BMS Scuderia Italia

BMS Scuderia Italia SpA (sometimes referred to as simply Scuderia Italia) is an Italian auto racing team founded by Italian steel magnate and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini in 1983. Initially named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS) and briefly entering the World Touring Car Championship, the team's name was altered to BMS Scuderia Italia upon their entrance into Formula One in 1988. After departing Formula One in 1993, BMS Scuderia Italia has been involved in the touring car racing and sports car racing.

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Dallara era

After abandoning the World Touring Car Championship during the 1987 season, Giuseppe Lucchini set his sights on entering the Formula One World Championship in the coming year. Unable to construct their own car, Lucchini brokered a deal with Dallara owner Gian Paolo Dallara to construct a new car based on their experience as a Formula 3000 entry. Lucchini renamed his team BMS Scuderia Italia and placed Vittorio Palazzani in charge of the new entry. Sergio Rinland designed the new Dallara 188 and also served as the team's chief engineer. Cosworth provided their Ford DFZ V8 and Italian Alex Caffi was signed to drive the team's sole entry. The car was late being completed, forcing the team to bring a Dallara Formula 3000 car to the first meeting in Brazil. The team was unable to score any points, but qualified for fourteen of sixteen races during the year. Caffi earned a best finish of seventh at the Portuguese Grand Prix, one position outside of the points.

Returning for 1989, BMS Scuderia Italia entered a second car for the experienced Italian Andrea de Cesaris alongside Caffi. The team's new Dallara 189s were designed by new engineer Mario Tolentino. At the third race of the year, the Monaco Grand Prix, Caffi earned the team's first points finish when he came home in fourth, although the Constructors' Championship recognized Dallara rather than Scuderia Italia. Later that season, aided by heavy attrition at the Canadian Grand Prix, both drivers earned points. De Cesaris earned the team's first podium as well by finishing in third place, while Caffi was two laps behind in sixth. For the rest of the year, however, the two were unable to score any more points, although Caffi qualified an outstanding third in the Hungarian Grand Prix and both cars qualified in the top 10 in the season-ending Australian Grand Prix. De Cesaris and Caffi were thus ranked 17th in the Drivers' Championship, while the combined total of eight points earned Dallara eighth in the Constructors' Championship.
In 1990, team manager Patrizio Cantù departed the team and was replaced by former Ferrari engineer Pierpaolo Gardella. Alex Caffi also left the team, moving to Arrows. Emanuele Pirro was signed as his replacement, although Gianni Morbidelli was substituted in the first two races of the season when Pirro was unwell. The team struggled throughout the year, unable to earn points in any races (although de Cesaris started 3rd in the season-opening United States Grand Prix) and only able to reach the finish in seven of the sixteen Grands Prix, although one of these finishes (de Cesaris in France) was later disqualified.

Disappointed with the Dallara 190, designer Tolentino was replaced by Nigel Cowperthwaite in 1991 for the design of the 191, and the team's Ford Cosworth engines were replaced by new Judd V10s. De Cesaris also needed replacing, as he had signed to drive for the brand new Jordan team. Finn Jyrki Järvilehto, otherwise known as JJ Lehto, was signed and quickly gained BMS Scuderia Italia their first points since 1989, earning a third-place finish at the San Marino Grand Prix. Pirro followed this with sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix and his first point for the team. However, Lehto failed to finish more than half of the races during the year and Pirro struggled to prequalify for several races (but only in the first half of the season due to the 1990 disaster), and so the two were ranked twelfth and eighteenth respectively in the Drivers' Championship. Dallara once again earned eighth in the Constructors' Championship.
Giuseppe Lucchini was able to negotiate the use of year-old Ferrari V12 engines for the 1992 season and gained Pierluigi Martini as a replacement for Pirro who had been released by the team. Reliability increased as the team managed to complete all but four Grands Prix with at least one car. Martini scored the team's only points of the year with two consecutive sixth-place finishes at the Spanish Grand Prix and San Marino Grand Prix, earning him sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship and Dallara tenth in the Constructors' Championship.




Lola era

Giuseppe Lucchini announced that – after friction between Dallara and Ferrari – the cars for 1993 would be constructed by Lola Cars of Britain, with Ferrari remaining as the engine supplier. (Lola and Larrousse had some success in 1990, but had parted at the end of 1991 as Larrousse was running into problems.) Following the announcement of leaving Dallara, the drivers Lehto and Martini moved to new teams. The team gained a sponsorship deal from Chesterfield cigarettes, and Lucchini signed Michele Alboreto and rookie Luca Badoer as drivers.
The team's switch to the newer Lola, however, did not improve their results, as Alboreto and Badoer struggled to qualify for several races. Badoer had the team's best finish of the year at the San Marino Grand Prix with a seventh place, but by the final races of the season the team was struggling for money and chose to withdraw from the last two events, having earned no points all season.
At the end of the 1993 season Minardi was also struggling for money, and Giancarlo Minardi and Giuseppe Lucchini decided to merge their teams in order to continue into the 1994 season. The merged team returned to earning points in 1994 as well as 1995 before Lucchini chose to exit the venture in order to concentrate BMS Scuderia Italia on other programs.