Matteo Malucelli (racing driver)

Matteo Malucelli (born 27 October 1984) is an Italian racing driver who last competed in 24H Series Middle East for Scuderia Praha.

Malucelli is the son of Sandro Malucelli, who founded Team Malucelli in 1994.^[1]

Malucelli began racing single-seaters in 2001, competing for Scuderia Veregra in Formula Renault 2000 Italia. After racing in the series in 2002, Malucelli transitioned to sportscars for the following year by racing in Ferrari Challenge Italy for his family team.^[2] Remaining in sportscars for 2004, Malucelli joined JMB Racing for a part-time campaign in both the Italian GT Championship and the FIA GT Championship, in which he most notably won both races at Misano in the former.^[3] That year, Malucelli also won the Ferrari Challenge Italy title in the Trofeo Pirelli class.^[4][5]

Switching to BMS Scuderia Italia for 2005, Malucelli primarily raced in Italian GT, winning five races and standing on the podium in all but one race to take the GT1 title,^[6] whilst also racing for the team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1000 km of Silverstone.^[7][8] After a part-time campaign with the team in the GT1 class of the 2006 FIA GT Championship, in which he scored a third-place finish at the Hungaroring,^[9] Malucelli returned to BMS Scuderia Italia to race in the GT2 class of the following year's FIA GT Championship.^[10] In his rookie year in GT2, Malucelli won the Spa 24 Hours and took four more podiums to end the year third in points.^[11] That year, Malucelli also returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same team, racing in the GT1 class alongside Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies.^[12]

Returning to BMS Scuderia Italia for his sophomore season in the GT2 class of the FIA GT Championship in 2008,^[13] Malucelli won the 24 Hours of Spa and took four more podiums to end the year runner-up in the GT2 class.^[14] In 2008, Malucelli also raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the same team, finishing second in the GT2 class.^[15] Staying with BMS Scuderia Italia for a similar program in 2009,^[16] Malucelli took three podiums to finish seventh in the GT2 points, and also secured a second-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT2 class.^[17]

Following a part-time season in the Superstars Series in which he won at Vallelunga,^[18] Malucelli joined Scuderia Baldini to race in the GTC class of the Italian GT Championship.^[19] Racing in all but one rounds, Malucelli won at Magione and Mugello to take seventh in the class standings.^[20] During 2011, Malucelli also competed in Ferrari Challenge Italy for his family team, winning all six races he partook in, as well as participating in the Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali.^[21]

Moving to Villois Racing to race in International GT Open in 2012,^[22] Malucelli took five wins to end the year third in points alongside Álvaro Barba.^[23] During 2012, Malucelli also raced in all but two rounds of Porsche Carrera Cup Italy, in which he won at Mugello and Misano and took five more podiums to secure fifth in points.^[24] The following year, Malucelli joined Risi Competizione to race in the GT class of the American Le Mans Series,^[25] taking a lone win at VIR and standing on the podium twice more to end the season eighth in points.^[26] During 2013, Malucelli also raced part-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship for 8 Star Motorsports in LMGTE Am and AF Corse in LMGTE Pro,^[27][28] most notably taking a class win for the former at Spa on his series debut.^[29]

In 2014, Malucelli remained with Risi Competizione to drive in the United SportsCar Championship alongside Giancarlo Fisichella.^[30] At the 24 Hours of Daytona Malucelli was involved in a serious crash with Memo Gidley, in which he spent a night in the hospital whilst Gidley underwent three surgeries after breaking his back and left arm.^[31] In the following race at Sebring, Malucelli was involved in another crash, which gave him a one-race suspension and put him on probation for the rest of the year.^[32] Malucelli then left the team and only competed in select rounds of the Italian GT Championship for Team Malucelli.^[33]

After racing part-time in the 24H Series and the Italian GT Championship in 2015, most notably winning the 12 Hours of Brno in the former,^[34] Malucelli joined Scuderia Praha to race in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, in which he finished 29th in the Pro-Am class in his only full-time season in the series.^[35] During 2016, Malucelli also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Risi Competizione,^[36] finishing second in the LMGTE Pro class in his sixth appearance at the event.^[37]

The following year, Malucelli returned to Scuderia Baldini to race in the Italian GT Championship in the Super GT3 Pro class,^[38] winning at Monza and Mugello to end the year fifth in the class points.^[39][40] In 2018, Malucelli returned to Scuderia Praha to race in the 24H GT Series, scoring overall wins at Navarra, Algarve and Spa to take third in the A6-Pro standings.^[41] Returning to Scuderia Praha and the 24H GT Series the following year, Malucelli won four races and stood on the podium in every race he started to secure the A6-Pro title with a race to spare.^[42]

After one-off appearances in the 24H GT Series and the Italian GT Championship in 2020 and not racing in 2021,^[43] Malucelli returned to his family's team to compete in the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Italy season.^[44] On his return to full-time racing, Malucelli scored wins at Misano and Mugello as well as taking two more podiums to end the year eighth in points despite missing one round.^[45][46] Returning to the team for 2023,^[47] Malucelli won at Mugello and took two more podiums to once again end the season eighth in points.^[48] In 2023, Malucelli also tested the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH-C at MotorLand Aragón.^[49] Three years later, Malucelli made his brief return to racing, competing in the Dubai 24 Hour for Scuderia Praha.^[50]

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

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

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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

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

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

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

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

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

• Matteo Malucelli career summary at DriverDB.com