Francesco Castellacci (born 4 April 1987 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) is a professional

racing 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 ...

from

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 largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Francesco studied at Marymount International School, Rome and Universita' Bocconi before starting his career as a racing driver. Together with

Federico Leo Federico Leo (born August 27, 1988, in Varese) is an Italian racing driver. Career Formula Junior Leo began his single–seater career in late 2005 in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 Winter series, scoring nine points to finish 13th in the st ...

, he won the drivers title of the 2011

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

Career

Formula Azzurra

Castellacci began his

single-seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have the ...

career in late 2005, racing in the Formula Azzurra Winter Trophy. In the series' four races, all held at Adria International Raceway, he achieved two podium places to be classified in third place. In 2006, he entered the full Formula Azzurra championship, scoring 24 points to finish eighth in the final standings.

Formula Three

In late 2006, Castellacci tested a

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 driv ...

car for the first time, driving for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

team

Hitech Racing Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

Rockingham Motor Speedway Rockingham Motor Speedway is a former racing motorsport venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driver training, exhibition ...

. In 2007, he took part in the full British Formula 3 Championship season, racing alongside

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n driver John Martin at

Alan Docking Racing Alan Docking Racing (ADR) is a motor racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom. The team was formed in 1975 by Australian Alan Docking. The team competed in the British Formula 3 series throughout most of its existence; however, it has ...

. Castellacci failed to score a point in the 22 races he competed in, with his best result coming in the first race at

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 ...

, where he finished in fifteenth position. He also took part in the

Masters of Formula 3 The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Zolder. However ...

race held at

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, finishing in 26th place. The following year, Castellacci returned to his native Italy to compete in 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 ...

for

Lucidi Motors Lucidi Motors 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 the season fourth overall, taking six podium places along with a double

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

at the

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

round. The title was won by his team-mate

Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti (born 10 January 1990) is an Italian racing driver from Trento. He has won the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 2008, the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2011, the Eurocup Megane Trophy in 2013 and the Blancpain GT Series Endur ...

. Castellacci continued in the series for

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 ...

, switching teams to join

Prema Powerteam Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

. He finished in the points on eleven occasions and took a single podium position at Misano to be classified in eighth place overall. During the year, he once again took part in the

Masters of Formula Three Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans * Grandmaster (chess), National Maste ...

event, this time racing for

Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...

. He finished the race in 30th place.

Porsche Supercup

In June 2010, Castellacci made his debut in the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

round at the

Valencia Street Circuit The Valencia Street Circuit ( ca-valencia, Circuit Urbà de València, es, Circuito Urbano de Valencia, links=no) was a street circuit in Valencia, Spain which hosted the Formula One European Grand Prix for five years (2008–2012). The fir ...

, finishing in 17th position. He is also due to contest the rounds at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wan ...

and

later in the season. A month earlier, he also made his debut in the

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...

at Valencia's

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' and officially named ''Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo'', is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is n ...

, finishing in 14th place.

Other Series

In October 2009, Castellacci sampled a GP2 car for the first time during the first post-season test at

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

. Driving for the Italian

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

team, he completed 107 laps during the course of the three-day test, recording a best time of 1:27.615 on the final day of running. Castellacci also took part in

Formula Renault 3.5 Series The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

testing during October and November 2009, driving cars for

Draco Racing International Draco Racing was a motorsport team. It was most well known for operating in the World Series by Renault, but had also taken part in Formula Opel Lotus, International Formula 3000 and Euro Formula 3000. Career Formula Opel Lotus E ...

, Interwetten.com Racing and

. For 2011, Castellacci raced in the FIA GT3 European Championship with

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 ...

, sharing a Ferrari 458 with fellow Italian driver

. The duo won the drivers' title at the final round of the season in Zandvoort.

Racing record

Career summary

† - As Castellacci is a guest driver, he is ineligible to score points.

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castellacci, Francesco 1987 births Living people Racing drivers from Rome Italian racing drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Azzurra drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers Manor Motorsport drivers RC Motorsport drivers AF Corse drivers W Racing Team drivers 24H Series drivers Le Mans Cup drivers