
Massimiliano Angelelli (born 15 December 1966) is a retired
Italian racecar 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 the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
. He won the 2005 and
2017 24 Hours of Daytona
The 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned 24-hour automobile endurance race for prototype and grand touring sports cars held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Dayt ...
and the 2001
Six Hours at the Glen
The Six Hours of Watkins Glen (currently sponsored as the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the ...
. Also he was the
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
champion in 2005 and 2013, as well as runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
Angelelli was co-founder of
Wayne Taylor Racing, where he drove until his retirement in 2017. In 2020 he left WTR and began working at sports prototype projects for Italian manufacturer
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
.
Angelelli joins Dallara in new senior-level role
- John Dagys, Sportscar365, 17 November 2020
Career
His career began in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win was the 1992 Italian Formula Three title. Following that win he also raced German Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...
(1993–1995), Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...
for Formula 3
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...
(1996), 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 ...
(1997–1998), All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship
All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Originally titled as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It was the top level of sports car r ...
(select races in 1998), and 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 ...
(1999–2002).
Angelelli is nicknamed the Axe, coined by Leigh Diffey because he has a knack of closing up and "chopping" off seconds behind the leader quickly in a race to set himself up to make a clean pass for the win.
Angelelli had a banner year in 2005. Angelelli and teammate Wayne Taylor
Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing, sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. ...
won the 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
and captured the 2005 Grand American Daytona Prototype
A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specificall ...
championship.
Angelelli was selected to run in the 2006 IROC
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was pr ...
series in America, along with teammate Wayne Taylor, becoming the first tandem in IROC history.
Angelelli is also known for being the safety car driver in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Cham ...
. Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and wo ...
followed Angelelli's safety car for 5 laps before his fatal accident.
For the past several years, Angelelli has driven for the Wayne Taylor Sun Trust Racing Team in the Daytona Prototype class of the Grand Am Racing Series, a class that requires two drivers per car. He has teamed up with Ricky Taylor, the son of team owner Wayne Taylor.
For 2013 Angelelli was again with Wayne Taylor Racing/Velocity Worldwide but Taylor's son Ricky had left to pursue another driving opportunity. This left a driver vacancy on the team which was quickly filled by Taylor's younger son Jordan. Together Jordan and Angelelli made a potent combination and won the final Grand-Am Driver's Title, narrowly beating Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors.
Pruett started racing go ...
and Memo Rojas who had won the championship 4 of the previous 5 years.
In 2017, Angelelli announced that he would compete in his last career 24 Hours of Daytona for Wayne Taylor Racing alongside the Taylor brothers and Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Moto ...
. The team went on to win the race.
Motorsports career results
24 Hours of Le Mans results
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
( key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)
* Season still in progress
International Race of Champions
( key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
Ride shared with Wayne Taylor
Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing, sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. ...
References
External links
Max Angelelli Home Page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelelli, Max
1966 births
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
International Race of Champions drivers
Italian racing drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Living people
International Formula 3000 drivers
Sportspeople from Bologna
American Le Mans Series drivers
FIA GT Championship drivers
German Formula Three Championship drivers
Italian Formula Three Championship drivers
Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Opel Team BSR drivers
Wayne Taylor Racing drivers
DAMS drivers
RC Motorsport drivers