1984-87: A tough competitor in Italian F3, makes move to F3000

From 1984 to 1986 he raced in Italian F3, against the likes of Alex Caffi, Nicola Larini, Gabriele Tarquini and Fabrizio Barbazza. In 1984, he drove a Ralt RT3 Alfa Romeo for the Coperchini team, and with 17 points came 7th overall. He then started winning in 1985, taking two wins at Misano, having stuck with Coperchini to drive both a Ralt RT3 and a Reynard 853. 
1986 saw a battle for the Italian F3 title between Coloni Dallara team-mates Apicella and Larini. Nicola ended up taking the title with Marco 2nd. The move up to International F3000 in 1987 was thus a logical progression. 1987 was a learning year for him in the Euroventurini team, driving a Dallara 3087 with a Cosworth engine, his best being 5th at Spa, receiving only half-points because the race was stopped early. That point gave him equal 19th in the series.

1988-89: Often on the podium; joins FIRST, but fails to finish first

1988 saw Apicella move to Lamberto Leoni's FIRST team, and a rise through the ranks in a March 88B with a Judd engine. He scored points for 5th at Pau, which would become one of his best circuits. He was then 6th at Silverstone, but only 0.26s behind Jean Alesi. But the highlight of his year, without doubt, was 2nd at Monza. 9 points all up gave him joint 11th in the championship. 
Apicella stayed with FIRST for 1989, and despite the distraction of FIRST's failed attempt to enter F1, Marco knuckled down to the job at hand in his Reynard 89D/Judd. Recording the fastest lap at Vallelunga was a sign of things to come. He then took pole at Pau and came 2nd, setting joint fastest lap with Eric Bernard. This was followed by 3rd at Jerez, 4th at Enna, 2nd at Birmingham, and a fine 4th overall with 23 points. 

1990: Consistency proves the key, but drops a place overall; tests F1

With a new Reynard 90D chassis, and a switch to Mugen engines, Apicella and FIRST continued their consistent form into 1990. He was 3rd at Silverstone, before recording fastest lap at Pau. He again took fastest lap at Jerez en route to 2nd, before 5th places at Monza and Nogaro, 2nd at Hockenheim plus fastest lap, and another fastest lap at Birmingham plus the pole. He was also 3rd across the line at Brands Hatch, but was then disqualified for using illegal fuel. Ultimately, he was equal 5th with Gianni Morbidelli on 20 points. 
In 1990, Marco also did some testing for the Minardi F1 team. He participated in the pre-season test at Jerez where 7 cars (a McLaren, a Minardi, a Tyrrell, a Larrousse, a Dallara and both Ligiers no less) lapped under Senna's pole time from the previous year. Alas, Apicella was not among these, recording only the 19th fastest time out of the 20 drivers present, almost 8s off the best time set by Gerhard Berger's McLaren, but 3s faster than Bruno Giacomelli in the active suspension Leyton House.

1991: Joins Paul Stewart Racing, but disappoints with 5th places overall 

In 1991, Marco again did some F1 testing, this time for the bottom-of-the-pile Lamborghini effort. That this team could even afford to hire a test driver is beyond us! Somehow, we doubt that this was such a great career move for Marco. 
Apparently, he was yet to be eye-catching enough to attract F1 team bosses, a move to Paul Stewart Racing in 1991 was a make-or-break opportunity. In a Lola T91/50 with a Mugen engine, Apicella took time to adjust, and instead of his consistently quick pace, all he could manage were 2nd places at Mugello and Enna, and 4ths at Pau and Brands Hatch. 5th with 18 points was not really good enough considering his experience.

1992-93: Flees to Japan, takes two wins at Autopolis and Sugo in first two years

With new youngsters coming through each year, Apicella was now one of those F1 conveniently forgot. So, like many others who found their careers going nowhere in Europe (including the likes of Roland Ratzenberger, Mika Salo, Eddie Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen), he headed to Japan in 1992 to drive in their F3000 series for the DOME team. But unlike those who used Japan to enhance their reputations, Apicella was slow to get going, with few notable results. But he did manage to take his maiden category win with a great drive at Autopolis. 
1993 was better, in his DOME/Mugen F103i. In 9 races, he only fell off the track twice, and took a 9th, a 7th, a 5th, two 4ths, a 2nd at Fuji and a win at Sugo. That was good enough to earn him 23 points, but in an all-too familiar story, he was only 4th in the championship. That he suddenly got a call during the year to enter the highest echelon of all came as something of a surprise.

