Alberto Cerqui (born 20 June 1992, in
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
) is an Italian racing driver. He has competed in the
World Touring Car Championship
The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...
.
Career
Single seaters
After winning titles in
karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
, Cerqui graduated to single-seater racing in 2009, racing in
Formula Azzurra. He scored four victories, two pole positions and six podiums from 16 races on his way to the title. He graduated to the
Italian Formula Three Championship
The Italian Formula Three Championship was the Formula Three racing competition in Italy.
History
Formula Three has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone for F1 hopefuls - it is typically the first point in a driver's care ...
in 2010, driving for
Ombra Racing
Ombra Racing is an auto racing team based in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory ...
. He finished 19th in the final classification, scoring three points.
Superstars Series
At the end of 2010 he tested for the
Team BMW Italia Superstars Series
The Superstars International Series was a production-based touring car racing championship held between 2004 and 2013. It was managed by the "Superstars World of Racing SpA", SWR, a company of FG GROUP with headquarters in Rome and sanctioned by t ...
team at
Adria
Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...
. In January 2011 Cerqui was announced as a driver for the team. Cerqui scored three successive pole positions at
Portimão
Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...
,
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...
and
Misano, and took his maiden win at Misano.
World Touring Car Championship
ROAL Motorsport (2012)
Cerqui stayed with ROAL Motorsport for 2012 to race in the
World Touring Car Championship
The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...
as teammate to
Tom Coronel
Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, th ...
. He finished in the points in both races at his home event, the season opening
Race of Italy. The first race of the
Race of Slovakia saw Cerqui climb from twelfth on the grid to fourth in the results. He qualified 13th for the
Race of Hungary but a parc fermé infringement by his team saw both cars sent to the back of the grid with Cerqui lining up 20th and 19th for race one and race two respectively. During race two of the
Race of Portugal,
Yvan Muller
Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...
spun and Cerqui was able to take his fifth place until Muller took it back later in the race. The
Race of Brazil saw Cerqui retire twice; contact in race one with
Tiago Monteiro
Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (; born 24 July 1976) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup, driving a Honda Civic TCR for Engstler Motorsport. He competed in Formula One between 2005 an ...
forced him to retire on lap two, then a collision in race two with
Aleksei Dudukalo
Aleksey Nikolayevich Dudukalo ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Дудука́ло, p=ɐlʲɪˈksej nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ dʊdʊˈkalə; born 6 October 1976, in Moscow) is a Russian auto racing driver. He raced in the World Touring ...
saw Cerqui crash into the pit wall. Race one of the
Race of United States saw him involved in a first lap pileup involving six cars, forcing Cerqui, Dudukalo and
Fernando Monje
Fernando Monje Vicario (born 7 March 1993) is a former Spanish racing driver who competed in the World Touring Car Championship.
Career
Early career
Monje was born in Barcelona. He began his career in karting in 2005 at the age of twelve and ...
to retire. In race one at the
Race of Japan, Cerqui had passed the
Team Aon car of
James Nash but soon after spun and ended his race in the gravel trap at the first corner. After the race he was also handed a 30-second time penalty for a start infringement although having retired this did not affect his overall result. Cerqui ended his non-scoring streak at the
Race of China with a pair of top ten finishes. Cerqui sat out the final round in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and was replaced by Kei Cozzolino. Cerqui stated that before the season started, he agreed with his team that he would only participate in the Macau races if he were still in contention for the
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
Drivers' Trophy.
Racing record
Complete International Superstars Series results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerqui, Alberto
1992 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Brescia
Italian racing drivers
Italian Formula Three Championship drivers
World Touring Car Championship drivers
Superstars Series drivers
BMW M drivers
Ombra Racing drivers
Porsche Carrera Cup Italy drivers