Nino Vaccarella, an Italian former sports car racing and Formula One driver

Nino Vaccarella (born 4 March 1933 in Palermo, Sicily) is an Italian former sports car racing and Formula One driver.
His principal achievements include winning the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Targa Florio in 1965, 1971 and 1975, when it no longer was a World Sportscar Championship event.

Sicily-born Vaccarella was well known for being a Targa Florio specialist. According to Vic Elford "he knew the roads on Sicily like the back of his hand". He was teamed with Umberto Maglioli for the 1960 Targa Florio in a birdcage Maserati, which was owned by the Camoradi team. Maglioli had previously won the race twice; Vaccarella was a schoolteacher in Palermo with a great passion for motorsport. They took the lead in the early afternoon on 8 May and maintained it for three laps until the car broke down. The event was won by Joakim Bonnier and Hans Herrmann in a small silver Porsche.^[1] Vaccarella was paired with Lorenzo Bandini in the 1965 Targa Florio when they won with an average speed of 63.7 miles per hour, finishing in 7 hours and 1 minute. 12.4 seconds.^[2] In 1966 Vaccarella and Bandini led most of the race until their Ferrari 330 ran off the track after seven laps and was too damaged to continue.^[3] While waving his hand to acknowledge the crowd, Vaccarella made eye contact with a retaining wall that carried the inscription Viva Nino.^[4] Maglioli and Vaccarella drove a Ford GT-40 to fifth place in the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring.^[5] The 8 May 1968 edition of Giornale Di Sicilia proclaimed in its headline, Only Vaccarella Can Bring Off The Miracle. The meaning had to do with the Sicilian driver's great task of gaining victory in the Targa Florio in his 2.5-litre Alfa Romeo, called the Tipo 33. He was up against four German competitors who were driving Porsche 910 models. The Porsches had recently swept the endurance races at Daytona and Sebring. Few experts gave the four Alfa Romeos much of a chance against the flawless Porsches, but Sicilians were trusting the skill of Vaccarella's driving.^[4] Vaccarella qualified eighth for the 1970 24 Hours of Daytona in a Ferrari 512S. He also drove the big V12-powered Ferrari 512S in a heroic yet ultimately losing effort in 1970, damaging the car in the final stages. This was one of a series of 11 endurance events held in Europe and North America for the 1970 world manufacturers championship.^[6] Vaccarella and Toine Hezemans won the 1971 Targa Florio in an Alfa Romeo. They crossed the finish line over a minute ahead of Andrea de Adamich and Gijs van Lennep, who also drove an Alfa Romeo. This race ended the dominance of Porsche, which had finished first in the previous five Targa Florio races.^[7] Vaccarella competed in the 1972 12 Hours of Sebring in one of four Alfa Romeo 33/3TT's to be entered in the event. His driving partner was Nanni Galli.^[8] They qualified fifth after another Alfa Romeo of Rolf Stommelen and Peter Revson, who started third.^[9]

Formula One

Vacarella was selected for the 1962 Ferrari Formula One race team by Enzo Ferrari. He was joined by John Surtees, Mike Parkes, Willy Mairesse, Bandini, and Ludovico Scarfiotti. He participated in five World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 10 September 1961. He scored no championship points. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.

Eric Thompson, a British motor racing driver, book dealer and insurance broker. He participated in sports car racing between 1949 and 1955

Eric David Thompson (4 November 1919 – 22 August 2015) was a British motor racing driver, book dealer and insurance broker. He participated in sports car racing between 1949 and 1955 taking his greatest success by finishing third in the 1951 Les 24 Heures
du Mans and took part in the 1952 RAC British Grand Prix.
Thompson worked as a broker for Lloyd's of London. His racing career started in 1948, racing cars for HRG. He won the 1.5-litre class in the Les 24 Heures du Mans in 1949 and drove for Aston Martin driving a DB2 to third place in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. He also drove in Formula Libre, RAC Tourist Trophy and Formula Two achieving minor success. He took part in his only Formula One race in the 1952 RAC British Grand Prix finishing fifth, and later spent more time working at Lloyd's. He retired from motor racing at the end of 1955. Thompson resigned from Lloyd's in the 1980s and became a dealer of rare books on motorsport.
After the war ended Thompson decided to pursue his passion of motor racing. He began his racing career in 1948 at the age of 28 and was well funded. Thompson continued to work at Lloyd's of London and was entitled to two weeks of holiday, with every third weekend off, when he raced.^[3] His first race was the 12 Heures de Paris held at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in a shared drive with Robin Richards driving an HRG, finishing fourth in the 1.5-litre class and 17th overall.^[4]
In 1949 Thompson made his debut in the Les 24 Heures du Mans with HRG sharing his drive with Jack Fairman. The pairing won the 1.5-litre class and finished eighth overall.^[4] They later entered the 24 Hours of Belgium, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps where he clinched victory in their class.^[3] Thompson also won two handicap races at Goodwood.^[5] Thompson later took a class win in the Silverstone International Trophy and finished sixth in his class in the Prescott Hillclimb. In 1950 he joined Aston Martin and gave support to three drivers: Reg Parnell, Peter Collins and Roy Salvadori.^[3]
 
