Ronnie Quintarelli

Ronnie Quintarelli
Quintarelli in 2015 SUPER GT Motegi
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1979-08-09) 9 August 1979 (age 42) Negrar, Italy
Super GT career
Debut season	2005
Current team	NISMO
Car number	23
Former teams	SARD, , , , Team Impul,
Starts	121
Championships	4 (2011, 2012, 2014 & 2015)
Wins	17
Podiums	38
Poles	14
Finished last season	6th
Previous series
2005-2008	Formula Nippon

Ronnie Quintarelli (born 9 August 1979) is an Italian racecar driver, currently competes at Super GT. He holds the all-time record for the most drivers' championship titles (4), for the most drivers' championship title won by a non-Japanese driver (4) and the most drivers' championship won in GT500 class (4) of Super GT.

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 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 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. While still fighting for the title in 2016 with a third place, the Nissan 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. Unfortunately, they would not hit the top-5 again, eventually taking eighth place in the championship. ^[2]

In 2019, the Nismo pairing completed the championship in third position with four podium finishes and three pole positions scored by Quintarelli himself. In 2020, 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 Fuji Speedway (the track hosted four events to simplify logistics during the COVID-19 pandemic) 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 Nismo team for 2021.

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[]

Career summary[]

^† As Quintarelli was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Nippon results[]

(key) (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[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

Records[]

All-time Super GT records[]

As of the Super GT – 2020 Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT race:

References[]

External links[]

• Ronnie Quintarelli career summary at DriverDB.com