Roberto Lacorte
Lacorte in 2019
NationalityItalian
Born (1968-06-25) 25 June 1968 (age 55)
Pisa, Italy
Related toNicola Lacorte (son)
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season2017
Current teamCetilar Racing
Car number47
Starts14
Wins1
Podiums2
Poles1
Previous series
2015 –2019European Le Mans Series

Roberto Lacorte (born 25 June 1968) is an Italian entrepreneur, racing driver, and sailor.

Personal life

His son is Nicola Lacorte.[1] In 2023, Nicola raced in Formula 4 and joined Alpine Academy.[2]

Business ventures

In 2003, Lacorte and brother Andrea founded the Pharmanutra Group, an Italian pharmaceutical company, of which he became vice president and CEO.[3] The company's line of products includes Cetilar, a joint cream which provides title sponsorship to Lacorte's racing endeavors.[4] The brand also provides sponsorship to a number of association football teams in Italy, notably holding primary shirt sponsorship with Parma.[5]

Sport

Motorsports

Lacorte's Cetilar Racing Dallara at Silverstone in 2019

Lacorte began his racing career in 2011, driving for Spider Racing Team in the Italian Superturismo Championship. The following season, he returned to the competition with co-driver Giorgio Sernagiotto, finishing third overall.[6] In 2015, Lacorte began his partnership with Villorba Corse, taking part in the 2015 European Le Mans Series in the LMP3 class.[6] By 2017, the partnership had led Lacorte to participate in his first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which he finished seventh in class alongside co-drivers Andrea Belicchi and Giorgio Sernagiotto. The following year, Lacorte launched the Cetilar Academy, a youth karting program designed to advance drivers through the motorsport ladder.[7] Early in 2019, Cetilar Racing stepped up to full-time entrant status for the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship, fielding their Dallara P217 in the LMP2 class.[8] The team would finish 12th in class over the course of the season, tallying 72 points.

Later that year the team formed a partnership with AF Corse, who campaigned Ferrari's factory entries in the GTE Pro class.[9] That alliance paved the way for Cetilar Racing's switch to the GTE Am category for the 2021 season. Alongside Cetilar Racing's GTE Am entry, Cetilar would provide sponsorship for the AF Corse GTE Pro entries for the duration of the season.[10] Lacorte ended his LMP2 program due to his disappointment with the stratification plans that would reduce the horsepower and increase the minimum weight of LMP2 competitors, alongside the lack of competitiveness the Dallara chassis offered compared to the Oreca 07.[11] The team's GTE transition proved immediately fruitful, as they finished on the class podium at Spa before claiming their first class victory in WEC competition at Portimão in June.[12]

Ahead of the 2022 season, Cetilar Racing announced a full-season campaign in the GTD class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, thereby temporarily ending the team's involvement in the WEC.[13] While the full-season plan wouldn't pan out, the team remained in the series for the entire Michelin Endurance Cup. At the 12 Hours of Sebring, Lacorte and co-drivers Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco won the GTD class.[14] For 2023, the team confirmed a return to the championship, taking part with Ferrari's new GT3 offering, the 296 GT3.[15]

Sailing

Lacorte is an avid sailor, competing with his boat SuperNikka, which began development in 2013.[16] In 2015, the boat competed for the first time at the 2015 edition of the 151Miglia, in which it finished second on corrected time.[16] In its maiden year of competition, Lacorte piloted the boat to victory at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, a feat which he repeated in 2017.[17] In 2019, Lacorte was awarded the Italian Owner of the Year award at the FIV Italian Sailor of the Year awards.[18] In December 2020, Lacorte announced his plans to build the first new generation foil Mini Maxi vessel, dubbed FlyingNikka, set to debut in 2022.[19]

As of April 2021, Lacorte serves as an officer of the International Maxi Association, serving as vice president of the Mini Maxi Racer category, the class in which his boat competes.[20]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2013 Speed EuroSeries MSR Corse 2 1 0 0 2 26 8th
V de V Endurance Challenge - Proto - Scratch 4 0 0 0 1 37 27th
2014 V de V Endurance Challenge - Proto - Scratch 3 0 0 0 0 12.5 38th
2015 European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Villorba Corse 4 0 0 0 2 36 7th
2016 European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Villorba Corse 6 0 0 0 0 8 23rd
Road to Le Mans - LMP3 Scuderia Villorba Corse 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 17th
2017 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cetilar Villorba Corse 6 0 0 0 0 35 14th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
2018 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cetilar Villorba Corse 6 0 0 0 0 4.5 25th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
2019 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cetilar Racing Villorba Corse 1 0 0 0 0 0 36th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 13th
2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Cetilar Racing 8 0 0 0 0 72 12th
2020 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Cetilar Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th
2021 FIA World Endurance Championship - GTE Am Cetilar Racing 6 1 1 1 2 75 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans - GTE Am 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 Cetilar Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Cetilar Racing 4 1 0 2 1 1101 22nd
2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Cetilar Racing 4 0 0 0 0 637 38th