Thompson's first race for Aston Martin was a one-hour race held at Silverstone where he finished fourth in his class and 14th overall. He also took part in the 1950 24 Heures du Mans sharing an Aston Martin DB2 with John Gordon but was forced out after nine laps due to engine failure.^[3] Thompson also raced with HRG and secured a class win finishing second overall at Blandford, third in a Goodwood Handicap and clinched a class win at the Cambridge University Sprint at Bedwell Hey. In the same year Thompson made his debut in Formula Three driving a Cooper-Vincent at Castle Combe where he retired.^[3]
 
In 1951 Thompson competed prominently in open-wheel racing. He competed in the Goodwood Lavant Cup in a Cooper finishing fifth and finished in the same position in a Bugatti Type 51 in a Boreham Libre event. He later competed in an ERA/Delage and Delahaye and other Libre races, and took part in sports car events with an Aston Martin DB2 in the RAC Tourist Trophy where he finished third in his class and eighth overall.^[3] For the works team, Thompson shared a DB2 with Lance Macklin in the Les 24 Heures du Mans where the pair clinched victory in the 3-litre class and finished third overall.^[6]
 
In 1952 Thompson took part in his third Les 24 Heures du Mans driving an Aston Martin DB3 alongside Parnell but retired from transmission problems. The pair suffered a further retirement from the Goodwood Nine Hours when, during the race, the car being driven by Thompson entered the pitlane with smoke coming out of the car and Parnell was not prepared to take over the seat. Parnell grabbed Thompson by the arm and dragged him out before the car caught fire.^[3] Throughout the year he drove a DB2 entered by Peter Walker, clinching two victories in handicap events at Goodwood and one at Snetterton with a seventh and eighth at the same circuit. He later took third in class at the CUAC Bottisham Sprint. Thompson took second, seventh and tenth in races at Snetterton, third at Boreham and Castle Combe driving an ERA/Delage and fifth in a private ERA at the British Grand Prix Libre event.




Thompson entered a works Connaught for the 1952 RAC British Grand Prix with a Lea-Francis engine and qualified the car ninth on the grid.^[7] In the race he made up a position when Gordini driver Robert Manzon was forced to retire with a clutch problem. He managed to finish in fifth place, three laps behind race winner Alberto Ascari and ahead of 1950 World Drivers' Champion Giuseppe Farina, and behind teammate Dennis Poore.

Nicu Covaci, un compozitor, cântăreț, chitarist, pictor și grafician român, cunoscut ca fondator și lider al formației Phoenix

Nicolae (Nicu) Covaci (n. 19 aprilie 1947, Timișoara) este un compozitor, cântăreț, chitarist, pictor și grafician român, cunoscut ca fondator și lider al formației Phoenix.

Singurul copil al unei croitorese (Tamara) originară din Basarabia și al unui tată bănățean de lângă granița cu Serbia, Covaci a crescut fără tată până la vârsta de cca. 11 ani, deoarece acesta a fost deținut politic la primul Canal Dunăre-Marea Neagră timp de aproximativ 10 ani.

A început de mic copil să ia lecții particulare de pian, acordeon și limbă franceză, germană și engleză. Mai târziu, după ce a învățat singur să cânte la muzicuță, a luat și lecții de chitară.

A urmat secția germană a școlii primare, secția română a școlii generale, liceul de arte plastice și Institutul de Arte Plastice din Timișoara.

Nicu Covaci a părăsit România în 26 octombrie 1976,^[1], stabilindu-se mai întâi în Olanda, apoi în Germania și în final în Spania.

În 2012, Covaci locuia în Moraira, Spania. 
 
Covaci este și un iubitor al motocicletelor și al sportului, practicând, printre altele, atletismul, canotajul, karate, boxul, înotul și scufundatul sportiv.

Pe 23 noiembrie 2019 este lansată cartea „Nicolae Covaci – Pictorul”. Aceasta prezintă în premieră peste 100 de fotografii cu lucrări de pictură și sculptură realizate de-a lungul timpului de liderul Phoenix. Albumul este structurat în zece secțiuni și are 116 pagini. Pe lângă comentariile scrise ale lui Covaci, cartea include și 12 coduri QR, care conectează paginile volumului tipărit cu mediul online, fiind astfel prima carte hibridă (smart-book) din domeniul artelor plastice, publicată în România și, probabil, în lume.

