Italian Motor Sportsperson of the Year 2006

Finally in the Sportsperson of the Year category there could also be only one winner as Michael Schumacher (5,276) bowed out after an unrivalled Formula 1 career, having set countless records that are unlikely to be broken for many years. A glorious era of the German and Ferrari came to an end with his retirement, and he was far ahead of the second placed sportsperson in the voting, Italian hero Valentino Rossi (1,884), while third place went to Augusto Farfus who simply performed miracles with the Alfa 156 in the FIA World Touring Car Championship this year.

Augusto Farfus

At 23 years of age, Augusto Farfus Junior almost became the youngest FIA World Champion in history. With 3 wins and 2 second place victories at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo 156 Super 2000, he stood at the top of the championship points before the final WTCC round on the streets of Macau. Unfortunately, due to 90 kg of "success ballast" in this round, his winning chances were marred. After a spin in heat 1 he managed to finish a strong fifth place, however his diminishing title hopes ended abruptly at the start of heat 2 with a crash which eliminated him from the race.

Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini

Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels secured the 2006 FIA GT Championship Drivers' title at the wheel of the Maserati MC12. Bertolini, who holds the record as the youngest driver to test for Ferrari, switched to the Vitaphone Racing team for this year's FIA GT Championship after finishing fourth overall in last year's series driving a JMB Racing MC12. Veteran racer Bartels spent his early career racing in F3 and F3000 as well as attempting to qualify for F1. He then competed in DTM before switching to sportscars. For both drivers, this is their biggest achievement to date.

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa joined Ferrari this year and quickly got to grips with running at the front of the pack. His season ended with a 'dream' home win in Brazil. Massa came up through the single seater formula, winning virtually every championship he set foot in, before his F1 debut with Sauber in 2002. In 2003 he worked as Ferrari F1 test driver, before signing 2 more seasons with Sauber. He was always blisteringly fast but also accident prone, and his signing by Ferrari was regarded by onlookers as a gamble, although he has justified the faith shown in him by the team.

Giandomenico Basso

Always the unlucky driver, this year the fortunes of Fiat factory rally driver Giandomenico Basso firmly turned upwards as he won the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) and inaugural International Rally Challenge (IRC) at the wheel of the new Fiat Grande Punto Rally, a car developed to the exciting new "Super2000" regulations. This year he took no chances, cruising to an easy title with regular co-driver Mitia Dotta alongside. In doing so he also claimed the first-ever IRC title, a brand-new championship specially devised for non-WRC rally machines.

Jaime Melo

Jaime Melo's impressive sports car career saw him win the GT2 Class Drivers' title in the 2006 FIA GT Championship with the new Ferrari F430GT. The 26-year-old began racing in South American Formula Ford and F3. He won the F3000 International Championship in 2002 and after a year in Eurocup Renault V6, he switched to sports cars, winning the Donington Park round of the FIA GT Championship in a Ferrari 575 GTC. Now a Development Driver for Ferrari's Corsi Clienti, he also contested selected ALMS races for Risi Competizione.

Michael Schumacher

Towards the close of the 2006 F1 season at Monza, Michael Schumacher made the announcement that he'd be retiring from Formula 1. He has left this pinnacle of motorsport holding almost all the records. He has taken 7 Drivers' world titles and has contributed to 7 team wins in the Constructors' Championship. He has taken part in 250 Formula 1 Grands Prix (181 of them at the wheel of a Ferrari), won 91, been on pole 68 times, setting 75 fastest race laps. He has amassed a total of xxxx points, xxxx of them in a Ferrari: no other racing driver has done better.

Luìs Tedesco

Luìs Tedesco is one of the most successful national rally drivers at the wheel of a Fiat. In August on the sixth round of the 2006 series, he secured his 14th Brazilian National Rally Championship title, and his ninth consecutively, after claming 5 wins and 1 second place, and with 2 rounds still to go. Tedesco and the factory supported Tedracing Palio Abarth have been unbeatable in recent years, and he won the title in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and now 2006. The Brazilian is also a 4-times South American Rally Champion.

Paolo Andreucci

Paolo Andreucci is considered to be the "papa" of the new Grande Punto Rally, a car which takes Fiat firmly back into top echelons on the rallying world. Built to the new "Super2000" regulations, it was appropriate that Andreucci, with long-time co-driver Anna Andreussi alongside, should give the Grande Punto Rally its debut with a victory on the Rally de Ciocco last March. A former Italian Rally Champion with the Punto Super1600, Andreucci fought off the attentions of the leading Italian Subaru and Mitsubishi-mounted GpN runners to win the title with 1 round to spare.

Valentino Rossi

Italy's highest-profile and best-loved sportsman Valentino Rossi narrowly missed out on his seventh two-wheel world title after a dramatic year that saw him well down the MotoGP points by the time a mid-season race injury slowed him up. He fought back only to loose out in the final GP. Meanwhile, Rossi began the year in a blaze of publicity testing for Ferrari as he seriously considered a switch to F1 when he wraps up his MotoGP career; and he ended the year posting a string of fast special stage times on the Rally of New Zealand at the wheel of a WRC Subaru Impreza.