* Season still in progress

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2017 Cetilar Villorba Corse LMP2 Dallara P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8 SIL SPA LMS
7 		NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR NC 0
2018–19 Cetilar Villorba Corse LMP2 Dallara P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8 SPA LMS
11 		SIL FUJ SHA SEB SPA LMS
13 		NC 0
2019–20 Cetilar Racing LMP2 Dallara P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8 SIL
6 		FUJ
7 		SHA
7 		BHR
8 		COA
8 		SPA
5 		LMS
5 		BHR
6 		12th 72
2021 Cetilar Racing GTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Ferrari F154CB 3.9L Turbo V8 SPA
3 		POR
1 		MON
10 		LMS
Ret 		BHR
9 		BHR
4 		5th 75

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2021 Cetilar Racing LMP2 Dallara P217 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY
6 		SEB WGL WGL ELK LGA PET NC 0
2022 Cetilar Racing GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 DAY
14 		SEB
1 		LBH LGA MDO DET
 WGL
4 		MOS
 LIM ELK VIR PET
10 		22nd 1101
2023 Cetilar Racing GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V6 DAY
23 		SEB
14 		LBH LGA WGL
18 		MOS
 LIM
 ELK
 VIR
 IMS PET
13 		38th 637
2024 Cetilar Racing GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 Ferrari 3.0 L Turbo V6 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2017 Italy Cetilar Villorba Corse Italy Andrea Belicchi
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto 		Dallara P217 LMP2 353 9th 7th
2018 Italy Cetilar Villorba Corse Brazil Felipe Nasr
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto 		Dallara P217 LMP2 342 19th 11th
2019 Italy Cetilar Racing Villorba Corse Italy Andrea Belicchi
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto 		Dallara P217 LMP2 352 18th 13th
2020 Italy Cetilar Villorba Corse Italy Andrea Belicchi
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto 		Dallara P217 LMP2 363 14th 11th
2021 Italy Cetilar Racing Italy Antonio Fuoco
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto 		Ferrari 488 GTE Evo GTE Am 90 DNF DNF
2023 France Graff Racing Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
France Patrick Pilet 		Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 303 37th 16th
LMP2 Pro-Am 4th

References

  1. ^ "Formula4 Italian Championship - Certified by FIA WSK Promotion Official Site- Lacorte joins PREMA for 2023 Formula 4 programme". Italian F4 Championship. 2022-12-09. Archived from the original on 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  2. ^ "Alpine adds Nicola Lacorte in its F1 academy". FormulaRapida.net. 2023-12-04. Archived from the original on 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  3. ^ "The history of PharmaNutra Group - Pharmanutra". pharmanutra.it. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Commitment to sport - Pharmanutra". pharmanutra.it. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Parma extends Cetilar partnership for 2020/21 campaign". insidersport.com. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Roberto Lacorte - Cetilar Racing". cetilarracing.com (in Italian). Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Cetilar Academy: ready for a new, super season". cetilarracing.com. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Villorba Corse Becomes Cetilar Racing, Set for 2019-20 Entry". sportscar365.com. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Cetilar "Turning the Page" With New AF Corse Partnership". sportscar365.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Cetilar Strengthening Ties to AF Corse, Ferrari with GTE-Am Entry". sportscar365.com. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Cetilar Confirm 2021 Plans: LMP2 At Daytona, GTE Am Ferrari In WEC". dailysportscar.com. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  12. ^ "1-2 Finish For Toyota In Its 100th WEC Race". dailysportscar.com. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021. In the end, Cetilar Racing took a big win with its Ferrari, just five seconds ahead of the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche...
  13. ^ Goodwin, Graham (8 November 2021). "Cetilar Racing Set To Move To IMSA For 2022 Season". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Ferrari triumphs at the Sebring 12 Hours in GTD". Ferrari. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  15. ^ James, Richard S. (21 March 2022). "Cetilar Racing to introduce Ferrari 296 GT3 to IMSA in 2023". Racer. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Vismara V62 Mills 'SuperNikka'". mills-design.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Roberto Lacorte Wants to Be Fast, on Land and Water". The New York Times. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  18. ^ "SuperNikka's Roberto Lacorte is 2019 Italian Owner of the Year". mills-design.com. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Roberto Lacorte presents Flyingnikka, the first new generation foil Mini Maxi". cetilar.it. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Officers of the Association - International Maxi Association". internationalmaxiassociation.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

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