José Luis Di Palma is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 racing driver. He was born in Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata

Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

, Buenos Aires province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

.

Early career

Di Palma began his professional career racing in the Argentine TC 2000 Championship in 1984. After three years in the series and few notabile results, Di Palma moved to formula car racing in Formula Three Sudamericana

Formula Three Sudamericana

Formula Three Sudamericana is the official name for the South American Formula Three Championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and currently holds events in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay...

 in 1987. He finished 8th in points in his rookie season and improved to 7th in 1988. He placed 9th in 1989.

Europe and Indy Lights

In 1990 Di Palma moved to Europe to race in Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries where he finished 9th. In 1991 he raced in British Formula 3000

British Formula 3000

The British Formula 3000 championship, alternatively known as the British Formula Two Championship, was a competition for Formula 3000 held in the United Kingdom, active from 1989 to 1994 and in 1996...

 for Cobra Motorsport and finished 11th. The series became British Formula 2 in 1991 and Di Palma finished fourth in points for AJS

AJS

AJS was the name used for cars and motorcycles made by the Wolverhampton, England, company A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd, from 1909 to 1931, by then holding 117 motorcycle world records, and after the firm was sold the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on...

. Di Palma continued with the team in British F2 in 1993 and was runner-up in the championship and captured 2 wins. In 1994 he won the championship driving for Madgwick International, again capturing two wins. The series was not held in 1995 so Di Palma competed in eight races in the American Indy Lights series in 1995 for McCormack Motorsports

McCormack Motorsports

McCormack Motorsports is a former Indy Racing League team owned by Dennis McCormack that operated from 1996 to 2001. Based in Avon, Indiana, the team debuted at the 1996 Indianapolis 500 with a car for Randy Tolsma, however, it failed to make the field. For the 1996-1997 season, the team used 3...

. He finished 19th in points with a best finish of fifth at Toronto

Honda Indy Toronto

The Honda Indy Toronto is an annual IndyCar Series race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was a Champ Car World Series race held annually from 1986 to 2007...

. He returned to Indy Lights full-time in 1996, this time driving for Tasman Motorsports

Tasman Motorsports

Tasman Motorsports Group is a former racing team owned by Steve Horne that competed in the Indy Lights series and, most notably, the CART series from 1995 to 1998. Tasman was one of the first teams to successfully field a Honda powered entry...

. Di Palma finished 9th in points with a best finish of fourth at Belle Isle

Detroit Indy Grand Prix

The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix presented by shopautoweek.com is a weekend of professional auto racing held at the Renaissance Center and later the Belle Isle in Detroit, United States. It has been held from 1989-01, 2007–08, and is scheduled for 2012 and beyond...

. Di Palma's Tasman teammates Tony Kanaan

Tony Kanaan

Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho, commonly known as Tony Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driver of Lebanese heritage. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing's 7-Eleven sponsored car, winning three times in his Honda-powered Dallara...

 and Helio Castroneves

Hélio Castroneves

Hélio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 14 wins and 28 poles, and has never placed lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of racing...

 finished second and seventh in points, respectively.

Return to South America

In 1997, Di Palma competed in the South American Super Touring Car Championship

South American Super Touring Car Championship

The South American Super Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series in South America.-The Champions:-Notable Drivers:...

 and finished eighth and made four starts in Turismo Carretera

Turismo Carretera

Turismo Carretera is a popular touring car racing series in Argentina, and the oldest car racing series still active in the world....

. He competed in Turismo Carretera full-time in 1998 and finished seventh. In 1999 in the same series he finished fourth. Di Palma continued to race in Turismo Carretera until 2009, also finishing fourth in points in 2001, matching his career best. Di Palma also competed in the Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...

across South America in 2010 and 2011.