Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello (born 17 June 1964) is an Italian professional racing driver. He is a three-time winner of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

, with

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

. Capello is a two-time

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 ...

champion, a five-time

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second ro ...

winner, and the record holder for most wins at Petit Le Mans, having won five times. Capello has also raced in the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

, 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 ...

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic T ...

and the Italian GT Championship.

Career

Born in

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a '' comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deeme ...

, Capello started his racing career in 1976, driving go-karts, but did not move into single-seaters until 1983, starting in Formula Fiat Abarth. 1990 saw Capello's first major championship victory, winning the Italian Superturismo Championship in a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

. He won the championship again in 1996, but in an

A4 this time. 1997 saw Capello's first major endurance victory, at Vallelunga, in the Vallelunga 6 Hours, driving a Volkswagen Golf again. Capello was selected for the 2000 Le Mans race by the Audi Sport Joest team, driving the Audi R8 - the team finished in third place. Capello was one of Audi's six drivers for its first race under Team Joest, the

1999 12 Hours of Sebring The 1999 Exxon Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring was the 47th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. It also served as the first event in the new American Le Mans Series, which had replaced the IMSA GT Championship as the International Motor Sports Assoc ...

. Alongside compatriot Michele Alboreto and

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number of ...

, they took the first podium for Audi in endurance racing, finishing 3rd in the Audi R8R. Returning to the track in 2000, Capello took 2nd overall, beaten only by the sister Audi R8. Capello would go on to win the race the following two years, in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. Capello would return a further seven times, both with

and

, taking four overall podiums and three wins, in 2006,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Capello currently sits second all-time in overall wins at Sebring, with five outright victories. Alongside Tom Kristensen, he is the only

driver to have won the race in all four generations of Audi sports prototypes. The R8, R10, R15 and R18. Due to a shift in focus for Team Joest, Capello drove for

Team Bentley A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

in 2003. Alongside long-time teammate

Kristensen Kristensen is a surname of Danish origin. People with the surname include: * Thomas Kristensen, a Danish footballer * Erik S. Kristensen, a Lieutenant commander of the United States Navy SEALs * Rasmus Nissen Kristensen, a Danish professional foo ...

and Englishman Guy Smith, they won the

, giving Bentley a first victory at the French circuit in 73 years. With the end of the

project, Capello returned to

and more specifically to Team Goh for the

2004 24 Hours of Le Mans The 72nd 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''72e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a non-championship 24 hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars held from 12 to 13 June at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, ...

. Alongside Japanese driver Seiji Ara and Tom Kristensen, Capello would once again stand atop the podium as the trio beat the fellow R8's of UK Team Veloqx and Champion Racing, marking the third time in five years that

had finished 1-2-3 at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

. Capello would not return to

until 2006, where he finished 3rd overall in the new R10 TDI. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, the trio led the race for an extended period, but an issue with the left rear wheel in the 17th hour of the race saw Capello lose control on the run down to Indianapolis, and he hit the barriers, ending their race.

saw

return to the French classic as underdogs, due to increased competition from natives

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

. Heading into the race, the fastest Audi in qualifying was over five seconds slower than the pole-setting Peugeot. The first half of the race was dominated by the Peugeot trio, with the 'Lion' consistently lapping over three seconds faster than the Audi's. However, a drastic change in weather conditions and the onset of rain in the second half of the race swung the momentum in favour of Audi, and a clever pit stop/tire strategy for Audi meant the no.2 R10 would go on to take a famous victory for the German manufacturer, and a third and final win for Capello. The 2008 race is documented in the film

Truth in 24 ''Truth in 24'' is a 2008 documentary film directed by Keith Cossrow and Bennett Visltear detailing Audi's preparation for the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team is followed through several races prior to Le Mans, including the 12 Hours of Sebring ...

. Capello also won the

and

. He holds the record of most Petit Le Mans victories, with five in total, having won in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, 2006,

and

, all of these victories coming for the Audi Sport North America and Team Joest squads. Capello was vice-champion of the 2000

, winning 6 races. In both 2006 and 2007 Capello finished as champion alongside Britain's Allan McNish in the Audi Sport North America run R10. Capello officially retired from prototype racing in 2012, while leading the

after hinting that he may not return to Le Mans in 2013."Dindo Hangs Up Helmet"> Audi's statement confirmed that Capello would continue to race in GT3 with the Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Complete Petit Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) ¹ - A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete GT World Challenge Asia results

References

External links

Dindo's official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capello, Rinaldo 1964 births Living people People from Asti Italian racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Superstars Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Sportspeople from the Province of Asti Audi Sport drivers Team Joest drivers