Andrea Bertolini

Andrea Bertolini
Andrea Bertolini at Zhuhai International Circuit in 2004
Nationality	Italian
Born	1 December 1973 Sassuolo, Italy
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season	2012
Current team	AF Corse
Car no.	71
Previous series
2011 2010 2001-03, 05-09 2003, 05-07	Superstars Series FIA GT1 World Championship FIA GT Championship American Le Mans Series
Championship titles
2011 2010 2006, 08-09	International Superstars Series FIA GT1 World Championship FIA GT Championship GT1

Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973 in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing at a young age, working as the youngest ever test driver for Ferrari at 19, followed by work in the experimental and development department. He also participated in the development of the Maserati MC12,^[1] in which he has enjoyed racing success winning for three times the FIA GT Championship in GT1 class, and also claiming the first edition of the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Racing history

Andrea Bertolini driving an MC12 at Road Atlanta in the ALMS

Andrea Bertolini began racing karts at age 11. He came second in the Italian Championship, won championships at a national level, and went on to win the CIAK Cup and place second in the Italian 125 Championship in 2000.^[1] In 2001 he drove a Porsche 996 GT3-R for Art Engineering in the GT3 division of the FIA GT.^[2] In 2002 he moved to JMB Racing driving a Ferrari 360 Modena and continued through 2003 finishing 4th.

In 2004 he moved to the Giesse Squadra Corse team, again driving a 360 Modena. Once again, he placed 2nd overall, and was awarded the "Driver Performance of the Year".^[1][2] Part way through 2004, he was offered a position on the Maserati AF Corse team driving their new, GT1 class Maserati MC12, a car he had been involved in developing.^[2] He accepted, winning two races that year at Oschersleben, Germany and Zhuhai, China with his team mate, former Formula One driver, Mika Salo.^[3]

In 2005 he returned to JMB Racing, again driving an MC12. He finished the season tied 4th (with team mate Karl Wendlinger), within 4 points of first.^[4]

Andrea Bertolini also raced his MC12 in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2005 but without much success. He made no podium finishes and crashed out in the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.^[5]

For 2006 in the FIA GT, Bertolini moved to Vitaphone Racing Team where he again raced the MC12, with teammate Michael Bartels. Bartels and Bertolini finished first in the overall driver standings, and also their team to a 1st place finish in the team standings.^[6]

Bertolini and Bartels also won the championship again driving the same Vitaphone Maserati in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

In 2011 he won the International Superstars Series driving a Maserati Quattroporte for Swiss Team.

Bertolini became the first person to drive Ferrari's new F1 Simulator at an opening ceremony held at the Italian teams' Maranello base.^[7]

For 2012, Bertolini will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving an AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 with Olivier Beretta.

See also

• Ferrari 360 Modena
• FIA GT
• Maserati MC12
• Porsche 996

Racing record

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Points
2010	Vitaphone Racing Team	Maserati	ABU QR 3	ABU CR 4	SIL QR 3	SIL CR 7	BRN QR 1	BRN CR 5	PRI QR 1	PRI CR 1	SPA QR Ret	SPA CR 7	NÜR QR 10	NÜR CR 6	ALG QR 2	ALG CR 1	NAV QR 7	NAV CR 6	INT QR 8	INT CR 9	SAN QR 12	SAN CR 7	1st	138

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2012	AF Corse	LMGTE Pro	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	Ferrari 4.5 L V8	SEB 1	SPA 4	LMS 4	SIL Ret	SÃO 4	BHR 4	FUJ 4	SHA 3	7th†	112†
2013	JMW Motorsport	LMGTE Pro	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	Ferrari 4.5 L V8	SIL	SPA	LMS 10	SÃO	COA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	NC‡	0‡
2014	AF Corse	LMGTE Am	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	Ferrari 4.5 L V8	SIL	SPA 5		COA 6	FUJ Ret	SHA	BHR 2	SÃO 3	11th	51
	SMP Racing						LMS Ret						NC‡	0‡
2015	SMP Racing	LMGTE Am	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	Ferrari 4.5 L V8	SIL 3	SPA 3	LMS 1	NÜR 1	COA 1	FUJ 6	SHA 3	BHR 5	1st	165

† There was no drivers championship that year, the result indicates team rank in the LMGTE Pro Trophy.
‡ As Bertolini was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2012	AF Corse	Olivier Beretta Marco Cioci	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Pro	326	22nd	4th
2013	JMW Motorsport	Abdulaziz al Faisal Khaled al Qubaisi	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Pro	300	34th	10th
2014	SMP Racing	Viktor Shaitar Aleksey Basov	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Am	196	DNF	DNF
2015	SMP Racing	Viktor Shaitar Aleksey Basov	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Am	332	20th	1st

References

http://www.andreabertolini.it/

1. "Andrea Bertolini". Vitaphone Racing. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
2. "FIA GT Driver Bio". FIA GT. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
3. "FIA GT Standings 2004". Maserati Corse. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
4. "FIA GT Standings 2005". Maserati Corse. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
5. "Unlucky Race for MC12 at Laguna Seca". Maserati Corse. Retrieved 2006-10-25.
6. "FIA GT Standings 2006". Maserati Corse. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
7. Jonathan Noble (23 December 2009). "Ferrari unveils new simulator". Autosport.