Ronnie Quintarelli (born 9 August 1979) is an Italian racecar driver, currently competing in

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

. A four-time champion, he holds the all-time record for the most drivers' championship titles won in the GT500 class of Super GT.

Biography

Quintarelli first encountered motorsports at age 6 when his father gave him a small go-kart. After starting his

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 ...

career in 1990, he scored two second place finishes in the World Formula Super A championship and a European Formula C title. He made his

single seaters 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 car racing, sports cars, Stock car racing, stock ca ...

debut in 2000 when he entered the

Italian Formula Renault Championship Formula Renault 2.0 Italia was a Formula Renault 2.0 racing series that is based in Italy. The series raced mostly on Italian races but it had regular races at Belgium's Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and in Spain. Several Formula One drivers ra ...

and ended up third with

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 also entered the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to ...

and the

Formula Volkswagen Germany The Formula Volkswagen Germany was a short-lived single-seater category in Germany between 2001 and 2003. History The Formula Volkswagen was launched in 2000 as the new Formula Vee by Volkswagen Motorsport. Reynard Motorsports constructed the cha ...

. In 2005, he scored his maiden GT win in the

1000 km Suzuka The Suzuka Summer Endurance Race is an annual motorsport event for Sports car racing, sports cars that has been held at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Mie Prefecture, Japan since 1966, and the oldest automobile Endurance racing (motorsport ...

race with

André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseHayanari Shimoda Hayanari Shimoda (下田隼成; Shimoda Hayanari) (born July 16, 1984) is a Japanese race car driver, born in Tokyo. His career started in 1997 in karting, Shimoda moving up to Italian Formula Renault in 2001. Happy to travel the world to furthe ...

and later made his way to the

. After spending two seasons under the

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

banner, Quintarelli moved to the

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

camp, securing multiple victories. Driving for the Mola team, he won two consecutive titles in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

partnered by

Masataka Yanagida Masataka Yanagida (born 4 June 1979, in Tokyo) is a Japanese racing driver. Career The son of successful racing driver Haruhito Yanagida, a runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship, Masataka began his career in karting in 1993. In 199 ...

. He later joined the

Nismo , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

Official Team alongside

Tsugio Matsuda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He has won the Formula Nippon series twice, in 2007 and 2008. He has also competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Matsuda has also become a regular participant in the Super GT series which ...

. The pairing cruised to two more titles in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

which made Quintarelli the most titled driver in the history of the series. While still fighting for the title in 2016 with a third place, the

teams struggled at the beginning of the following year but Quintarelli and Matsuda rallied to finish the season in second place. In 2018, they were again steadily at the front of the Nissan roster, and managed to snatch a win at

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

. Unfortunately, they would not hit the top-5 again, eventually taking eighth place in the championship. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, the

pairing completed the championship in third position with four podium finishes and three pole positions scored by Quintarelli himself. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, they remained in contention for the title until the very last race by taking two wins in the two rounds held at Suzuka. The final event of the season at

(the track hosted four events to simplify logistics during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

) saw a record 11 teams in contention for the title with tight margins. Quintarelli moved from sixth place to the lead in the opening lap, although tyre issues cost him track position later. He and Matsuda would eventually end up ninth in the race and sixth in the championships. They returned to the

team for

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 ...

. In 2022, finishing in 3rd in

Okayama International Circuit Okayama International Circuit (岡山国際サーキット), formerly known as TI Circuit Aida (TIサーキット英田) before 2005, is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI was the abbreviation of "Tanak ...

in the first race of the

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, the Italian driver extended his all-time record streak in

to 15th consecutive year at least 1 podium/season as a non-Japanese driver.

Personal life

Based in

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 ...

, Quintarelli speaks Japanese fluently and serves as a TV color commentator for the

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

series. In recent years, he devoted his efforts towards the people affected by earthquakes, raising awareness and providing support to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

relief. Together with fellow

regular

Andrea Caldarelli Andrea Caldarelli (born 14 February 1990 in Pescara) is an Italian racing driver. He has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the Formula Three Euroseries, GP2 Asia, the GP3 Series and the Super Formula series. He undertook ...

, he led a fundraising campaign in favour of the populations impacted by the 2016–2017 Central Italy earthquakes. His cross-border charity efforts, together with his sporting results, earned him the title of Officer of the

Order of the Star of Italy The Order of the Star of Italy ( it, Ordine della Stella d'Italia ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napoli ...

. Onorificenze
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Awards

5th Class/Officer: ''

'': 2015

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Quintarelli was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.

Complete Formula Nippon 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) ^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Super GT results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Records

All-time Super GT records

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintarelli, Ronnie 1979 births Living people Italian racing drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Nippon drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Super GT drivers Karting World Championship drivers Grand Champion Series drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Cram Competition drivers Kondō Racing drivers Nismo drivers