Alessandro Pier Guidi

Alessandro Pier Guidi (born December 18, 1983) is a racing driver from Italy. A Ferrari factory driver since 2017, he won the LMGTE Pro FIA World Endurance Championship in 2017, 2021 and 2022, the 2019 and 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGTE Pro class, and claimed the 24 Hours of Spa in 2021, as well as taking an overall win at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans along with James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Early career

Pier Guidi began racing karts in 1994, a discipline he remained in until 2001. During that time, he would win the Torneo delle Industrie multiple times and took home the Italian Junior Championship in 1997. In 2002, the Italian progressed to single-seaters, driving in the Italian Formula Renault series. After a two-year hiatus from racing, Pier Guidi moved over into GT racing in 2005. Success swiftly followed, as he won the Italian GT Championship in the GT2 class and finished third in the Spanish GT Championship, having missed two rounds.

The following season, Pier Guidi made a step back into the single-seater scene, competing in two rounds of the F3000 International Masters. As well as that, the Italian finished fourth in the International GT Open and once again took third overall in the Spanish series. At the end of 2006, Pier Guidi joined A1 Team Italy for the opening pair of that season's A1 Grand Prix events.

GT career (2007–13)

After a one-off appearance in 2006, the GT1 category in the FIA GT Championship became Pier Guidi's home for 2007. Driving for Scuderia Playteam Sarafree, the Italian would finish the season in ninth place.

In 2008, Pier Guidi would be signed by Galatasaray S.K., run by Scuderia Playteam, to race in the Superleague Formula series. The Italian scored three third-placed finishes and ended up eighth in the championship. He returned to the FIA GT Championship for the second half of the subsequent year where, driving for Vitaphone Racing alongside Matteo Bobbi, Pier Guidi won the season finale at Zolder and took home fifth in the standings, despite having missed the first three rounds. In 2010, Pier Guidi would once again miss a heap of races in the newly formed GT1 World Championship, though he ended up scoring a lone podium in the Navarra qualifying race. The Superstars Series became his next destination in 2011, where he finished ninth, grabbing three podiums in another incomplete campaign.

Despite 2012 being another patchy year in terms of series participation, Pier Guidi would experience a triumph at the 24 Hours of Spa, where he, Andrea Bertolini, Louis Machiels, and Niek Hommerson came out victorious in the Pro-Am class, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

For the fifth year running, Pier Guidi did not race in any one series on a full-time basis in 2013. Nevertheless, he took a GTS class win alongside Aleksey Basov in the International GT Open and took a pole position in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

GT career (2014–16)

At the start of 2014, Pier Guidi achieved major sporting success as he scored a GTD class win in the 24 Hours of Daytona partnering Scott Tucker, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, and Bill Sweedler at Level 5 Motorsports, with a stewards call which originally stripped the win away from the team being reversed four hours after the finish.

His main focus would lie in the Italian GT Championship that year, where he won at Mugello and scored three further podiums. At the end of the year, he took part in two races of the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 for AF Corse.

Going into 2015, Pier Guidi signed up for a full season in the European Le Mans Series with AF Corse-offshoot AT Racing. Competing in the GTE class alongside the father-son duo of Alexander Talkanitsa Senior and Junior, Pier Guidi took a win at Imola after battling his way past Marco Mapelli and Andrea Rizzoli and put the team fifth in the championship. That year, the Italian also achieved his second Spa 24 Hours victory in the Pro-Am class, having teamed up with Gianmaria Bruni, Pasin Lathouras, and Stéphane Lemeret.

For the 2016 season, Pier Guidi returned to AT Racing for his sophomore season in the ELMS. Despite missing a round, the Italian had a successful campaign, scoring a pole position at Spa-Francorchamps and finishing on the podium thrice. In June, AF Corse included Pier Guidi in their LMGTE Pro effort in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, though the team would be forced to retire due to an engine failure.

Ferrari factory driver (2017–present)

Ahead of the 2017 season, Pier Guidi signed a factory contract with Ferrari. It would soon be announced that he was replacing Gianmaria Bruni at AF Corse's LMGTE Pro outfit in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where he paired up with James Calado. The year unraveled in triumphant fashion, as seven podiums from nine races, including wins at the Nürburgring, Austin, and Fuji gave Pier Guidi and Calado their first world championship.

Pier Guidi and Calado returned with AF Corse for the 2018–19 WEC 'Super-Season'. They were unable to defend their title, though a class victory at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans and a win at Silverstone guaranteed the duo second in the standings. Another season without a championship followed in 2019–20, where a lone win at Shanghai resulted in fifth and sixth place for Calado and Pier Guidi - the Italian having missed the final race. The year did not pass without individual success for Pier Guidi however, as he won the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup driving a Ferrari 488 GT3.

