Why Japan's biggest racing series wouldn't be the identical without the Italian star

One of the true icons of Japanese motorsport will soon end his racing profession at the best level. Italian-born Ronnie Quintarelli who modified the definition gaijin driver within the Far East, will compete in his final Super GT round at next month's delayed season finale at Suzuka.

For nearly twenty years, he was a serious contributor to the nation's largest racing series, forging a protracted association with Nissan that earned him a spot among the many best racers of all time. Not only was he fast on the race track, but he was also extremely popular with Nissan fans and management – a lot in order that he may very well be forgiven for being Japanese himself. His departure from Super GT is greater than just the veteran announcing his retirement – it’s the top of an era.

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When Quintarelli first set foot on Japanese soil to participate in a one-off karting competition at Suzuka in 1996, he couldn't have imagined that the country would eventually turn out to be his home. However, a tip from compatriot Paolo Montin in regards to the motorsport scene in Japan within the early 2000s pushed him in that direction, ultimately laying the muse for his profession.

The first single-seater automobile he drove in Japan was the Toyota-powered Dallara F302 entered by Inginga within the 2003 Japanese Formula 3 season. Although Quintarelli already had F3 experience, he part-timed the 2001 season for Opel Team KMS, which won the championship the previous 12 months German alongside Giorgio Pantano, Quintarelli needed time to seek out his feet in F3 cars. He finished no higher than second place in the course of the 12 months, but in 2004 he was the whole product, defeating Brazilian Joao Paulo de Oliveira to win his maiden title.

This opened the way in which for him to a spot within the then Formula Nippon (now Super Formula) with Kondo Racing, in addition to a one-off Super GT campaign with Toyota's SARD team in 2005. He won his first major GT Suzuka 1000km race that 12 months and continued to race in Formula Nippon over the next seasons, where Quintarelli was reunited with Ining, and in addition made occasional appearances in Super GT with Toyota-affiliated teams.

At the top of 2007, after he broke the Nippon duck with an Aida victory, Nissan called and offered him a full-season seat within the GT500 class for the next 12 months. Without hesitation, Quintarelli put pen to paper and it turned out to be one of the best decision of his profession.

Quintarelli built a profession in Japan after winning the F3 championship in 2004

Photo: Yasushi Ishihara

Quintarelli, who won the race in his first season with the brand, continued to climb the rankings in the next years. His decision to stop racing in Formula Nippon, where Inging used Toyota engines, and concentrate on Super GT after 2008 will likely be richly rewarded.

From seventh place with Hasemi Motorsport in 2009, he rose to fifth place with Team Impul in 2010 after which won the primary of his record 4 titles in 2011. This 12 months, Nissan desired to field 4 cars within the category, and the team chosen to assist win the title, the extension was the GT300 MOLA guide. Quintarelli already had experience with the Michelin tires that MOLA was using this 12 months, and was placed on the team alongside Masataka Yanagida, the 2003 GT500 champion.

With five podiums in eight races, in a series where the ballast of success makes consistency extremely difficult, Quintarelli and Yanagida soared to the title while MOLA upended the established order. The second championship took place in 2012, this time Quintarelli and Yanagida scored two victories on their strategy to the crown.

Nothing says more about his loyalty to Japan than turning down the prospect to race in Formula 1 in 2007

These subsequent titles earned him promotion to NISMO, where he formed a “dream team” with two-time Formula Nippon champion Tsugio Matsuda. They first teamed up in Impul in 2010, then NISMO replaced Yanagida in 2014.

The start of their recent partnership coincided with the introduction of recent Class One regulations that turned the GT500 cars into rocket ships, and Nissan had a winner after sacrificing the previous season to construct a brand new automobile. With the added advantage of Michelin tires, Quintarelli and Matsuda were simply unbeatable within the No. 23 Nissan GT-R, winning back-to-back titles on the trot in 2014 and 2015.

Quintarelli and Matsuda remained a robust combination for the subsequent eight years, and in 2017 and 2019 they got here near adding one other crown to their tally, but ultimately lost to stronger opposition from Lexus. Switching to the brand new 2022 Nissan Z must have been Quintarelli's best likelihood of extending his record fifth championship title, but Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette stole the show of their Bridgestone-shod Impul automobile.

