Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for

AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...

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 Intercont ...

. He is the official test driver of the

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

factory. Bertolini began racing at a young age, working as the youngest ever

test driver In motorsport it is common to have one or more test drivers who work with the mechanics to help develop the vehicle by testing new systems on the track. In specific motorsports Formula One In Formula One, the term third driver is used to designa ...

for

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

at 19, followed by work in the experimental and development department. He also participated in the development of the

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

, in which he has enjoyed racing success winning for three times the

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 ...

in GT1 class, and also claiming the first edition of the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand to ...

. 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 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 ...

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 The Porsche 996 is the internal designation for the 911 model manufactured by the German automaker Porsche from 1997 until 2006. It was replaced by the 997 in 2004, but the high performance Turbo S, GT2 and GT3 variants remained in production un ...

GT3-R for ''Art Engineering'' in the GT3 division of the

FIA GT 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 ...

. 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 l ...

'' driving a

Ferrari 360 Modena The Ferrari 360 (Type F131) is a two-seater, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari from 1999 until 2005. It succeeded the Ferrari F355 and was replaced by the Ferrari F430 in 2004. Deve ...

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

, a car he had been involved in developing. He accepted, winning two races that year at

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 1235 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher ...

. In 2005 he returned to ''JMB Racing'', again driving an MC12. He finished the season tied 4th (with teammate

Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger (born 20 December 1968) is an Austrian professional racing and former Formula One driver. Mercedes Juniors Born in Kufstein, Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Cham ...

), within 4 points of first. Andrea Bertolini also raced his MC12 in the

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 and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

(ALMS) in 2005 but without much success. He made no podium finishes and crashed out in the race at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

. For 2006 in the FIA GT, Bertolini moved to ''

Vitaphone Racing Team Vitaphone Racing is a German racing team who participate in the FIA GT Championship. The team is actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH but runs under the title of their primary sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. In 2011 Vitaphone Racing was renamed Vita4One. ...

'' where he again raced the MC12, with teammate

Michael Bartels Michael Bartels (born 8 March 1968) is a German professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who attempted to qualify for four races in with Lotus. Career Bartels was the 1985 German karting champi ...

. 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

in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2011 he won the International Superstars Series driving a

Maserati Quattroporte The Maserati Quattroporte () is a four-door full-size luxury sports sedan produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. The name translated from Italian means "four doors". The car is currently in its sixth generation, with the first g ...

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

Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is a mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The F458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Ber ...

with

Olivier Beretta Olivier Beretta (born 23 November 1969) is a professional racing driver from Monaco who raced in Formula One in 1994 for the Larrousse team, partnering Érik Comas. He participated in 10 Grands Prix, debuting on 27 March 1994. He scored no champi ...

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 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) ^† 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

(

) (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