1993: Jordan. Boutsen retires, giving Marco a go at his home GP

1993 was a difficult year for the Jordan F1 team. After a disastrous year with Yamaha engines in 1992, the Hart engine in 1993 was more reliable but not particularly powerful, and the 193 chassis was good but not great. While Rubens Barrichello was impressive in his debut season, experienced drivers such as Ivan Capelli and Thierry Boutsen simply could not make the car competitive. So much so that, after the Belgian GP, Boutsen decided to retire from F1. 
With few races left in the season, Eddie Jordan offered the seat to test-driver Emanuele Naspetti, but when Apicella's countryman surprisingly declined, EJ made the decision to give Marco a go in the Italian GP at Monza. It was only a one-race contract, with Apicella committed to racing in Japan. The pressure was on to come up with the goods, but it looked as though he could handle it. In a solitary test prior to Monza he proved to be very quick, to the point of even catching Barrichello's attention.
But, as in previous pressure situations, Apicella struggled when it mattered. He only managed to put the car 22nd on the grid out of 26, 4.5 seconds behind Alain Prost's Williams on pole. Admittedly Barrichello couldn't get much more out of the car, qualifying 19th, half a second ahead of Marco. But come the race, it was all of academic importance thanks to the traditional Monza first lap shenanigans. 
This was a particularly eventful first chicane, even by Monza standards. Damon Hill clashed with Ayrton Senna, although both drivers continued (and Hill won the race). Both Footworks of Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki also proceeded to take each other out.
But further back in the pack there was more trouble still, as J.J. Lehto in the Sauber managed to collect both Barrichello and Apicella in one foul swoop. Marco sustained suspension damage, enough to put him out of the race. His debut had lasted but one corner. Although Jordan offered him the drive at the next GP, his Japanese F3000 committments took precedence, and there were to be no more F1 chances. Naspetti finally took the drive for the Portuguese GP at Estoril. 
Naspetti also only lasted one race before Suzuka specialist Eddie Irvine was hired, with immediate results. At Suzuka, Barrichello and fast Eddie came home 5th and 6th, to score Jordan's first and only points of the year. And Apicella was nowhere to be seen come F1 in 1994.

1994-95: Apicella DOME-inates the Japanese F3000 season with 3 wins

His tilt at F1 over before it got off the ground, Apicella returned to Japan determined to do well in the 1994 F3000 season. He didn't disappoint, dominating the series in his DOME/Mugen F104. In 10 races, he took three wins at Mine, Suzuka and Fuji, plus three 2nd places in other races at Suzuka and Fuji. He also scored two 4th places and a 6th, and his only DNF came at the last round when he was punted off the track. With 52 points, he was an overwhelming champion. 
With astoundingly still no F1 offers on the table, Apicella left the comfortable surrounds of DOME to join the 5-Zigen team in Japanese F3000 for 1995. In hindsight, this was the beginning of the end as far as his career was concerned. In his Reynard/Judd 95D, he put together hardly any results of note in a torrid season, with 10th place at Suzuka in the final round being his best.

1995-96: Difficulties at Le Mans; tests F1 again with DOME prototyp

Relatively speaking, 14th at the 1995 Le Mans 24hrs for the SARD team in a Toyota Supra GT LM turbo, shared with Jeff Krosnoff and Mauro Martini, was a much greater achievement, but this did not come without drama. Forced to run with a flat bottom which the car did not have in Japanese homologation, the team spent all of qualifying trying to find a set-up, and ended up 30th on the grid. The floor then came loose in the middle of the night, and it was only then that the stewards allowed them to remove the floor. 
In 1996, Japanese F3000 was renamed Formula Nippon, and for some strange reason Apicella remained with 5-Zigen, driving the same car as the year before. Compared to 1995, things were little better, Apicella's only points-scoring result being 4th at Mine, on his way to 16th in the points standings. That year, Apicella also joined Shinji Nakano in testing the DOME Dome F105 Mugen F1 prototype, which was expected to enter F1 in 1997 or 1998, but it never eventuated.

