Matteo Cairoli (born 1 June 1996) is an Italian racing driver who currently competes 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 ...

for

Iron Lynx Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab is an Italian auto racing team founded by Andrea Piccini, Deborah Mayer, Claudio Schiavoni and Sergio Pianezzola. The team is based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. They primarily participate in sports car racing, and are a sis ...

, having previously competed in the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

as a Lamborghini factory driver. He was the 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup Italia champion.

Career

Junior formula

Cairoli began his single-seater racing career in 2012, competing in the

Italian Formula Renault Championship Formula Renault 2.0 Italia was a Formula Renault 2.0 racing series that is based in Italy. The series raced mostly on Italian races but it had regular races at Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and in Spain. Several Formula One drivers ra ...

. He would finish the season 13th in points after competing in the final four races, scoring one podium. After a 2013 season in which he competed in the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

, Cairoli joined GSK Grand Prix for the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series season. However, he would only compete in the first round at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

before leaving the team.

Sports cars

After competing in junior formula competition, Cairoli moved to sports cars in 2014, taking part in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia with Antonelli Motorsport. It was a successful first season, as Cairoli took the series title by 70 points, winning six of the fourteen races. As a result, he was invited to compete for the Porsche International Cup Scholarship, which he won, receiving €200,000 and Porsche Junior driver status for 2015. As part of the 2015 Porsche Junior driver class, Cairoli was awarded a seat in the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007 and often abbreviated as PSC) is an international One-design racing, one-make production stock car racing series supporting the ...

and

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, (currently known as Porsche SIXT Carrera Cup Deutschland; known as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup between 1986–1989) is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany. Champions Circuits * Adria International ...

for that season, signing with

Project 1 Motorsport Project 1 Motorsport, formerly known as tolimit Motorsport, was a German auto racing team founded by Hans-Bernd Kamps and Jörg Michaels in 1993 to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and later the Porsche Supercup. Based in Lohne, the ...

in both series. At the end of 2016, following a second-placed points finish in the

2016 Porsche Supercup The 2016 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup was the 24th Porsche Supercup season. It began on 13 May at Circuit de Catalunya and finished on 23 October at Circuit of the Americas, after ten scheduled races, all of which were support events for the 2016 Formu ...

, Cairoli was further promoted in the Porsche system to "Young Professional" status. In 2017, Cairoli stepped up to compete for

Dempsey-Proton Racing Proton Competition (also formerly racing as Dempsey-Proton Racing or Team Felbermayr-Proton) is a German auto racing team based in Ummendorf, Baden-Württemberg. It was founded by Gerold Ried, and is currently owned by his son Christian Ried. T ...

in the LMGTE Am class of the

. The opportunity provided Cairoli with his first appearance at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, where the team finished sixth in class. In his first season with the team, the team finished second in the LMGTE Am class, winning twice at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

and in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Cairoli also competed with Dempsey-Proton in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

for 2017, scoring a class victory at

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

as the team finished third in points. Ahead of the

2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship was the eighth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). T ...

, Cairoli returned to

Team Project 1 Project 1 Motorsport, formerly known as tolimit Motorsport, was a German auto racing team founded by Hans-Bernd Kamps and Jörg Michaels in 1993 to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and later the Porsche Supercup. Based in Lohne, the ...

. In February 2020, Cairoli signed with

Dinamic Motorsport Dinamic Motorsport is an Italian auto racing team based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It is a Porsche reference team and participates in the most important GT car races in the world. History Dinamic Motorsport was born from the will and passion ...

to compete in the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by Stéphane Ratel Or ...

. The following season, Cairoli featured as part of the

Manthey Racing Manthey Racing GmbH is a German auto racing team established in 1996 by former race car driver Olaf Manthey. Manthey Racing is currently competing in the Nürburgring Endurance Series, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and the GT2 European Series, an ...

team that claimed overall victory at the

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

, driving alongside

Kévin Estre Kévin Estre (born 28 October 1988) is a French professional racing driver. He is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche in the Le Mans Hypercar, Hypercar class. Early career Karting Born i ...

and Michael Christensen. At the end of 2023, Cairoli departed the Porsche factory roster. Ahead of 2024, Cairoli joined the

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

factory roster, taking part in the team's

effort for the season in both the GTD

Lamborghini Huracán The Lamborghini Huracán (Spanish for "Tropical cyclone, hurricane"; ) is a sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini replacing the previous Lamborghini V10, V10 offering, the Lamborghini Gallardo, Gallardo. The Hu ...

and the GTP Lamborghini SC63 teams; he also drove at the

. He left Lamborghini in January 2025 and joined the

team for the 2025 World Endurance Championship.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete German Formula Three Championship results

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

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Italia results

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

Complete Porsche Supercup results

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

Matteo Cairoli
at the Porsche Newsroom
Matteo Cairoli
at Motorsport.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairoli, Matteo 1996 births Living people Italian racing drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers 24H Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Iron Lynx drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Italy drivers Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers Sportspeople from Como International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Manthey Racing drivers GT World Challenge America drivers Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Proton Competition drivers Euronova Racing drivers Motopark Academy drivers