Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

. He is the official test driver of the

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

factory. Bertolini began racing at a young age, working as the youngest ever test driver for

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

at 19, followed by work in the experimental and development department. He also participated in the development of the Maserati MC12, in which he has enjoyed racing success winning for three times the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

in GT1 class, and also claiming the first edition of the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. I ...

. He won the WEC championship in GTE Am category in 2015 and in the same year he won the 24H of Le Mans in the same class.

Racing history

Andrea Bertolini began racing

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

at age 11. He came second in the ''Italian Championship'', won championships at a national level, and went on to win the CIAK Cup and place second in the Italian 125 Championship in 2000. In 2001, he drove a

Porsche 996 The Porsche 996 is the fifth generation of the Porsche 911, 911 model sports car manufactured by the German automaker Porsche from 1997 until 2006. It was replaced by the Porsche 997, 997 in 2004, but the high performance Turbo S, GT2 and GT3 va ...

GT3-R for ''Art Engineering'' in the NGT class of the FIA GT. In 2002 he moved to '' JMB Racing'' driving a Ferrari 360 Modena and continued through 2003 finishing 4th. In 2004, he moved to the ''Giesse Squadra Corse'' team, again driving a 360 Modena. Once again, he placed 2nd overall, and was awarded the "Driver Performance of the Year". Part way through 2004, he was offered a position on the ''Maserati AF Corse'' team driving their new, GT1 class Maserati MC12, a car he had been involved in developing. He accepted, winning two races that year at

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

with his teammate, former

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver, Mika Salo. In 2005, he returned to ''JMB Racing'', again driving an MC12. He finished the season tied 4th (with teammate Karl Wendlinger), within 4 points of first. Andrea Bertolini also raced his MC12 in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

(ALMS) in 2005 but without much success. He made no podium finishes and crashed out in the race at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

. For 2006 in the FIA GT, Bertolini moved to '' Vitaphone Racing Team'' where he again raced the MC12, with teammate

Michael Bartels Michael Bartels (born 8 March 1968) is a German professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who attempted to qualify for four races in with Lotus. Career Bartels was the 1985 German karting champ ...

. Bartels and Bertolini finished first in the overall driver standings, and also their team to a 1st-place finish in the team standings. Bertolini and Bartels also won the championship again driving the same Vitaphone

in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he won the International Superstars Series driving a

Maserati Quattroporte The Maserati Quattroporte () is a four-door full-size luxury sedan produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. The name translated from Italian means " four doors". The production of the sixth generation ended in late 2023, with the ...

for ''Swiss Team''. Bertolini became the first person to drive Ferrari's new F1 Simulator at an opening ceremony held at the Italian teams' Maranello base. For 2012, Bertolini will compete in the

, driving an AF Corse

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is an Italian Mid-engine design, mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The 458 is the successor of the Ferrari F430, F430, and was first officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show#2009, 2009 Frankfu ...

with

Olivier Beretta Olivier Henri Aldo Léopold Beretta (born 23 November 1969) is a professional racing driver from Monaco who raced in Formula One in 1994 for the Larrousse team, partnering Érik Comas. He participated in 10 Grands Prix, debuting on 27 March 199 ...

Racing record

Complete GT1 World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ As Bertolini was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Bertolini did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

http://www.andreabertolini.it/

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertolini, Andrea 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Sassuolo Italian racing drivers FIA GT Championship drivers American Le Mans Series drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Superstars Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers International GT Open drivers AF Corse drivers SMP Racing drivers Eurasia Motorsport drivers Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers

Racing history

See also

Racing record

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

References

External links