From Vauhdin Maailma's 1984 F1 preview/guide:
...The story of Spirit is thought of as famous and quite hilarious. First, old geezer Emerson Fittipaldi was given an opportunity to wheel a turbo around Jacarepaguá* , only to find out that time had passed the old champion. No longer did he have the speed. Then, one Fulvio Ballabio made a lot of noise about himself in central Europe, bragging that he's driving a Spirit in the F1 carousel. Fulvio however forgot the fact that one does not simply drive an F1 without a superlicense.
Poor sod had already printed all sorts of stickers and posters about himself before Spirit finally came to their senses and hired Mauro Baldi, who already had a year of experience from turbo machinery under his belt. Ballabio's resume was bolstered (?) by a 15th place in some European minor formulae.**
*(written in original as "Jaqarepua")
**Fulvio Ballabio was 16th in 1983 European Formula 2 championship, driving for Merzario Team as well as Ecurie Armagnac Bigarre Nogaro.
Text, as usual, tries to stay true to the original wording and phrasing. Henceforth, opinions and observations in the quotes are those of the writer, not mine.
I actually had to look up the name Fulvio Ballabio. When I originally read that piece, I thought he was some local F3 driver who had tons of money. As it turned out, F2 was where he was in the previous season. It does seem quite harsh, therefore, to label that as "15th place in some European minor formulae", which would be the direct translation.
It seems that after the failed attempt to get a Spirit drive in 1984, his career never really recovered. 3 races in IMSA on the same year, followed by one-offs in Italian F3, European F3000, and a rather dismal effort with prototypes in 1986, where he had a grand total of 7 points in 6 races to show for himself. That does however include a 5th place at 24 hours of Le Mans, probably his career highlight.
And in case some from over the pond find the name oddly familiar, he drove 4 seasons of Indy from 1987 to 1990. With - you guessed it - 0 points to his name.
So: Fulvio. Journeyman driver who was never really top quality, or an unlucky chap who almost got a break and soldiered on in other series? If anyone has more information on this guy, it would be greatly appreciated. Because statistics only tell so much, and especially in motorsport are often an unfair way to judge a driver.