Racing Before Formula One
In 1978 Paletti entered nine races in Formula Super Ford and in his inaugural race he led for 18 laps. Despite the fact that he didn't win during the first season, he still gained two second places, and finished third in the overall championship. During the end of his first season he also made his Formula 3 debut in the Italian Championship with a March-Toyota. In the following year of 1979 Paletti entered a full F3 championship season, but he had little success as he only managed to place to fifth position twice. Later the same year he drove in Formula 2 for the first time, but with a failure to finish due to a crash.
Aided by the contacts of his father, Riccardo was soon introduced to the Onyx F2 team, run by Mike Earle, and that gave Paletti his definitive switch to F2 for the 1981 European championship season. He tested a lot for the Onyx team during the winter and the effort paid off during the opening rounds of the season, as he qualified 10th in the first race at Silverstone, before managing to finish second behind Mike Thackwell. He retired in the second round at Hockenheim, but set the fastest lap of the race and his good form continued in round three at Thruxton, where he finished third, this time behind Roberto Guerrero. At that point in time he even shared second in the championship with Stefan Johansson, trailing Thackwell by just three points. But from then on luck failed Paletti, and he finished tenth in the championship.
Read more about this topic: Riccardo Paletti
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