One of many true icons of Japanese motorsport is ready to name time on his top-line racing profession. Italy-born Ronnie Quintarelli, who modified the definition of a gaijin driver within the Far East, will contest his final Tremendous GT spherical in subsequent month’s delayed season-finale at Suzuka.
For nearly 20 years, he has been an essential fixture of the nation’s greatest racing sequence, forging a prolonged relationship with Nissan that earned him a spot among the many all-time greats. Not solely was he speedy on the race observe, however extremely common amongst followers and the Nissan administration – to the purpose that you might be forgiven for considering he’s Japanese himself. His departure from Tremendous GT is greater than only a veteran saying his retirement – it’s the tip of an period.
When Quintarelli first set foot on Japanese soil to participate in a one-off karting occasion at Suzuka in 1996, he couldn’t have envisaged that the nation would grow to be his house sooner or later. However a tip from compatriot Paolo Montin in regards to the motorsport scene in Japan within the early 2000s nudged him on this route, in the end laying the muse to his profession.
The primary single-seater he drove in Japan was a Toyota-powered Dallara F302, entered by Inging within the 2003 Japanese System 3 season. Though he had earlier F3 expertise, a part-season in 2001 for the Opel Workforce KMS squad that had received the earlier 12 months’s German title with Giorgio Pantano, Quintarelli took time to seek out his ft in F3 vehicles. He completed no greater than second throughout the 12 months however was a whole product in 2004, beating Brazil’s Joao Paulo de Oliveira to clinch his maiden title.
That paved the way in which for a seat in what was then generally known as System Nippon (now Tremendous System) with Kondo Racing, in addition to a one-off Tremendous GT marketing campaign with Toyota’s SARD in 2005. He received his first main GT race in that 12 months’s Suzuka 1000km and over the approaching seasons continued to race in System Nippon, the place Quintarelli would reunite with Inging, whereas additionally making sporadic appearances in Tremendous GT with Toyota-affiliated groups.
On the finish of 2007, when he broke his Nippon duck with victory at Aida, Nissan got here calling and supplied him a full-season seat within the GT500 class for the next 12 months. Quintarelli put pen to paper with out a lot hesitation and it turned out to be the most effective resolution of his profession.
Quintarelli constructed his profession in Japan after profitable 2004 F3 title
Picture by: Yasushi Ishihara
Already a race winner in his first season with the model, Quintarelli continued to ascend up the order over the next years. His resolution to stop racing in System Nippon, the place Inging used Toyota engines, and give attention to Tremendous GT after 2008 can be richly rewarded.
From seventh with Hasemi Motorsport in 2009, he improved to fifth with Workforce Impul in 2010 then received the primary of his file 4 titles in 2011. That 12 months, Nissan was seeking to subject 4 vehicles within the class and the workforce chosen to assist with the enlargement was GT300 runner MOLA. Quintarelli had earlier expertise of Michelin tyres that MOLA was working that 12 months and was positioned on the workforce alongside Masataka Yanagida, the 2003 GT500 champion.
With 5 podiums in eight races, in a sequence the place success ballast makes consistency extremely exhausting to realize, Quintarelli and Yanagida romped to the title as MOLA upset the established order. A second championship adopted in 2012, this time with Quintarelli and Yanagida scoring two wins on their strategy to the crown.
Nothing speaks extra about his loyalty to Japan than him turning down an opportunity to race in System 1 in 2007
These back-to-back titles earned him a promotion to NISMO, the place went on to type a ‘dream workforce’ alongside two-time System Nippon champion Tsugio Matsuda. Having first joined forces at Impul in 2010, the 2 had been reunited when NISMO changed Yanagida for 2014.
The beginning of their new partnership coincided with the introduction of recent Class One guidelines that turned GT500 vehicles into rocket ships, and Nissan had a winner on its arms after sacrificing the earlier season so as to construct a brand new automobile. With the added benefit of Michelin tyres, Quintarelli and Matsuda had been merely unbeatable within the #23 Nissan GT-R, clinching two titles on the trot in 2014 and 2015.
Quintarelli and Matsuda remained a potent mixture over the following eight years, coming near including one other crown to their respective tallies in 2017 and 2019 however ultimately dropping out to stronger opposition from Lexus. The change to the brand new Nissan Z for 2022 ought to have been Quintarelli’s greatest probability for a record-extending fifth title, however Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette stole the present of their Bridgestone-shod Impul automobile.
