Mirko Bortolotti

Mirko Bortolotti
Mirko Bortolotti
	Bortolotti in 2024
Nationality	Italian
Born	10 January 1990 (age 36); Trento, Italy
IMSA SportsCar Championship career
Debut season	2016
Current team	Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Categorisation	FIA Gold (until 2014); FIA Platinum (2015–)
Car number	63
Starts	18 (18 entries)
Wins	4
Podiums	7
Poles	1
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	16th (GTD Pro) in 2023
Previous series
2012, 2015–21; 2014–16; 2014; 2013; 2009, 11; 2010; 2009; 2007–08; 2006; 2006; 2005–07; 2005	ADAC GT Masters; Italian GT Championship; Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe; Eurocup Mégane Trophy; FIA Formula Two Championship; GP3 Series; Formula 3 Euro Series; Italian Formula Three; Formula Azzurra; Formula Junior 1600 Italy; FR 2.0 Italy Winter series; Formula Gloria Italy
Championship titles
2024; 2017; 2013; 2011; 2008	DTM; Blancpain Endurance Cup; Eurocup Mégane Trophy; FIA Formula Two Championship; Italian Formula Three

Mirko Bortolotti (born 10 January 1990) is an Italian racing driver, best known for his sports car racing success with Lamborghini. He currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for TGI Team by GRT.

A Red Bull and Ferrari protégé in his junior career, Bortolotti won Italian Formula 3 in 2008, FIA Formula 2 in 2011 and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy in 2013. He was a Formula One test driver for Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Williams before establishing himself in sports car racing. Bortolotti has been a Lamborghini factory driver since 2015, with a brief spell at Audi in 2020.^[1]

Considered one of the greatest ever Lamborghini drivers,^[2]^[3]^[4] Bortolotti won the Blancpain GT Series Overall and Endurance Cup titles in 2017, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2024 and the Spa 24 Hours in 2025.^[5]^[6] He is a class winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In 2024, Bortolotti spearheaded Lamborghini's entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh.^[7]

Career

Italian series

After karting for several years, Bortolotti began his formula racing career in 2005 by competing in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series and Formula Gloria.^{[citation needed]} He competed in the Winter Series for a further two years, with a best finish of fourth in 2006. He also drove in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 championship for this year, in addition to the Formula Azzurra championship. In the latter series, he finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship, behind winner Giuseppe Termine.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Bortolotti moved up to Italian Formula Three, finishing fourth in the championship at his first attempt.^{[citation needed]} He remained in the series for 2008, driving for the Lucidi Motors team, and won the championship with nine wins and six pole positions from the sixteen races.^{[citation needed]}

FIA Formula Two Championship

Bortolotti obtained backing from Red Bull following his championship win; the company opted to place him in the relaunched FIA Formula Two Championship in 2009.^[8] He drove car number 14 in the series, and finished fourth. During the break between the final two rounds of the season, Bortolotti returned to Formula Three to compete for Carlin Motorsport in the Formula 3 Euro Series season finale at Hockenheim,^[9] finishing on the podium in the second race.^{[citation needed]}

GP3 Series

Bortolotti's next move was to the newly created GP3 Series.^[10] He drove in the 2010 season for Addax Team alongside teammates Felipe Guimarães and Pablo Sánchez López and managed some good results, finishing 11th and getting a podium in his final race.^{[citation needed]}

Return to FIA Formula Two Championship

Bortolotti decided to return to FIA Formula Two Championship for 2011.^[11] His season began well as he took the lead in the championship after the first round. He lost it to Christopher Zanella, later regaining the lead at the third round. He dominated the fourth round of the season at the Nürburgring, taking pole position, victory and the fastest lap in both races. He led the rest of the season and eventually won the championship by 100 points over Zanella.^{[citation needed]}

Formula One

As a reward for their performances in the 2008 Italian F3 championship, Bortolotti, Edoardo Piscopo and Salvatore Cicatelli were all given a test of the Ferrari team's F2008 chassis at the Fiorano Circuit in November 2008. Bortolotti impressed by setting a time of 59.111 seconds, quicker than the previous fastest lap set by the F2008 at the circuit by any driver.^[12]

In 2009, among several other drivers, Bortolotti was linked to a drive with Ferrari as a replacement for injured Felipe Massa, after poor performances by Luca Badoer.^[13]

In 2011, Bortolotti was selected by Williams to appear in their car at the 2011 young drivers test in Abu Dhabi.^{[citation needed]}

GT Racing

After his single-seater career, Bortolotti transitioned to GT racing and became a Lamborghini factory driver in 2015. He achieved notable success in GT3 competition, winning races in major endurance and sprint series, including the Blancpain GT Series and the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Bortolotti has stated that adapting to GT racing required a change in driving approach, particularly in tyre management and race strategy. His experience in GT racing later contributed to his success in touring car competition, culminating in winning the 2024 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) championship, the first drivers’ title for Lamborghini in the series.^[14]

In 2017, Bortolotti won the Endurance Cup of the Blancpain GT Series with GRT Grasser Racing Team and won the overall driver championship with his teammate Christian Engelhart.^{[citation needed]}

In 2020, Bortolotti moved from Lamborghini to Audi. Now, he is racing R8 LMS GT3 EVO in the GT World Challenge Europe Series (formerly Blancpain GT Series) Endurance Cup and ADAC GT Masters with WRT (Belgian Club W Racing Team ). In the GT World Challenge Europe Series, he shared the car with Kelvin van der Linde and Rolf Ineichen in Car No. 31, and car No. 30 with Rolf Ineichen in the ADAC GT Masters, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

2023 saw Bortolotti join Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper in Iron Lynx's Pro class effort in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.^[15]

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

In September 2021, Bortolotti made his debut in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as a guest driver for T3 Motorsport as the German team fielded a third Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo car in the sixth round of the 2021 DTM season at Assen.^[16] There, he finished second in the first race on Saturday and seventh in the second race on Sunday.^[17] In February 2022, Bortolotti earned a full-time seat for the 2022 DTM season with GRT Grasser Racing Team as the Austrian team joined the series by fielding four Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo cars with factory-backing from the Italian manufacturer.^[18]

In the first round of the 2022 DTM season at Portimão, Bortolotti finished third in both races. He qualified on pole position for the first race of the weekend and led 19 laps, but his car suffered a sudden loss of power after a safety-car period and he fell to sixth position with ten laps to go, before recovering to fourth and eventually overtaking the Mercedes of Maro Engel on the final lap for third, with Mercedes drivers Lucas Auer and Luca Stolz finishing in front of him.^[19]^[20] In the first race of the third round at Imola, Bortolotti scored his third podium finish of the season, recovering to third after starting from 16th due to a ten-place grid penalty for using a wrong set of tyres.^[21] After experiencing his first retirement of the season in the first race of the fourth round at the Norisring, he finished second in the second race of the weekend and moved to the top of the drivers' standings with half the season completed.^[22]

Racing record