Phoenix, cunoscută în Occident ca Transsylvania Phoenix, o formație românească de muzică rock, înființată în anul 1962 la Timișoara

Phoenix, cunoscută în Occident ca Transsylvania Phoenix, este o formație românească de muzică rock, înființată în anul 1962 la Timișoara.

Phoenix a fost deschizătoare de drumuri în muzica adresată publicului larg în România celei de a doua jumătăți a secolului al XX-lea. Membrii formației au abordat numeroase subgenuri ale rock-ului. Traseul stilistic al formației a pornit de la muzică beat, evoluând spre rock psihedelic și de aici către hard rock, cu un număr de experimente de rock progresiv. În anii 1970, efectele schimbărilor politice din țară asupra vieții culturale au dus la destrămarea multor formații de gen. Între cele care au continuat prin adoptarea unui stil nou, Phoenix a avut una dintre cele mai neașteptate evoluții, dând naștere subgenului rock numit etno rock, inspirat din folclorul românesc autentic.

Richard Attwood, a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix

Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood (born 4 April 1940, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.
Attwood's performances in Formula Two prompted Alfred Owen, the proprietor of BRM, to offer him an opportunity in his works Formula One team. His first outing for the team was in the non-Championship News of the World Trophy race, at Goodwood, in which he took the BRM P57 to fourth place, the first non-Lotus finisher and the only car to end on the same lap as Colin Chapman's fleet winners. Attwood's second Formula One outing was in the 1964 British Grand Prix, driving BRM's experimental four wheel drive P67 model. Having been the project's test driver Attwood did manage to qualify the overweight car, albeit in last place on the grid. However, as the car was principally intended as a rolling test bed, BRM decided to withdraw the P67 prior to the race itself.

In 1966 Attwood competed in Australia and New Zealand as a part of BRM's Tasman Series squad. His Tasman performances were very promising, including a win at Levin, but despite this – perhaps due to his underwhelming 1965 Formula One performances and growing success in sports cars – Attwood sat out the majority of the 1966 and 1967 Formula One seasons. His only appearance came as a substitute for works-Cooper driver Pedro Rodríguez at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix, bringing the Cooper-Maserati home in 10th place. During 1966 he maintained his run of form in Formula Two, taking victory in the Rome Grand Prix and a second place at Pau in 1966, but concentrated firmly on sports cars in 1967.
After Mike Spence's death during practice for the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race Attwood rejoined the BRM works team, now run by Parnell, as his replacement. Attwood's first race on his return was perhaps his most spectacular, taking fastest lap in the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, on his way to a strong second-place finish behind Graham Hill's works Lotus. However, results declined through the remainder of the season, and four races from the end Attwood was himself replaced by Bobby Unser.
Always something of a Monaco specialist, it was in the principality that Richard Attwood made his final Formula One start. Colin Chapman brought in the Briton as substitute for the injured Jochen Rindt, driving the Lotus 49B. He finished in a respectable fourth-place. Although this was his last Formula One drive, he did appear at the 1969 German Grand Prix in a Formula Two Brabham for Frank Williams, where he finished sixth overall, and second in the Formula Two class.

Hermano "Nano" da Silva Ramos, a former racing driver of dual French-Brazilian nationality. Da Silva Ramos participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix

 Hermano[1] João "Nano" da Silva Ramos (born 7 December 1925) is a former racing driver of dual French-Brazilian nationality.[2] He had a French mother and a Brazilian father.[3]

