About Luca Badoer
Luca Badoer (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka baˈdɔɛr]; born 25 January 1971) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2009. Born and raised in Veneto, Badoer began competitive kart racing at a young age, winning several regional and national titles. Progressing to Formula 3000 in 1992, he won the title at the first attempt. Between 1993 and 1999, Badoer competed in Formula One at 56 Grands Prix for Scuderia Italia, Minardi and Forti. In addition to his racing duties, Badoer was one of the active test drivers for Ferrari from 1998 to 2010; in 2009, he deputised for Felipe Massa at the European and Belgian Grands Prix. Badoer holds the record for the most starts without scoring a point (50), although all of his races before his 2009 comeback came during a period when only the top six finishers scored points. Under the 2010 scoring system, he would have scored 26 points over his career. He nearly achieved a points finish in the 1999 European Grand Prix, when the gearbox on his Minardi M01 failed whilst running in fourth. In 1986, Badoer drove in the 100cc category to become the karting champion of Venice and became national champion the following year. Badoer won four races, including a dominating display at Pergusa where he finished 21 seconds ahead of Emanuele Naspetti.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.