Emerson Fittipaldi born December 12,1946,in Sao Paulo,Brazil),is a highly successful open-wheel racing series driver,winning world championships in both Formula One and CART, and the Indianapolis 500 twice. At the age of 14 Fittiapldi was racing motorcycles and at the age of 16 hydrofoils.
When racing with his brother Wilson they had an accident and landed upside-down.Though they survived they both decided not to race hydrofoil again.So they moved to racing karts.Fittipaldi continued in formula Ford and afters a few podiums he was engaged the Jim Russell Driving School Formula Three team.
Fittipaldi continued to win,drawing the attention of Colin Chapman,who was looking for a driver to support the Austrian Jochen Rindt in the 1970 Formula One season.1971 was Fittipaldi's firt year as first driver of the Lotus team.Fittipaldi has finished sixth as the team has developed the previous season's Lotus 72.In 1972 he won 5 out of eleven races, easily winning his first world champion title,as was infront of Jackie Stewart by 16 points. That year,at the age of 25,he was recorded as the youngest driver ever to win the world championship (this record was later broken by Fernando Alonso at the age of 24 in 2005).
In 1973 he made a great start with Lotus 72D,but after he began competing with the new Lotus 72E he lost points and end up being 2nd in the championship,this time 16 points behind Stewart.He may have lost the championship but gave Lotus enough points to win the Manufacturers Championship that year.In 1974 he left Lotus to sign with the Mclaren team.He had three victories that year and reached the podium four times ending the championship in first place once again.In 1975 he won two times and got to the podium four more times but he came second in the championship behind a dominant Niki Lauda.However,at the height of his F1 success, Fittipaldi shocked everyone by leaving McLaren to race for older brother Wilson Fittipaldi's Copersucar-sponsored Fittipaldi Automotive team.Despite the fact that he remained with the team for five seasons he only managed a best finish of second.He decided to retire in 1980.
After his retirement he moved into the management of the team alongside his brother. The team struggled on for another two years with minimal sponsorship,going into receivership at the end of 1982. Fittipaldi took time out from major racing for four years, returning in 1984 in CART. The 38-year old spent his first season acclimatising to IndyCars, driving for two teams before joining Patrick Racing as an injury replacement.He stayed five years with the team,recording six victories and solid finishes in the overall standings. In 1989 he won five times and finishedin the top five in every race he competed, giving him the CART championship. Among his wins was a dominant performance in the Indianapolis 500 where he led 158 of 200 laps and won by two laps, but only after a dramatic duel with Al Unser, Jr. in the closing laps of the race.
Despite approaching 50, he was still with Champ Car in 1996 when an injury at the Michigan International Speedway ended his career. Fittipaldi did not return to the series as a driver after the injury but in 2003 he made a return to Champcars as a team owner.Fittipaldi
is currently acting as team principal for the Brazilian A1 GP ntry. In 2005 Emerson made a surprise return to competitive racing in the Grand Prix Masters event held at Kyalami in South Africa,finishing second behind former CART sparring partner Nigel Mansell.