Da Silva Ramos was born in Paris, France. He first ventured into motor racing, driving an MG TC, in March 1947, when at the age of 21, he competed in the Interlagos Grand Prix in Brazil.[3] During 1953 he began racing an Aston Martin DB2/4 in sports car races in France. In 1954 at Montlhéry, he crossed the line in second place in the Paris Cup but was winner of the Coupe de Montlehery. In the same year, he also participated in the Le Mans 24 hour race, with Jean-Paul Colas as his co-driver, being forced to retire after 14 hours following a rear axle failure. Also in 1954, he ran out of fuel whilst leading the Tour de France Auto and retired with a damaged engine in the Rally of Morocco. Later in the year in the Salon Cup, in which he also had to retire, he drove a Gordini Type 18.[3] In 1955 he (with co-driver Lucas) were disqualified for speeding in the Monte Carlo Rally, eventually classified 46th and 4th in class, won the Coupe de Montlhery again, won the Rally Sable-Solesmes and was 5th in the GT class of the Mille Miglia with co-driver Vidille.[4]
Da Silva Ramos participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1955 and scoring a total of two championship points.
“Nano” , as he is affectionately called, is good company, rarely without a smile, and has a way of standing back and observing things that went on around him. Indeed he was on the sidelines of the “Behra Affair” that eventually saw Jean Behra booted out of the Ferrari team only to die two weeks later in a sports car accident at the Avus track in a Porsche.  Nano’s first race was back in Brazil with an old MG but then he moved to France and in the early 1950s he visited Le Mans as a spectator. He was intrigued by the Aston Martins and ordered a DB2 Coupe.
When we went to collect the car in Paris he met Mike Sparken, a French-born enthusiast who the same Aston as Nano was about to buy so Mike ordered an identical car.
Ironically both of them were eventually to drive and race Ferraris. At that time a number of racing drivers in Paris used to visit “Jimmy’s Club” and early one morning, about 5.00 am, da Silva Ramos and English racing drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin decided to have a race around the famous Arc de Triomphe in the middle of Paris. Not only that, they decided to race around it clockwise which is the wrong way round and were lucky not to meet any traffic. As Nano explained “We were lucky, the streets of Paris were quiet and there were no police around!“.

French racing car constructor Amedee Gordini saw da Silva Ramos race his street Aston Martin and was impressed and offered him a Gordini sports car and later grand prix drive but this came to an end in 1957. Nano’s best friend was the Marquis de Portago and when he was killed in the Mille Miglia that year Nano decided to quit racing. A year later, however, thanks to his French racing friend Jean Estager, who owned and raced Ferrari 250GT TdF s/n 0749GT, he came back into racing.
In the 1957 Tour de France Estager had shared the car with grand prix driver Harry Schell who comprehensively damaged it when he hit a little Citroen 2CV that had strayed on to a closed special stage. Now repaired, Estager sold 0749GT to da Silva Ramos who took the former owner with him on the 1958 Tour de France. They finished third overall behind winners Olivier Gendebien/Lucien Bianchi ( TdF 1033GT) and Maurice Trintignant/ Francois Picard (TdF 0901GT).

Nano continued to race the Ferrari but in 1959 was invited by Enzo Ferrari to join Ferrari’s sports car squad which led to him being selected to share a TR59 at Le Mans that year with Jean Behra.

Behra was already grumpy because he thought he was the team leader at Ferrari. In fact, Enzo Ferrari had not specifically named a team leader but left the drivers to fight it out between themselves. Everything started to come to a head at Le Mans where the relatively calm team manager Romolo Tavoni was driven to distraction by Behra.
First of all, Behra insisted he did not want to be paired with da Silva Ramos and wanted Dan Gurney to race with him; Tavoni aquiesed placing da Silva Ramos with Cliff Allison and assigning Gurney to the Behra car. But that was not enough, for during first practice da Silva Ramos was quickest of the Ferrari’s.

At the French Grand Prix, two weeks later, Behra roundly criticised Ferrari, and the grand prix car he had been given, to one of the French newspapers and this was duly reported back to Enzo Ferrari.Tavoni received a telephone call in France telling him that Jean Behra must report to Maranello on the Monday after the race and apologise. When Behra and Tavoni arrived in Maranello for the Monday meeting they found Enzo Ferrari had brought along two Italian motoring journalists to witness the apology: Behra refused. At this Enzo Ferrari lifted the telephone and asked his financial director Emelio della Casa to confirm any money that was owed to Behra, to make out a cheque and Behra was fired on the spot.
Meanwhile Behra had built his own grand prix car, the Behra-Porsche that Maria Teresa de Fillipis had raced. Behra then decided to race the car himself in the German Grand Prix at the banked and frighteningly fast Avus circuit. Sadly, in a support race for sports cars, his Porsche Spyder slid up the banking and over the edge; Behra was killed instantly.
As for da Silva Ramos, the Le Mans race in 1959 was also his final race as he was faced with family problems and decided to hang up his helmet for good.  (F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club)

Jeff Bridges, an American actor, singer and producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart

Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor, singer and producer. He comes from a prominent acting family, and appeared on the television series Sea Hunt (1958–60), with his father, Lloyd Bridges and brother, Beau Bridges. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart, and earned Academy Award nominations for his roles in The Last Picture Show (1971), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Starman (1984), The Contender (2000), and True Grit (2010). His other films include Tron (1982), Jagged Edge (1985), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Fisher King (1991), Fearless (1993), The Big Lebowski (1998), Seabiscuit (2003), Iron Man (2008), Tron: Legacy (2010), and The Giver (2014).
Bridges made his first screen appearance at the age of almost two years in The Company She Keeps in 1951. In his youth, Bridges and brother Beau made occasional appearances on their father's show Sea Hunt (1958–1961) and the CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962–1963). In 1969 he played Cal Baker, a Jobs Corps crew member, in the TV series Lassie episode "Success Story". In 1971 he played the lead role Mike in the TV movie In Search of America. His first major role came in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show, for which he garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[7] He co-starred in the 1972 critically acclaimed neo-noir boxing film Fat City, directed by John Huston. He was nominated again for Best Supporting Actor for his performance opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.^[7] In 1976, he starred as the protagonist Jack Prescott in the first remake of King Kong, opposite Jessica Lange. This film was a commercial success, earning $90 million worldwide, more than triple its $23 million budget, and also winning an Academy Award for special effects.

