Matteo Bobbi

Matteo Bobbi (born July 2, 1978 in Milan , Italy ) is an Italian racing driver . He won the GT class of the FIA GT Championship in 2003.

Career

Junior classes

Matteo Bobbi began his career in karting in 1994. He was able to achieve many victories and podiums and was part of the Dunlop test team. As part of this, he was once able to win the runner-up title in the Asian kart championship. In 1998 Bobbi switched from karting to formula racing . He drove in the Formula Renault European Championship and was the best rookie of the year at the end of the season . Between 1998 and 1999 he drove in the Formula Renault winter series in England for the JD Motorsport team and was able to win the race at Brands Hatch . For the coming Formula Renault season, Bobbi stayed with JD Motorsport and made it onto the podium twice, in Hockenheim and Estoril .

The way to Formula 1

In 2000, Bobbi went to the Euro Open by Nissan , where he was able to prove himself as the best rookie again at the end of the season. That did not go unheard of the Formula 1 teams either, and Bobbi was able to test for the Minardi team after the season .

For 2001, Bobbi stayed in the Open Telefónica by Nissan and drove for Adrian Campos' team . Bobbi was able to win a run in Valencia and ended up fifth in the championship.

In 2002 Bobbi went into Formula Nissan 2000 , which was located under the now renamed World Series by Nissan. He took six pole positions, six fastest race laps and six race wins and ended up second in the championship.

In addition, from 2002 to the middle of the 2003 season, Bobbi was the official test driver for the Minardi Formula 1 team and was responsible for the development of the car. Then they parted ways and Bobbi's Formula 1 involvement was over.

The GT sport

Bobbi made his debut in GT racing in 2003 and was extremely successful. In 2003 he drove to the championship in the FIA GT championship with Thomas Biagi in the Ferrari 550 Maranello . The two Italians took six wins of the season for the BMS Scuderia Italia team .

A year later, Bobbi got a new partner in the FIA ​​GT. With Gabriele Gardel he finished second in the championship at the end of the season, with two wins of the season again. He also set foot in America for the first time, contesting the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours .

This step continued in 2005. Bobbi drove in the Grand Am for Team Doran and was able to finish one race on the podium.

But just a year later, the Italian was drawn back to Europe, again in the FIA ​​GT. Here he drove a Ferrari 430 GT in the GT2 class for the superior team from AF Corse . Together with Jaime Melo , he was able to achieve two class wins and a second class position at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps . But Bobbi had to skip the last two races, so Melo won the championship alone.

For the 2007 season, Bobbi went to the International GT Open , an up-and-coming series with GT2 and GT3 vehicles. He drove for the GPC Squadra Corse team in a Ferrari 430 GT and was able to conquer several podium places. Bobbi only went back to the FIA ​​GT for the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps and drove a Maserati MC12 for the Vitaphone Racing Team .

In the 2008 season, Bobbi drove again in the Grand Am in America for the Cheever Racing Team in the prototype class. But the contract between team and driver was recently put on hold. He is currently driving again for GPC in the Italian GT Championship and the International GT Open.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2009	Racing box	Lola B08 / 80	Thomas Biagi	Andrea Piccini	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2004	Risi Competizione	Ferrari 360 Modena GT	Anthony Lazzaro	Ralf Kelleners	Rank 16

Web links

• Matteo Bobbi at Racing Sports Cars