Why Japan’s largest racing collection would not be the identical with out its Italian star

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 largest racing collection, 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 monitor, however extremely well-liked amongst followers and the Nissan administration – to the purpose that you can be forgiven for pondering he’s Japanese himself. His departure from Tremendous GT is greater than only a veteran saying his retirement – it’s the top 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 turn out to be his residence 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, finally 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 Components 3 season. Though he had earlier F3 expertise, a part-season in 2001 for the Opel Group KMS squad that had received the earlier 12 months’s German title with Giorgio Pantano, Quintarelli took time to seek out his toes in F3 automobiles. He completed no greater than second in the course of 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 best way for a seat in what was then generally known as Components Nippon (now Tremendous Components) 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 Components 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 provided 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 one of the best determination of his profession.

Already a race winner in his first season with the model, Quintarelli continued to ascend up the order over the next years. His determination to stop racing in Components 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 Group Impul in 2010 then received the primary of his document 4 titles in 2011. That 12 months, Nissan was seeking to discipline 4 automobiles within the class and the group chosen to assist with the growth was GT300 runner MOLA. Quintarelli had earlier expertise of Michelin tyres that MOLA was working that 12 months and was positioned on the group alongside Masataka Yanagida, the 2003 GT500 champion.

With 5 podiums in eight races, in a collection the place success ballast makes consistency extremely laborious to attain, 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 method to the crown.

Nothing speaks extra about his loyalty to Japan than him turning down an opportunity to race in Components 1 in 2007

These back-to-back titles earned him a promotion to NISMO, the place went on to type a ‘dream group’ alongside two-time Components 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 automobiles into rocket ships, and Nissan had a winner on its fingers after sacrificing the earlier season to be able 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 subsequent 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 likelihood 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 laborious to come back by, Quintarelli was nonetheless displaying 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 group clinch victory within the 2023 season opener at Okayama and illustrate he had nonetheless received 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 group 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 powerful 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 document 4 titles, 20 pole positions and tally of 18 GT500 wins that’s third solely to Matsuda and Yuki Tachikawa, he’ll go away the collection 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 Components Nippon/Tremendous Components, whereas Quintarelli’s stint within the single-seater championship yielded only a single win throughout 4 seasons. However his longevity in GT automobiles – he turned 45 this 12 months – earns him some further factors. 

What maybe separates Quintarelli from another foreign-born drivers is the best way he has embedded himself in Japanese tradition. Now residing in Yokohama along with his Japanese spouse and two children, the Italian has turn out to be so fluent within the Japanese language that he works as a commentator for Tremendous Components on native TV. 

One other frequent Japanese trait that he confirmed all his profession is loyalty to his employer, having caught with Nissan ever because it first provided him a contract in 2008. It meant quitting Components Nippon – the place Nissan has no presence – in his 20s whereas at his bodily peak, since any cope with a Honda and Toyota group would have required him to change allegiance in Tremendous GT too.

Aside from Nissan, Quintarelli additionally remained devoted to Michelin, which has been pivotal to his success amid Tremendous GT’s intense tyre conflict. When the French producer joined the collection in 2009, it was eager to make a mark after withdrawing from Components 1 two years prior. Quintarelli served as its improvement driver and people many hours of personal testing helped Michelin turn out to be the one producer to recurrently 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 group known 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 Components, 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 group when renamed Spyker in 2007 – however loyalty to his Nippon group saved him in Japan

Picture by: Elliot Patching / Motorsport Photographs

What Quintarelli achieved in his profession is phenomenal, however it’s his work outdoors of the monitor 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 reduction efforts within the area. His charitable efforts had been recognised by his residence 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 collection of earthquakes, he once more stepped in to assist assist the individuals affected by the pure catastrophe.

So when Quintarelli jumps out of the well-known ‘purple automobile’ after his 137th Tremendous GT begin at Suzuka 300 subsequent month, Tremendous GT will likely be bidding farewell to a exceptional driver – and above all a fantastic human. His profession could also be coming to an finish, however his legacy will likely be felt for years to come back.

Which Tremendous GT driver will step into Quintarelli’s footwear?

Picture by: Masahide Kamio