Bridges in 2010

One of his better-known roles was in the 1982 science fiction film Tron, in which he played Kevin Flynn, a video game programmer (a role he reprised in late 2010 with the sequel Tron: Legacy). The same year (1982) he also starred in Kiss Me Goodbye, an American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan that also starred Sally Field. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984, for playing the alien in Starman.^[7] He was also acclaimed for his roles in the thriller Against All Odds (1984) and the crime drama Jagged Edge (1985). His role in Fearless (1993) is thought by some critics to be one of his best performances.^[8] One critic dubbed it a masterpiece;^[9] Pauline Kael wrote that he "may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived."^[10] In 1994, he starred as Lt. Jimmy Dove in the action film Blown Away, opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Forest Whitaker. His real life father Lloyd Bridges also featured in the film, playing the father of Bridges' character. The film managed to recoup $50 million of its $30 million budget at the box office. It was up against another explosive themed film, Speed, which had been released a few weeks before Bridges' film. On July 11, 1994, Bridges received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture industry at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.^[11][12] In 1998, he starred as what is arguably his most famous role, The Dude, in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski. He has said that he relates to The Dude more than any of his other roles.^{[citation needed]}
In 2000, he received his fourth Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Contender. He also starred in the 2005 Terry Gilliam film Tideland, his second with the director (the first being 1991's The Fisher King). He shaved his trademark mane of hair to play the role of Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Marvel comic book adaptation Iron Man. In July 2008, at the San Diego Comic-Con International, he appeared in a teaser for Tron: Legacy, shot as concept footage for director Joseph Kosinski; this developed into a full 3D feature release in 2010.
Bridges is one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (1972, age 22, Best Supporting Actor, The Last Picture Show), and one of the oldest ever to win (2010, age 60, Best Actor, Crazy Heart).^[15][16] Crazy Heart also won him the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
Bridges received his sixth Academy Award nomination for his role in True Grit, a collaboration with the Coen brothers in which he starred alongside Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and Hailee Steinfeld. Both the film, and Bridges' performance as Rooster Cogburn, were critically praised. Bridges lost to Colin Firth, whom he had beaten for the Oscar in the same category the previous year.

Dumitru Prunariu, a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory

Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu (born 27 September 1952) is a Romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40 spacecraft and Salyut 6 space laboratory. He was in team with the Russian cosmonaut Leonid Popov. The backup crew was formed by the Romanian candidate cosmonaut called Dumitru Dediu and the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko.^[1]
Also Disney Romania chooses the cosmonaut to dubbed BURN-E in the Disney Pixar short.

Early life and career

Born on 27 September 1952 in Braşov, Romania, Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu graduated in 1971 from the Physics and Mathematics high school in Braşov and in 1976 from the Politehnica University of Bucharest, obtaining a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Prunariu worked as a Diploma Engineer at Industria Aeronautică Română, an aircraft industry facility, prior to enrolling in the Romanian Air Force Officers Training School in 1977.

Intercosmos program

He was selected for spaceflight training in 1978 as a part of the Intercosmos Program. Having obtained the highest marks during three years of preparation, he was then selected for a joint space flight with the Russian cosmonaut Leonid Popov. In May 1981 they completed an eight-day space mission on board Soyuz 40 and the Salyut 6 space laboratory where they completed scientific experiments in the fields of astrophysics, space radiation, space technology, space medicine and biology.
Prunariu is the 103rd human being to fly into space.

Career after Intercosmos

 Since 1978 Prunariu was an active officer of the Romanian Air Force. For different periods of time Prunariu was detached within other ministries to perform civil functions.

In 2007 he completely retired from the Air Force with the military rank of major general, continuing his professional activity as a civil servant. At the end of 2015, by a decree of the President of Romania, Prunariu received the 3rd star, becoming a lieutenant-general (ret.). In January 1990 Prunariu was assigned the position of Deputy Minister to the Ministry of Transportation and Chief of the Romanian Civil Aviation Department, exercising this position for 1.5 years.

