only the first 10 laps, a fate which befell his team-mate at the same time. He finished 12th overall.

Trulli driving for Toyota at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix.

2007

Trulli scored his first points of 2007 in Malaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th. A couple more points followed in Bahrain, but he stalled on the grid at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure. Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of team-mate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th. Points were collected by Trulli at the Indianapolis for 6th place. After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said that the result was 'incredible'. ¹ He also qualified well for the French Grand Prix but crashed with the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen on the opening lap, and duly retired because of the damage. Trulli accepted the blame for the incident. The second half of the season was disappointing with Trulli's only point coming in the final race of the season at Brazil.

Post season there had been reports that Trulli's contract was not safe, and that he may have be replaced in the Toyota team for 2008 by Heikki Kovalainen.² These proved unfounded as Kovalainen signed for McLaren.

2008

Trulli driving for Toyota at the 2008 French Grand Prix, where he scored the team's first podium finish for more than two years.

In 2008, Trulli was hoping Toyota would make a big step forward. Timo Glock was confirmed as his team-mate for the season.³ Trulli started the season quite well, with several points scoring finishes, the height of which was a fourth place finish in Malaysia. Trulli's qualifying performances were also very good throughout the first few rounds of the Championship. His form then slumped a little, with disappointing performances in Turkey and Monaco, as he finished in non-points scoring positions.

However, he bounced back from this with a 6th place finish in Montreal. He then topped that in France by finishing on the podium in 3rd place, holding off the challenge of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the closing laps.

2009

Trulli on the grid at the 2009 British Grand Prix.

Trulli was confident going into 2009.⁴. In the first race of the 2009 season, the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock started the race from the pitlane as their qualifying times were wiped out due to Toyota's flexible rear wing breaching regulations. Although Trulli started from the Pit Lane, he finished in an impressive 3rd Place before being penalised 25 seconds, dropping him to 12th position for passing Lewis Hamilton under the safety car. A few days after this decision, Hamilton was disqualified from the race results for 'misleading' the race stewards by insisting that Jarno Trulli had passed him under the Safety Car although Hamilton in fact let him pass on purpose due to an order given by the team from the pitlane. Jarno Trulli therefore regained his third place finish.⁵ At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Trulli qualified on pole position but faded in the race to place third. However he did record the fastest lap, the only time he has achieved this in his career. He holds the record of having started the most Grands Prix before recording a fastest lap. In late 2009, Trulli was asked to test a NASCAR stock car in North America for Toyota. The car will be set-up by Michael Waltrip Racing.

Reputation / 'Trulli Train'

While Trulli is undoubtedly fast, doubts over his racecraft refuse to go away. His apparent lack of pace in some races in 2005 was, on several occasions, observed to lead to a significant portion of the field bunching up behind the Toyota. This phenomenon was dubbed 'the Trulli train' by journalists and commentators.⁶ Rival teams factor this into their simulation predictions of races, to try to prevent being stuck behind him while needing to set fast times.⁷ He doesn't tend to use defensive racing lines or brake late, making him easier to overtake than most rivals, especially those with a strong karting background⁸.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula One results

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

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Pre-F1 career

• 1996: 1st German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel)
• 1995: 4th in German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel), 1st in Italian Go-kart class 100 FA, 1st in World Go-kart class 125FC, Senna Memorial World Cup winner
• 1994: Senna Memorial World Cup winner, 1st in North American class 100SA, 1st in European class 100SA
• 1993: 2nd in World Go-kart Champion class 100 SA, 1st in Grand prix of Japan Class 100 FSA
• 1992: 2nd in World Go-kart class 125 FC
• 1991: 1st in World Go-kart class 100 FK
• 1990: 1st in Grand Prix of Hong Kong Class 100 FA
• 1988–1990: Three times 1st in Italian National 100 Class
• 1983–1995: Karting

Personal life

Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two sons, Enzo (b. 2005), named after Trulli's father, and Marco (b. 2006). He is the co-owner of a vineyard in Italy and produces his own wine. He also has his own range of Karts named 'Trulli Kart'; Trulli himself was a World Champion at Karting level. [1]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jarno Trulli

• Official Website
• Profile at Toyota F1 official website
• Jarno Trulli Profile and Statistics
• Jarno Trulli Revealed on CNN.com

v • d • e Toyota Racing Personnel: Tadashi Yamashina | John Howett | Pascal Vasselon Former personnel: Ove Andersson | Tsutomu Tomita Current drivers: Jarno Trulli | Timo Glock | Kamui Kobayashi Formula One cars: TF101 | TF102 | TF103 | TF104 | TF104B | TF105 | TF105B | TF106 | TF106B | TF107 | TF108 | TF109