Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Interco ...

. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing at a young age, working as the youngest ever test driver for Ferrari 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 in GT1 class, and also claiming the first edition of the FIA GT1 World Championship. 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 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 GT3-R for ''Art Engineering'' in the GT3 division of the FIA GT. In 2002 he moved to ''

JMB Racing JMB Racing is a racing team from Monaco that competes in sports car racing. It was founded in Nice, France, in 1995 as JB Racing by Jean-Michel Bouresche and Jean-Pierre Jabouille. It was renamed JMB (Bouresche's initials) in 2000 after Jabouille ...

'' 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,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and Zhuhai, China with his teammate, former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

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 (ALMS) in 2005 but without much success. He made no podium finishes and crashed out in the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. For 2006 in the FIA GT, Bertolini moved to '' Vitaphone Racing Team'' where he again raced the MC12, with teammate Michael Bartels. 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 Maserati in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2011 he won the International Superstars Series driving a Maserati Quattroporte 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 with Olivier Beretta.

Racing record

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^‡ As Bertolini was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete WeatherTech 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

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/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertolini, Andrea 1973 births Living people People 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 Blancpain Endurance Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers International GT Open drivers Sportspeople from the Province of Modena AF Corse drivers SMP Racing drivers Eurasia Motorsport drivers