  In 1991 Prunariu graduated from the International Aviation Management Training Institute (IAMTI/IIFGA) located in Montreal, Canada – being after 1989 the first Romanian accomplishing a two-month training for higher managers of civil aviation institutions.
Between 1992 and 1993 Prunariu was a Co-leader of the World Bank Project on reorganization of the higher education and research system in Romania.

Since 1995 Prunariu is the Vice-President of the International Institute for Risk, Security and Communication Management (EURISC), Bucharest. Between 1998 and 2004 Prunariu was the President of the Romanian Space Agency, and since 2000 an Associate Professor on Geopolitics within the Faculty of International Business and Economics, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania. For almost two years, starting with May 2004, he was the itinerary Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the Russian Federation.
In 2002 Prunariu was elected as the Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the UN COPUOS for the period February 2004 – February 2006, and in 2009 he was elected the Chairman of the UN COPUOS for the period of June 2010 – June 2012, accomplishing successfully his duties. Between 2006 and 2008 Prunariu accomplished the duties of the Director of the Romanian Office for Science and Technology to the European Commission (ROST) in Brussels.
Currently, Prunariu is working for the Romanian Space Agency as an expert within the Romanian Association for Space Technology and Industry – ROMSPACE.
In 2012 Prunariu was appointed as one of the 15 experts of the Group of Governmental Experts on outer space transparency and confidence-building measures, established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 65/68. Since 1992 Prunariu is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, being one of the trustees of the Academy, and since 1994 a member of the Romanian National COSPAR Committee. Since 1992 he has represented the Government of Romania to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) sessions. In 2014 Prunariu was elected for a three years term as the vice-chairman of the International Relations Committee of ESA.
Prunariu was also a member of the task force elaborating a report on Space Security for Europe in the framework of the European Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), issued in 2016.

David Piper, a British former Formula One and sports car racing driver from England

David Piper (born 2 December 1930)^[1] is a British former Formula One and sports car racing driver from England. He participated in 3 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 July 1959. He scored no championship points.

Early career and Formula One

Piper was born in Edgware, Middlesex^[1] and began his career in the mid-1950s by competing in sprints and hill-climbs, before beginning circuit racing with a Lotus Eleven.^[2] He then moved up to a Lotus 16 which he used in 1959 and 1960 to compete in both Formula One and Formula Two,^[2] by means of changing engines as appropriate.^[2] His best result with the car was a second place in the Lady Wigram Trophy, in 1960, behind Jack Brabham in a Cooper.^[2]
In 1961, Piper competed in European Formula Junior alongside Jo Siffert but drove the Gilby F1 car in the Gold Cup.^[2] He also competed in non-championship races in 1962, but had become disenchanted with single-seater racing and moved into sports car racing initially with a Ferrari GTO.^[2]

Later career

Between 1962 and 1970, Piper raced frequently in many locations worldwide using his personally owned Ferraris and, later, Porsches. He was moderately successful and gained a reputation for reliability and consistency.^[2]
Piper crashed a Porsche 917 during the 1970 shooting of the film Le Mans and lost part of one leg.^[3]
Piper later raced his personal, green, Porsche 917 and other cars in historic events.

Ben Johnson, a Jamaican-born Canadian former sprinter, who was disqualified for doping after finishing third in two Olympic races and two consecutive 100 metres finishes under the world record time at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics

Benjamin Sinclair Johnson, CM OOnt (born December 30, 1961) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former sprinter, who was disqualified for doping after finishing third in two Olympic races and two consecutive 100 meters finishes under the world record time at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Benjamin Johnson was born in Falmouth, Jamaica, and immigrated to Canada in 1976, residing in Scarborough, Ontario.
Johnson met coach Charlie Francis and joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field club, training at York University. Francis was a Canadian 100 meters sprint champion himself (1970, 1971 and 1973) and a member of the Canadian team for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Francis was also Canada's national sprint coach for nine years.


Johnson's first international success came when he won 2 silver medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. He finished behind Allan Wells of Scotland in the 100 meters with a time of 10.05 seconds and was a member of the Canadian 4 × 100 meters relay team which finished behind Nigeria. This success was not repeated at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing 6th with a time of 10.44, nor at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas where Johnson placed 5th in the 100 meters final with a time of 10.25.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he reached the 100 meters final; after a false start, he won the bronze medal behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy with a time of 10.22. He also won a bronze medal with the Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team of Johnson, Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds, who ran a time of 38.70. By the end of the 1984 season, Johnson had established himself as Canada's top sprinter, and on August 22 in Zürich, Switzerland, he bettered Williams' Canadian record of 10.17 by running 10.12.


