Sicilian-born Giuseppe Risi had a penchant for motorsports from an early age, shunning his parents’ desire for him to become a doctor. He went on to emulate fellow countryman Luigi Chinetti, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times and was the main Ferrari dealer in the USA. Always elegantly dressed in white shirt and dress trousers, Risi, a polyglot, oozes charisma.

The first anecdote he recalls is about Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: “I went to Le Mans as a spectator in 1970. I was wandering around the paddock when someone asked me the time. When I pushed up my sunglasses to look at my watch, I recognised Steve McQueen. I wasn’t the only one to recognise him, and suddenly there was a crowd around us.  At the time, I was already mad about Ferraris, but I didn’t hold it against Steve McQueen to have a Porsche 917 win in the film Le Mans rather than the Ferrari 512! Enzo Ferrari however, refused to be involved in the film. Ferrari was represented by Belgian importer Jaques Swaters, who dealt with the filmmaker.

In the 1970s, Risi travelled a lot, to Africa, Germany, France, Spain and Britain. “A round-the-world trip on his own! Whatever language you speak to him in, he can answer, says Frenchman Eric Helary, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993 with Peugeot and a driver for Risi in the USA. Risi actually speaks four languages: Italian, English, French and Spanish.

He began a career in hill racing in the early seventies, then got to know Emilio Villota and became manager of the first Spanish Formula One team for which Villota was the star driver. In 1978 and 1979 Risi drove with Mexican Hector Rebaque’s Formula One team before setting up home in the USA in 1980.

Two years later, he entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a constructor, with Alain de Cadenet, Désiré Wilson and Emilio de Villota at the wheel of his GRID prototype. Powered by a Ford-Cosworth engine based on the Formula One version, the car was designed by Geoff Aldridge whom Giuseppe Risi met while working with Hector Rebaque. In three attempts (1982, 1983 and 1984) the GRID didn’t finish the race once.

At the same time, Risi was busy developing his Ferrari business in the USA, opening dealerships in Houston, Dallas and Austin. He also became chairman of the North American Ferrari dealers’ association and organised the American Ferrari Challenge.

It was therefore quite logical that Risi should return to Le Mans with a Ferrari. The Doyle-Risi team entered the 1998 race which was dominated by the GT class. McNish, Aiello and Ortelli were victorious in the Porsche GT1 and Risi’s #12 Ferrari 333 SP came eighth overall. However, the car driven by Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez was the first prototype to cross the line and therefore LM P1 class winner. “If we had had the support of Ferrari Corse Clienti [i.e. the factory, ed.], we could have gone for an outright win," states Risi. He obtained that precious support some years later. The best is yet to come, in part two of his story.