Proteam Motorsport is an Italian

auto racing 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 ...

team based in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

that was set up by former driver Valmiro Presenzini in 1997. They are best known for their efforts in the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

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 ...

. Their time in the WTCC has seen them become the most successful independent team in the championship, winning three Independent Team titles in 1996, 2007 and 2008. Initially the team would enter

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

related events across Europe. Presenzini himself competed in The

Renault Clio Cup The Renault Clio Cup Series is a one-make racing series created and managed by Alpine Racing (until 2020 known as Renault Sport). The championship was born after merge the 4 active Renault Clio national cups at that moment plus the Clio Cup E ...

, Renault 5 Turbo Cup and the Megane cup. After success in these series, they started a programme for the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World T ...

, which they entered in 2003. They have entered cars in the Italian Clio Cup, the

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque motorsport championship that was created in 1993 for owners of the 348 Berlinetta who wanted to become involved in racing. The series was proposed by Ferrari Club Nederland founder and President Hans ...

, and as of 2006, the

Italian Superturismo Championship The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is Italy's national Auto racing, motorsport series for Touring car racing, touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drive ...

with driver Cristian Ricciarini.

WTCC

2005 season

Proteam entered the inaugural WTCC season with two BMW 320i's. Two Italian drivers competed a full season,

Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste (born 26 February 1974 in Genoa) is an Italian auto racing driver. His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2004 (wh ...

and Giuseppe Cirò. They won the independent teams title, with Cirò finishing as runner-up in the independents trophy, with D'Aste finishing third. They managed a highly impressive result in round twelve at spa, D'Aste managed a podium finish, coming second overall.

2006 season

Cirò was replaced in the team by

Luca Rangoni Luca Rangoni (born 23 September 1968 in Bologna) is an Italian auto racing driver. He is a married man with one son. Early career Like many racing drivers, Rangoni's first taste of racing was in karts, where he spent four years. He made his deb ...

, who managed two podium finishes at Valencia. despite this, he was runner up at the end of the season in the independents trophy. Again D'Aste was third. Proteam lost out on the teams title to GR Asia, who had trophy winner

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 ...

driving for them.

2007 season

For 2007, D'Aste left the team for rival independent team Wiechers Sport and was replaced by Spaniard Sergio Hernández. Italian

Davide Roda Davide Roda (born 21 January 1972 in Como) is an Italian auto racing driver. His first serious drive came in 2002 when he drove the Italian Alfa 147 Cup. From 2003, he spent the next three years competing in the European Alfa 147 Challenge. In 20 ...

competed for the team in just two rounds at Brno. The cars were replaced by new BMW 320si's. Another podium saw Rangoni as high as fourteenth in the overall points. Hernández also finished in the points with an eighth at Valenci. This helped Proteam regain the independents team title. Former proteam driver D'Aste won the independents trophy.

2008 season

Rangoni left the WTCC after 2007, and this led to a return to Proteam for D'Aste, the defending independent champion. It was Hernández who was the star of the season, often racing up amongst the works drivers. He managed to finish in the points three times, including a podium at Okayama, D'Aste also managed two points, with a seventh place at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. When D'Aste failed to attend the final rounds at Macau, due to a protest for a grid penalty, he was replaced by Bulgarian

George Tanev George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

. Hernández won the independents trophy, and Proteam successfully defended the teams title.

2009 season

With Hernández gone to the works BMW Team Italy-Spain and D'Aste gone to Wiechers-Sport, Proteam needed two new drivers for 2009. Tanev first signed for a full season. He was followed by

Félix Porteiro Félix Porteiro Pérez (born 26 August 1983 in Castellón) is a Spanish racing driver. He competed in GP2 in 2006 and 2007, his best finish was 4th in 2007. Racing career Single-seaters In 2001 Porteiro drove in the Spanish Formula Three Ch ...

, who switched teams with Hernández from BMW Team Italy-Spain. A third car was entered in selected rounds for Italian driver

Vito Postiglione Vito Postiglione (born 28 February 1977 in Potenza) is an Italian racing driver. Racing career Postiglione won the Italian Renault Mégane Winter Trophy in 1998. He then finished runner-up in the main series in 1999. He went one better, winnin ...

. Tanev left the championship after the third round and guest appearances were made late in the season by

Fabio Fabiani Fabio Fabiani (born 13 October 1974 in Ravenna) is an Italian auto racing driver. Moto Bike Career He started in Italian Sport Production Championship in 1994 moving to Italian 125cc in 1995. After Military Service in 1996 he raced in the Itali ...

and

Nobuteru Taniguchi is a Japanese racing driver and drifting driver who currently competes in Super GT and D1 Grand Prix. Taniguchi is commonly nicknamed "NOB" (first three letters from his name, meaning "No One Better") or "The Pimp" as a reference to his S15 Silv ...

. Despite a strong start to the year, Porteiro finished as runner-up in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

2010 season

Sergio Hernández came back to the team after BMW reduced their works entry to just two cars. Stefano d'Aste also made another return to Proteam from Wiechers-Sport. The pair were joined on some occasions by

and

Kevin Chen Kevin Nai Chia Chen (Traditional Chinese: 陳乃嘉; born April 2, 1979 in Taipei) is a Taiwanese racing driver, who obtained the first FIA A license by a Taiwanese driver. Career The Californian's career started in the United States as a club ra ...

. Hernández won the Yokohama Independents' Trophy and Proteam won the Yokohama Teams' Trophy.

References

External links

Official site.

WTCC Official site.
* {{Twitter Italian auto racing teams World Touring Car Championship teams TCR International Series teams Auto racing teams established in 1997