In 1985, after eight consecutive losses, Johnson finally beat Carl Lewis. Other success against Lewis included the 1986 Goodwill Games, where Johnson beat Lewis, running 9.95 for first place, against Lewis' third-place time of 10.06. He broke Houston McTear's seven-year-old world record in the 60 metres in 1986, with a time of 6.50 seconds.[2] He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games in Edinburgh, beating Linford Christie for the 100 metres title with a time of 10.07. Johnson also led the Canadian 4x100 metres relay team to gold, and won a bronze in the 200 metres. Also in 1986, Canadian sprinter Mike Dwyer expressed concern that the use of drugs had reached "epidemic proportions" among Canadian sprinters, particularly among those who trained in the Toronto area. Atlee Mahorn also speculated that many sprinters were on steroids.[3]
On April 29, 1987, Johnson was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. "World record holder for the indoor 60-meter run, this Ontarian has proved himself to be the world's fastest human being and has broken Canadian, Commonwealth and World Cup 100-meter records," it read. "Recipient of the Norton Crowe Award for Male Athlete of the Year for 1985, 'Big Ben' was the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete."
By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had won his four previous races with Lewis and had established himself as the best 100 meters sprinter. At Rome, Johnson gained instant world fame and confirmed this status when he beat Lewis for the title, setting a new world record of 9.83 seconds as well, beating Calvin Smith's former record by a full tenth of a second.
After Rome, Johnson became a lucrative marketing celebrity. According to coach Charlie Francis, after breaking the world record, Johnson earned about $480,000 a month in endorsements.[4] Johnson won both the Lou Marsh Trophy and Lionel Conacher Award, and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987.
Following Johnson's defeat of Lewis in Rome, Lewis started trying to explain away his defeat. He first claimed that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him. Finally, without naming names, Lewis said "There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don't think they are doing it without drugs." This was the start of Lewis' calling on the sport of track and field to be cleaned up in terms of the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. While cynics noted that the problem had been in the sport for many years, they pointed out that it did not become a cause for Lewis until he was actually defeated, with some also pointing to Lewis's egotistical attitude and lack of humility. During a controversial interview with the BBC, Lewis said:

    There are gold medallists at this meet who are on drugs, that [100 meters] race will be looked at for many years, for more reasons than one.

Johnson's response was:

    When Carl Lewis was winning everything, I never said a word against him. And when the next guy comes along and beats me, I won't complain about that either.

This set up the rivalry leading into the 1988 Olympic Games.
In 1988, Johnson experienced a number of setbacks to his running career. In February of that year he pulled a hamstring, and in May he aggravated the same injury. Meanwhile, in Paris in June, Lewis ran a 9.99. Then in Zurich, Switzerland on August 17, the two faced each other for the first time since the 1987 World Championships; Lewis won in 9.93, while Johnson finished third in 10.00. "The gold medal for the (Olympic) 100 meters is mine," Carl Lewis said. "I will never again lose to Johnson."

Olympic games and subsequent disqualification
On September 24, 1988, Johnson was thought to be the first sprinter from Canada since Percy Williams in 1928 to win the 100 meters final at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. Johnson would later remark that he would have been even faster had he not raised his hand in the air just before he hit the tape.[6] However, Park Jong-sei of the Olympic Doping Control Center found that Johnson's urine sample contained stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later.[7] He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. Johnson and coach Francis complained that they used doping in order to remain on an equal footing with the other top athletes on drugs they had to compete against. In testimony before the Dubin inquiry into drug use, Francis charged that Johnson was only one of many cheaters, and he just happened to get caught. Later, six of the eight finalists of the 100 meters race tested positive for banned drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal at some point in their careers: Carl Lewis, who was given the gold medal; Linford Christie, who was moved up to the silver medal and who went on to win gold at the next Games; Dennis Mitchell, who was moved up to fourth place and finished third to Christie in 1992; and Desai Williams, Johnson's countryman who won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.[8]


Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, a vocal critic of the IOC testing procedures, is the author of Speed Trap, which features Johnson heavily. In the book, he freely admits that his athletes were taking anabolic steroids, as he claims all top athletes at the time were, and also claims that Johnson could not possibly have tested positive for that particular steroid since Johnson actually preferred furazabol. He thought stanozolol made his body "feel tight".[9] The numerous athletes using performance-enhancing drugs at the time understood how long before a race, and possible drug test, they should stop using the drugs. Johnson later claimed that André A. Jackson, Lewis' Santa Monica Track Club teammate, who was inside the drug testing room in Seoul, may have placed the stanozolol in one of the beers Johnson drank in order to make urine for his test.[10]

On 28 September 2018, the Toronto Star ran an article on the lab report which was created on Johnson sample during the 1988 Olympic Games. It was produced by the IOC doping control center in Seoul two days after Johnson handed in a urine sample taken after the 100m run. The newspaper concluded that the assumed substance Stanozolol was traceable, but "inconsistencies" are found in the report. The Toronto Star goes on, that no Canadian Olympic team official saw the lab report in Seoul. The lab report was requested by Canada's chief medical officer, Dr. William Stanish. The Canadian team didn't object after the IOC medical commission assured that: "its testing methods were unassailable."