Although winning titles became difficult, Quintarelli still showed no signs of slowing down within the 2020s, at the same time as his teammate Matsuda began to age. Taking on the hardest duties within the flagship No. 23 Nissan Z, Quintarelli helped the team to victory within the 2023 season opener at Okamama and showed that he still has what it takes to perform at the best level.

With Yanagida, Quintarelli won back-to-back league titles within the 2011–2012 season, then repeated the feat with Matsuda within the 2014–2015 season

Photo: Yasushi Ishihara

Unfortunately, the dream team he was such a giant a part of fell apart late last 12 months, with Michelin announcing its departure from Super GT together with Matsuda's transfer to Kondo Racing. Quintarelli continued his profession in 2024 under a non-exclusive take care of Bridgestone, with Katsumasa Chiyo as his recent teammate, having scored two podium finishes to date in an otherwise difficult campaign.

After one other race at Suzuka, site of his first automobile race in Japan, his profession would come full circle as he retired from Super GT. With a record 4 titles and 18 wins in GT500 to his name, placing him third after Matsuda and Yuki Tachikawa, he’ll leave the series as one of the successful and beloved drivers.

He definitely ranks up there with other international drivers who’ve made a reputation for themselves in Japan this century. Direct comparison with the likes of Andre Lotterer, Loic Duval, Benoit Treluyer and Nick Cassidy is difficult as all of them won each Super GT and Formula Nippon/Super Formula, while Quintarelli's performance within the single-seater championship saw just one win in 4 seasons 12 months. But his longevity in GT cars – he turned 45 this 12 months – earns him extra points.

What perhaps sets Quintarelli other than other foreign-born drivers is the way in which he embeds himself in Japanese culture. Currently living in Yokohama along with his Japanese wife and two children, the Italian is so fluent in Japanese that he works as a Super Formula commentator on local television.

Another typical Japanese trait that he has shown throughout his profession is loyalty to his employer – he has been with Nissan because it first offered him a contract in 2008. This meant leaving Formula Nippon – where Nissan has no presence – on the age of 20, at his prime physically, because any take care of the Honda and Toyota teams would require him to change allegiances to Super GT as well.

In addition to Nissan, Quintarelli also remained loyal to Michelin, which played a key role in his success within the face of an intense tire war in Super GT. When the French manufacturer joined the series in 2009, it wanted to depart its mark after retiring from Formula 1 two years earlier. Quintarelli was its development driver, and plenty of hours of personal testing helped Michelin turn out to be the one manufacturer to often compete with Bridgestone over the past 15 years.

But nothing says more about Quintarelli's loyalty to Japan than turning down the prospect to race in F1 in 2007. Having previously made a brief run at Silverstone with Midland, the renamed Spyker team called him after they needed a brand new driver for round 11 in Hungary. However, as there have been several clashes between F1 and Super Formula, Quintarelli decided to not upset his then-team Inginga and stayed in Japan.

Quintarelli tested for Midland at Silverstone in 2006, which could have earned the team a race berth when it modified its name to Spyker in 2007, but loyalty to the Nippon team kept him in Japan

Photo: Elliot Patching / Motorsport Images

What Quintarelli has achieved in his profession is outstanding, but it surely is his work off the track that really earns him the excellence of being an awesome athlete. After the deadly Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, he stayed in Japan to contribute to relief efforts within the region. His charitable activities were appreciated by his homeland, which awarded him the Order of the Italian Star in Tokyo in 2016.

That same 12 months, when Italy was hit by a series of earthquakes, he again stepped in to assist those affected by the natural disaster.

So when Quintarelli steps out of the famous 'red automobile' after his 137th Super GT start on the Suzuka 300 next month, Super GT will say goodbye to a rare driver and, above all, an awesome man. His profession could also be coming to an end, but his legacy will likely be felt for a few years to return.

Which Super GT driver will step into Quintarelli's shoes?

Photo: Masahide Kamio