Roberto Lacorte (born 25 June 1968) is an Italian

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

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 ...

, and

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

Business ventures

In 2003, Lacorte and brother Andrea founded the Pharmanutra Group, an Italian pharmaceutical company, of which he became vice president and CEO. The company's line of products includes Cetilar, a joint cream which provides title sponsorship to Lacorte's racing endeavors. The brand also provides sponsorship to a number of association football teams in Italy, notably holding primary shirt sponsorship with

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Sport

Motorsports

Lacorte began his racing career in 2011, driving for Spider Racing Team in 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 ...

. The following season, he returned to the competition with co-driver Giorgio Sernagiotto, finishing third overall. In 2015, Lacorte began his partnership with Villorba Corse, taking part in the

2015 European Le Mans Series The 2015 European Le Mans Series season was the twelfth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The five-event season began at Silverstone Circuit, in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championship, on 1 ...

in the LMP3 class. By 2017, the partnership had led Lacorte to participate in his first ever

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, in which he finished seventh in class alongside co-drivers

Andrea Belicchi Andrea Belicchi (born 18 December 1976) is an Italian professional racing driver. He has competed in such series as the Porsche Supercup, Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship. He won the Russian Formula Three Championship in 200 ...

and Giorgio Sernagiotto. The following year, Lacorte launched the Cetilar Academy, a youth karting program designed to advance drivers through the motorsport ladder. Early in 2019, Cetilar Racing stepped up to full-time entrant status for the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship, fielding their

Dallara P217 The Dallara P217 is a sportscar prototype built by Dallara Automobili to the 2017 FIA/ACO regulations for the Le Mans Prototype LMP2 class. The car also meets the regulations for the Le Mans Prototype 2 Class of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar C ...

in the LMP2 class. The team would finish 12th in class over the course of the season, tallying 72 points. Later that year the team formed a partnership 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 ...

, who campaigned

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 ...

's factory entries in the GTE Pro class. That alliance paved the way for Cetilar Racing's switch to the GTE Am category for the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

season. Alongside Cetilar Racing's GTE Am entry, Cetilar would provide sponsorship for the

GTE Pro entries for the duration of the season. Lacorte ended his LMP2 program due to his disappointment with the stratification plans that would reduce the horsepower and increase the minimum weight of LMP2 competitors, alongside the lack of competitiveness the Dallara chassis offered compared to the

Oreca 07 The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...

. The team's GTE transition proved immediately fruitful, as they finished on the class podium at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

before claiming their first class victory in WEC competition 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 ...

in June. Ahead of the 2022 season, Cetilar Racing announced a full-season campaign in the GTD class of the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

, thereby temporarily ending the team's involvement in the WEC. While the full-season plan wouldn't pan out, the team remained in the series for the entire Michelin Endurance Cup. At the

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 round ...

, Lacorte and co-drivers Sernagiotto and

Antonio Fuoco Antonio Fuoco (born 20 May 1996) is an Italian racing driver who currently serves as a development driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team and is a junior driver for the Competizione GT. He previously competed in Formula 2 for Charouz ...

won the GTD class. For 2023, the team confirmed a return to the championship, taking part with Ferrari's new GT3 offering, the 296 GT3.

Sailing

Lacorte is an avid sailor, competing with his boat SuperNikka, which began development in 2013. In 2015, the boat competed for the first time at the 2015 edition of the 151Miglia, in which it finished second on corrected time. In its maiden year of competition, Lacorte piloted the boat to victory at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, a feat which he repeated in 2017. In 2019, Lacorte was awarded the Italian Owner of the Year award at the

FIV Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a ''Lentivirus'' that affects cats worldwide, with 2.5% to 4.4% of felines being infected. FIV was first isolated in 1986, by Niels C Pedersen and Janet K. Yamamoto at the UC Davis School of Veterinary ...

Italian Sailor of the Year awards. In December 2020, Lacorte announced his plans to build the first new generation foil Mini Maxi vessel, dubbed FlyingNikka, set to debut in 2022. As of April 2021, Lacorte serves as an officer of the International Maxi Association, serving as vice president of the Mini Maxi Racer category, the class in which his boat competes.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress

Complete FIA World Endurance 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)

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Roberto Lacorte
at Bloomberg
Roberto Lacorte
at IMSA {{DEFAULTSORT:Lacorte, Roberto 1968 births Living people Italian racing drivers Italian male sailors (sport) 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers AF Corse drivers Sportspeople from Pisa