Richard Bona, jazz bassist and musician. He currently holds a professorship of music at New York University

Richard Bona (born October 28, 1967 in Minta, Cameroon) is a jazz bassist and musician. His actual African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo.

Bona was born into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a young age. His grandfather was a griot-- a West African singer of praise and storyteller-- and percussionist, and his mother was a singer. At 4 years old, Bona started to play the balafon. At the age of 5, he began performing at his village church. Not being wealthy, Bona made many of his own instruments: including flutes and guitars (with cords strung over an old motorcycle tank).
His talent was quickly noticed, and he was often invited to perform at festivals and ceremonies. Bona began learning to play the guitar at age 11, and in 1980 aged just 13, he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala. The owner befriended him and helped him discover jazz music, in particular that of Jaco Pastorius, which inspired Bona to switch his focus to the electric bass.

 Bona emigrated to Germany at the age of 22 to study music in Düsseldorf, soon relocating to France, where he furthered his studies in music.
Whilst in France, he regularly played in various jazz clubs, sometimes with players such as Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Jacques Higelin and Didier Lockwood.
In 1995, Richard left France and established himself in New York, where he still lives and works. In New York he played bass guitar with artists like Joe Zawinul, Larry Coryell, Michael and Randy Brecker, Mike Stern, George Benson, Branford Marsalis, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, and Steve Gadd.
In 1998, Richard was the Musical Director on Harry Belafonte's European Tour.
His first solo album, Scenes from My Life, was released in 1999. He has also been prominently featured in Jaco Pastorius Big Band albums, as well as many other albums by various top-tier jazz musicians.
In 2002 Bona went on a world tour with the Pat Metheny Group as a percussionist/vocalist.
In 2005 Bona released his fourth album Tiki, which included a collaboration with John Legend on one track, entitled "Please Don't Stop."
He currently holds a professorship of music at New York University.

Discography

Richard Bona, 3 August 2006

• 1999 : Scenes from my life Columbia Jazz
• 2000 : Kaze Ga kureta Melody, Columbia Jazz
• 2001 : Reverence, Columbia Jazz
• 2003 : Munia: The Tale, Universal Music France
• 2004 : Toto Bona Lokua, No Format! with Lokua Kanza & Gerald Toto
• 2005 : Tiki, Universal Music France
• 2008 : Bona Makes You Sweat - Live, Universal Jazz France
• 2009 : The Ten Shades Of Blues, Universal Jazz France
• 2013 : Bonafied, Universal Jazz France

Fritz d'Orey, a former racing driver, from Brazil. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix

Frederico José Carlos Themudo "Fritz" d'Orey (born March 25, 1938 in São Paulo) is a former racing driver, from Brazil. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 5, 1959.
Although he was Brazilian by birth, Fritz d’Orey’s parents were Portuguese nationals and his grandfather a German. The family settled in São Paulo where they earned a more than comfortable living by importing Packard cars from America. Fritz wanted for nothing, and what he wanted was to go racing.

That was with a Porsche initially before the 20 year old bought Chico Landi’s Ferrari 375 that was now fitted with a V8 Corvette engine. Victory in the Interlagos endurance race of 1958 and further national success persuaded d’Orey to race in Europe.

Formula 1 career with Centro Sud and Tec-Mec

He joined Scuderia Centro Sud for the following season and his Maserati 250F was 10th at the 1959 French Grand Prix. The youngster was wild and ragged and a heavy crash during the subsequent British GP ended his immediate plans.

D’Orey also competed in hillclimbs, sports car races and Formula Junior events during 1959. He won an FJ race at Messina and was second in the United States GP support race at Sebring. D’Orey also made his third and final GP start that day with Camoradi USA’s Tec-Mec F415 – a strangely modified Maserati 250F

whose reshaped body certainly made the car no quicker. D’Orey retired early on in what was Tec-Mec’s only Formula 1 appearance.

Instead of open-wheel racing, the Brazilian planned a season in sports cars in 1960. He finished sixth in the Sebring 12 Hours with William Sturgis’s Ferrari 250GT but then crashed while testing before the Le Mans 24 Hours. D’Orey suffered severe head injuries in the accident and was hospitalised for eight months. Although he recovered fully, he was finished with racing. Instead he returned to work for his father’s business and eventually settled in Rio de Janeiro.