However whereas titles grew to become exhausting to return by, Quintarelli was nonetheless exhibiting no indicators of slowing down within the 2020s, at the same time as age began to creep up on his team-mate Matsuda. Doing the heavy lifting within the flagship #23 Nissan Z, Quintarelli helped the workforce clinch victory within the 2023 season opener at Okayama and illustrate he had nonetheless bought what it takes to carry out on the prime stage.
Alongside Yanagida, Quintarelli received back-to-back titles in 2011-12 earlier than repeating the feat with Matsuda in 2014-15
Picture by: Yasushi Ishihara
Sadly, the dream workforce that he was such an enormous a part of disintegrated on the finish of final 12 months, with Michelin saying its exit from Tremendous GT as Matsuda was moved over to Kondo Racing. Quintarelli carried on in 2024 with a non-exclusive Bridgestone deal and Katsumasa Chiyo as his new team-mate, to date scoring two podiums in an in any other case robust marketing campaign.
After one other race at Suzuka, the venue of his first motor race in Japan, his profession will come full circle as he bows out of Tremendous GT. With a file 4 titles, 20 pole positions and tally of 18 GT500 wins that’s third solely to Matsuda and Yuki Tachikawa, he’ll depart the sequence as one in every of its most profitable and likeable drivers.
He actually ranks comparably with different worldwide drivers who made their title in Japan this century. A direct comparability with the likes of Andre Lotterer, Loic Duval, Benoit Treluyer and Nick Cassidy is tough, since all received each Tremendous GT and System Nippon/Tremendous System, whereas Quintarelli’s stint within the single-seater championship yielded only a single win throughout 4 seasons. However his longevity in GT vehicles – he turned 45 this 12 months – earns him some further factors.
What maybe separates Quintarelli from another foreign-born drivers is the way in which he has embedded himself in Japanese tradition. Now residing in Yokohama along with his Japanese spouse and two youngsters, the Italian has grow to be so fluent within the Japanese language that he works as a commentator for Tremendous System on native TV.
One other widespread Japanese trait that he confirmed all his profession is loyalty to his employer, having caught with Nissan ever because it first supplied him a contract in 2008. It meant quitting System Nippon – the place Nissan has no presence – in his 20s whereas at his bodily peak, since any cope with a Honda and Toyota workforce would have required him to change allegiance in Tremendous GT too.
Aside from Nissan, Quintarelli additionally remained trustworthy to Michelin, which has been pivotal to his success amid Tremendous GT’s intense tyre warfare. When the French producer joined the sequence in 2009, it was eager to make a mark after withdrawing from System 1 two years prior. Quintarelli served as its improvement driver and people many hours of personal testing helped Michelin grow to be the one producer to commonly tackle Bridgestone within the final 15 years.
However nothing speaks extra about Quintarelli’s loyalty to Japan than turning down an opportunity to race in F1 in 2007. Having beforehand accomplished a brief run at Silverstone with Midland, the rebranded Spyker workforce referred to as him when it wanted a brand new driver from the eleventh spherical in Hungary. However with there being a number of clashes between F1 and Tremendous System, Quintarelli selected to not upset his then-team Inging and remained in Japan.
Quintarelli examined for Midland at Silverstone in 2006, which may have led to a race seat for the workforce when renamed Spyker in 2007 – however loyalty to his Nippon workforce stored him in Japan
Picture by: Elliot Patching / Motorsport Photos
What Quintarelli achieved in his profession is phenomenal, however it’s his work outdoors of the observe that basically earns him the tag of a sporting nice. After the lethal Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, he stayed in Japan to contribute to the aid efforts within the area. His charitable efforts had been recognised by his house nation, which awarded the Official of the Order of the Italian Star in Tokyo in 2016.
The identical 12 months, when Italy was hit by a sequence of earthquakes, he once more stepped in to assist help the folks affected by the pure catastrophe.
So when Quintarelli jumps out of the well-known ‘pink automobile’ after his 137th Tremendous GT begin at Suzuka 300 subsequent month, Tremendous GT will likely be bidding farewell to a outstanding driver – and above all an excellent human. His profession could also be coming to an finish, however his legacy will likely be felt for years to return.
Which Tremendous GT driver will step into Quintarelli’s footwear?
Picture by: Masahide Kamio