With Aston Martin exiting the WEC after 2020, leaving only two manufacturers in the GTE Pro class, 2021 proved to be a season-long battle between the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Pier Guidi and Calado and the #92 Porsche of Kévin Estre and Neel Jani. Porsche drew first blood by utilising fuel strategy to win at Spa-Francorchamps, with Ferrari countering with a win in the Algarve. Despite voices in the Porsche camp suggesting that Ferrari would have the advantage going into the 6 Hours of Monza, Estre and Jani proved to be victorious, as a chasing Pier Guidi had to pit for fuel with a few laps to go. This disappointment would be turned into glory at Le Mans, where Pier Guidi, Calado, and Côme Ledogar won after dominating the latter half of the race. The final two races, both held at Bahrain, began with Porsche taking a dominant win at the 6 Hour event, moving a mere point behind Pier Guidi and Calado, a gap that turned into a dead heat once Porsche had scored pole for the 8 Hour round. During the finale, controversy reigned supreme, as Pier Guidi made contact with the class-leading #92 Porsche of Michael Christensen 12 minutes from the end of the race, who changed racing line while breaking after a failing attempt to block an Lmp2 car, spinning around his title rival and inheriting first place. The stewards ordered Pier Guidi to return the place to Christensen, though as the Italian slowed on the main straight, the Porsche went into the pits to refuel the car. Pier Guidi, who pitted for fuel a lap later, came out ahead of Christensen and did not make another attempt to give back the position, and he was also not obliged to do so by the stewards, crossing the line in first and winning the championship. After Porsche protested the stewards' decision to let the win stand, an official appeal was swiftly withdrawn, thus confirming Pier Guidi and Calado as two-time champions.

During the year, the Italian also scored a personal achievement at the 24 Hours of Spa, winning the race for Iron Lynx with a late overtake on the leading Audi of Dries Vanthoor. This result helped Pier Guidi to retain the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup crown, one he shared with Nicklas Nielsen and Côme Ledogar.

For 2022, Pier Guidi and Calado returned to defend their title in what would end up being the final year of the LMGTE Pro category in the WEC. Pier Guidi impressed throughout the year, scoring the marque's sole pole at Monza, putting in important stints at Spa in challenging weather conditions and winning the races in Belgium and Fuji, though his finest drive came at the final round in Bahrain. There, the car, which had initially looked likely to score a podium, developed a gearbox issue with two hours remaining which dropped them behind all other GTE Pro runners. Pier Guidi, using only fifth gear for the majority of his final stints, brought the car home ahead of the GTE Am cars, which were eligible for GTE points, in fifth, thereby winning the championship for a third time.

Ferrari entered the Hypercar class for the 2023 WEC season, fielding two Ferrari 499P in an alliance with AF Corse. Pier Guidi would be placed in the #51 car, remaining alongside Calado and being joined by Antonio Giovinazzi. The opening round at Sebring proved to be a disappointment, as Pier Guidi collided with a GTE Am Ferrari and finished seventh, meanwhile a brake issue forced the Italian to nurse the car home in sixth at Portimão. At Spa, the trio achieved their first podium of the year, with Calado overtaking Porsche's Frédéric Makowiecki on the final lap to snatch third place. Le Mans became the season's magnum opus: After Ferrari locked out the front row with Pier Guidi starting behind poleman Antonio Fuoco, the #51 crew got into the lead by nightfall, though a spin into the gravel by Pier Guidi forced them to be recovered by a recovery vehicle, dropping them to fourth near midnight. The team remained undeterred and got back into the lead at the halfway mark, going on to control the race well into the morning. Despite a late challenge by Toyota, a spin caused them to fall back, leaving Pier Guidi to cross the line to win the centenary edition of the 24 Hours and bringing Ferrari their first overall Le Mans win in 50 years. This result turned out to be the final podium for the #51 trio, who finished fourth in the standings, one place behind their teammates in the #50.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Pier Guidi was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Italia results

Superleague Formula

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

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Partial IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Partial GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

References

External links

*
GT Open Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pier Guidi, Alessandro
Living people
A1 Team Italy drivers
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Superleague Formula drivers
1983 births
FIA GT1 World Championship drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
Superstars Series drivers
People from Tortona
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
International GT Open drivers
Stock Car Brasil drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
British GT Championship drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Sportspeople from the Province of Alessandria
AF Corse drivers
SMP Racing drivers
Level 5 Motorsports drivers
Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers
Iron Lynx drivers
GT4 European Series drivers
Italian racing drivers