ROAL Motorsport (previously known as Ravaglia Motorsport) is an Italian

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team, which operated the BMW Team Italy-Spain team in the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

, and currently competes as BMW Team Italia in the Italian GT Championship. It was founded in 2001 by 1987 World Touring Car champion Roberto Ravaglia and Aldo Preo (Roberto + Aldo = ROAL). Team History at roal-motorsport.com

History

Ravaglia Motorsport began competing in the Superproduction class of the European Super Touring Championship in 2001 as BMW Team Germany with Peter Kox and

Norman Simon Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

as drivers, with Kox winning the class. In 2002, they competed in the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

(ETCC) as BMW Team Spain with

Jordi Gené Jordi Gené Guerrero (born 5 December 1970) is a racing driver who competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2010. His younger brother, Marc is also a ex-racing driver and is currently a Brand Ambassador for the Scuderia Ferr ...

and

Fabrizio de Simone Fabrizio De Simone (born 30 March 1971) is an Italian racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since ...

as drivers. In 2003, they became BMW Team Italy-Spain and had Antonio García and

Fabrizio Giovanardi Fabrizio Giovanardi (born 14 December 1966 in Sassuolo) is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has s ...

as drivers, with

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...

driving a third car at the season finale in

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...

, using special controls following his serious accident in 2001 in which he lost both his legs. Zanardi replaced Giovanardi full-time in 2004. In 2005, the ETCC became the

(WTCC) and Ravaglia Motorsport changed their name to ROAL Motorsport. Zanardi also won the

Italian Superturismo Championship The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is Italy's national motorsport series for touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as Le Mans winner Emanuele Pi ...

in 2005 for the team, and finished third in the first edition of the European Touring Car Cup. Garcia left the team at the end of 2005 to pursue a career in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, and was replaced by fellow Spaniard

Marcel Costa Marcel Costa (born 4 November 1978 in Guardiola de Berguedà) is a Spanish auto racing driver. Career Costa was the 2002 Spanish Formula Three Champion, yet after a season in the Spanish GT Series, where he was a class champion, Costa spent 2004 ...

. Costa was disappointing though and was replaced by

Duncan Huisman Duncan Huisman (born 11 November 1971 in Doornspijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch racing driver. He won the Guia Race four times and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 2005. He claimed three titles at the Dutch Touring Car Championship in 1997, 2000 and 2 ...

during the season. The team gave

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...

racer

Félix Porteiro Félix Porteiro Pérez (born 26 August 1983 in Castellón) is a Spanish racing driver. He competed in GP2 in 2006 and 2007, his best finish was 4th in 2007. Racing career Single-seaters In 2001 Porteiro drove in the Spanish Formula Three C ...

a drive in the ETC Cup and he impressed enough to get a drive in the WTCC for 2007. In 2008, ROAL Motorsport began development of a competition M3 E90 for the

Superstars Series The Superstars International Series was a production-based touring car racing championship held between 2004 and 2013. It was managed by the "Superstars World of Racing SpA", SWR, a company of FG GROUP with headquarters in Rome and sanctioned by t ...

, with

Luca Rangoni Luca Rangoni (born 23 September 1968 in Bologna) is an Italian auto racing driver. He is a married man with one son. Early career Like many racing drivers, Rangoni's first taste of racing was in karts, where he spent four years. He made his deb ...

as driver. For 2009, Porteiro was replaced by 2008 Independent's champion Sergio Hernández in the team, while in the Superstars Series, Rangoni was replaced by reigning Champion

Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the T ...

. After leaving the WTCC in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, ROAL returned to WTCC in 2011 with

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

driver Tom Coronel who last drove for BMW in the

, until 2017 season, which WTCC folded and merged into

2018 World Touring Car Cup The 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup (known as the FIA WTCR presented by Oscaro for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR). It took over from the World Touring Car Championship and adopted the TCR technic ...

Since 2015, ROAL Motorsport has regularly competed in the Italian GT Championship, initially with the BMW Z4 GT3 until switching to the BMW M6 GT3 in 2016. 2016 also saw ROAL compete under the BMW Team Italia name. In 2019, the running of the team was taken over by Ceccato Motorsport.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roal Motorsport Italian auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2001 2001 establishments in Italy World Touring Car Championship teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams BMW in motorsport