1996-97 Hattori takes over at DOME; one-off JGTC race during Nippon season

Whether or not this was another missed F1 opportunity for Apicella is a matter of conjecture. Though Marco had been among the initial testers of the car, Nakano had soon taken over that role. And come late October 1996, when Dome had another test at Suzuka and Nakano was unavailable, instead of putting Apicella back in the car they went for Naoki Hattori. 
Anyway, for 1997, Apicella continued in Formula Nippon with the Stellar team in a Reynard/Mugen 96D, replacing Mauro Martini after three rounds. In 6 races, he finished 8th three times, plus a 6th at Fuji, a 5th at Sugo and a 4th at Mine behind Norberto Fontana, Pedro de la Rosa, and initial 2000 Benetton tester Hidetoshi Mitsusada. He also had a one-off drive in the All Japan GT championship in a NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R with Aguri Suzuki in the GT500 class. 4th at Fuji was their result, good enough nonetheless for 25th overall with 10 points.

1998-99: Drops back to Italian F3000; up and down season includes wins and DNQs

After a year missing in action in 1998, Apicella returned to Europe in 1999, and joined the Monaco team in the all-new Italian F3000 series, as team-mate to Malaysian driver Alex Yoong. Expected to do well because of his experience, Marco started off well by winning round 1 at Vallelunga. But then he retired early at Monza, crashed on lap one at Enna, and took 8th at Donington. Hardly a triumphant return. 
To add to his disappointment, when Monaco entered the International F3000 round at Spa, Apicella failed to even qualify. But he responded well by winning the next Italian F3000 round at Misano, before retiring with two more accidents in the last two races. Indeed, at the second last round he was running 2nd behind Brazilian title contender Marcelo Battistuzzi, until punting him off with a few laps to go, ending the Brazilian's championship aspirations. Perhaps this was a sign of frustration from the veteran, who could manage no better than 3rd overall, with 20 points.

1999: Marco shoots wide of the Target, but leads half the race

Apicella also turned to sports car racing in 1999. He joined the Riley & Scott Europe team to drive a Riley & Scott Mk III, and in pre-qualifying shared the car with Gary Formato and Philippe Gache. Come the race, he joined the sister car of Shane Lewis and Carl Rosenblad instead, but the car retired with engine problems. 
Later, he drove a similar car for the Target 24 team in the Sports Racing World Cup round at Brno along with Andrea de Lorenzi, but after leading for half the race, a delayed pit stop dropped them to 4th. The resulting 10 points gave Marco equal 27th place overall. 

2000: Resturns to JGTC in GT300 class, finishes equal 21s

In 2000, Apicella was firstly scheduled to go to America to race in the Daytona 24hr classic, in a MAC Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R. However, at the last minute he was unceremoniously replaced. Instead, Apicella returned to the Japanese Grand Touring Championship, driving a Porsche Boxster 986 in the GT300 class with the MTCI/Sports Today Racing Team, sharing the car with Kazuyuki Nishizawa. 20th at Mine was their best result, leaving him with 13 points and equal 21st in class in the championship. 
2000 also saw Apicella race in the Alfredo Melandri Memorial kart event at the Happy Valley track at Pinarella di Cervia in Ravenna, where he was teamed up with Andrea Comandini and Roberto Rasi, but they only managed 16th place.

2001: Remains in Japan, taken up by Lamborghini

For 2001, Apicella remained in Japan, and was taken up by the Japan Lamborghini Owners' Club team to race a Lamborghini Diablo JGT1 with Naohiro Furuya in the JGTC GT500 class. They practised at Aida but did not start due to lack of preparation, but since then retired at Fuji, did not start at Sugo, and retired at Sepang. It ain't looking all that flash. The team plans to make an assault on Le Mans in 2002. 
On a personal note, Apicella is 165cm tall and weighs 65kg. His blood type is Rh O+. He spends part of his time at the Centro Internazionale Guida Sicura driving school in Italy as a driving instructor, alongside many other famous names from Italian motor racing.

(c) F1 Rejects