Ronnie Quintarelli
| Ronnie Quintarelli | |
|---|---|
 Quintarelli in 2015 SUPER GT Motegi | |
| Nationality |
 |
| Born |
9 August 1979 Negrar, Italy |
| Super GT career | |
| Debut season | 2005 |
| Current team | NISMO |
| Car no. | 23 |
| Former teams | SARD, Lexus Team Cerumo, Lexus Team Kraft, Hasemi Motorsport, Team Impul, Mola |
| Starts | 99 |
| Championships | 4 (2011, 2012, 2014 & 2015) |
| Wins | 14 |
| Poles | 11 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2011, 2012, 2014 & 2015 |
| Finished last season | 2nd |
| Previous series | |
| 2005-2008 | Formula Nippon |
Ronnie Quintarelli (born 9 August 1979) is an Italian racecar driver.
Biography
Quintarelli first encountered motorsports at age 6 when his father gave him a small go-kart. After starting his karting career in 1990, he scored two second place finishes in the World Formula Super A championship and a European Formula C title.[1] He made his single seaters debut in 2000 when he entered the Italian Formula Renault Championship and ended up third with Prema Powerteam. He also entered the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the German Formula Three Championship and the Formula Volkswagen Germany.
In 2005, he scored his maiden GT win in the 1000 km Suzuka race with André Couto and Hayanari Shimoda and later made his way to the Super GT. After spending two seasons under the Lexus banner, Quintarelli moved to the Nissan camp, securing multiple victories. Driving for the Mola team, he won two consecutive titles in 2011 and 2012 partnered by Masataka Yanagida. He later joined the Nismo Official Team alongside Tsugio Matsuda. The pairing cruised to two more titles in 2014 and 2015 which made Quintarelli the most titled driver in the history of the series.[2]
Personal life
Based in Yokohama, Quintarelli speaks Japanese fluently and serves as a TV color commentator for the Super Formula 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 relief. Together with fellow Super GT regular Andrea Caldarelli, 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.[3]
Awards
- 5th Class/Officer: Order of the Star of Italy: 2015[4]
Racing record
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing | |
| 2000 | Formula Renault 2000 Italia | Prema Powerteam | * | 2 | 1 | * | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Formula Renault Eurocup | Cram Competition | 5 | 1 | 1 | 66 | 7th | |
| 2002 | Formula Volkswagen | Team Penker Racing | * | 4 | 2 | * | 2nd | |
| GC-21 | Inging Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | ||
| 2003 | All-Japan F3 | Inging Motorsport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 4th | |
| Macau Grand Prix | JB Motorsport with Inging | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | ||
| Korea Super Prix | JB Motorsport with Inging | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16th | ||
| 2004 | All-Japan F3 | Inging Motorsport | 20 | 4 | 8 | 251 | 1st | |
| Macau Grand Prix | Inging Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8th | ||
| Bahrain Super Prix | Inging Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22nd | ||
| 2005 | Formula Nippon | Kondo Racing Team | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 9th | |
| Super GT (GT500) | SARD | 8 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 16th | ||
| 1000 km Suzuka (Pokka 1000 km) | SARD | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1st | ||
| 2006 | Formula Nippon | Team Boss Inging | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10th | |
| Super GT (GT500) | Cerumo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 24th | ||
| Formula One | Midland F1 | Test driver | ||||||
| 2007 | Formula Nippon | Team Boss Inging | 9 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 7th | |
| Super GT (GT500) | Bandai Toyota Team Kraft | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24th | ||
| 2008 | Formula Nippon | Cerumo / Inging | 8 | 0 | 0 | 21.5 | 9th | |
| Super GT (GT500) | Hasemi Motorsport | 9 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 12th | ||
| 2009 | Super GT (GT500) | Hasemi Motorsport | 9 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 7th | |
| 2010 | Super GT (GT500) | Team Impul | 7 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 5th | |
| 2011 | Super GT (GT500) | Mola | 8 | 1 | 2 | 90 | 1st | |
| 2012 | Super GT (GT500) | Mola | 8 | 1 | 2 | 93 | 1st | |
| 2013 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 6th | |
| 2014 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 8 | 2 | 2 | 81 | 1st | |
| 2015 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 8 | 2 | 2 | 79 | 1st | |
| 2016 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 8 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 3rd | |
| 2017 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 8 | 1 | 1 | 82 | 2nd | |
| 2018 | Super GT (GT500) | Nismo | 6 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 6th* | |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Super GT results
* Season still in progress.
References
- ↑ CIK-FIA History
- ↑ SUPER GT’S 7 Most Dominant Champions
- ↑ Onorificenze
- ↑ "Onoreficenze". quirinale.it (in Italian). 28 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
External links
- Ronnie Quintarelli career summary at DriverDB.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Courtney |
All-Japan Formula 3 Championship Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by João Paulo de Oliveira |
| Preceded by Takashi Kogure Loïc Duval |
Super GT GT500 Champion 2011–2012 With: Masataka Yanagida |
Succeeded by Kohei Hirate Yuji Tachikawa |
| Preceded by Kohei Hirate Yuji Tachikawa |
Super GT GT500 Champion 2014–2015 With: Tsugio Matsuda |
Succeeded by Kohei Hirate Heikki Kovalainen |