Why Japan’s biggest racing series wouldn’t be the same without its Italian star

One of the true icons of Japanese motorsport is set to call time on his top-line racing career. Italy-born Ronnie Quintarelli, who changed the definition of a gaijin driver in the Far East, will contest his last Super GT round in next month’s delayed season-finale at Suzuka.

For almost two decades, he has been an important fixture of the country’s biggest racing series, forging a lengthy relationship with Nissan that earned him a place among the all-time greats. Not only was he rapid on the race track, but incredibly popular among fans and the Nissan management – to the point that you could be forgiven for thinking he is Japanese himself. His departure from Super GT is more than just a veteran announcing his retirement – it’s the end of an era.

When Quintarelli first set foot on Japanese soil to take part in a one-off karting event at Suzuka in 1996, he couldn’t have envisaged that the country would become his home in the future. But a tip from compatriot Paolo Montin about the motorsport scene in Japan in the early 2000s nudged him in this direction, ultimately laying the foundation to his career. 

The first single-seater he drove in Japan was a Toyota-powered Dallara F302, entered by Inging in the 2003 Japanese Formula 3 season. Although he had previous F3 experience, a part-season in 2001 for the Opel Team KMS squad that had won the previous year’s German title with Giorgio Pantano, Quintarelli took time to find his feet in F3 cars. He finished no higher than second during the year but was a complete product in 2004, beating Brazil’s Joao Paulo de Oliveira to clinch his maiden title.

That paved the way for a seat in what was then known as Formula Nippon (now Super Formula) with Kondo Racing, as well as a one-off Super GT campaign with Toyota’s SARD in 2005. He won his first major GT race in that year’s Suzuka 1000km and over the coming seasons continued to race in Formula Nippon, where Quintarelli would reunite with Inging, while also making sporadic appearances in Super GT with Toyota-affiliated teams.

At the end of 2007, when he broke his Nippon duck with victory at Aida, Nissan came calling and offered him a full-season seat in the GT500 class for the following year. Quintarelli put pen to paper without much hesitation and it turned out to be the best decision of his career.

Quintarelli built his career in Japan after winning 2004 F3 title

Photo by: Yasushi Ishihara

Already a race winner in his first season with the brand, Quintarelli continued to ascend up the order over the following years. His decision to cease racing in Formula Nippon, where Inging used Toyota engines, and focus on Super GT after 2008 would be richly rewarded.

From seventh with Hasemi Motorsport in 2009, he improved to fifth with Team Impul in 2010 then won the first of his record four titles in 2011. That year, Nissan was looking to field four cars in the category and the team chosen to help with the expansion was GT300 runner MOLA. Quintarelli had previous experience of Michelin tyres that MOLA was running that year and was placed at the team alongside Masataka Yanagida, the 2003 GT500 champion.

With five podiums in eight races, in a series where success ballast makes consistency incredibly hard to achieve, Quintarelli and Yanagida romped to the title as MOLA upset the established order. A second championship followed in 2012, this time with Quintarelli and Yanagida scoring two wins on their way to the crown.

Nothing speaks more about his loyalty to Japan than him turning down a chance to race in Formula 1 in 2007

These back-to-back titles earned him a promotion to NISMO, where went on to form a ‘dream team’ alongside two-time Formula Nippon champion Tsugio Matsuda. Having first joined forces at Impul in 2010, the two were reunited when NISMO replaced Yanagida for 2014.

The start of their new partnership coincided with the introduction of new Class One rules that turned GT500 cars into rocket ships, and Nissan had a winner on its hands after sacrificing the previous season in order to build a new car. With the added advantage of Michelin tyres, Quintarelli and Matsuda were simply unbeatable in the #23 Nissan GT-R, clinching two titles on the trot in 2014 and 2015.

Quintarelli and Matsuda remained a potent combination over the next eight years, coming close to adding another crown to their respective tallies in 2017 and 2019 but eventually losing out to stronger opposition from Lexus. The switch to the new Nissan Z for 2022 should have been Quintarelli’s best chance for a record-extending fifth title, but Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette stole the show in their Bridgestone-shod Impul car.

But while titles became hard to come by, Quintarelli was still showing no signs of slowing down in the 2020s, even as age started to creep up on his team-mate Matsuda. Doing the heavy lifting in the flagship #23 Nissan Z, Quintarelli helped the team clinch victory in the 2023 season opener at Okayama and illustrate he had still got what it takes to perform at the top level.

Alongside Yanagida, Quintarelli won back-to-back titles in 2011-12 before repeating the feat with Matsuda in 2014-15

Photo by: Yasushi Ishihara

Unfortunately, the dream team that he was such a big part of disintegrated at the end of last year, with Michelin announcing its exit from Super 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, so far scoring two podiums in an otherwise tough campaign.

After another race at Suzuka, the venue of his first motor race in Japan, his career will come full circle as he bows out of Super GT. With a record four titles and tally of 18 GT500 wins that is third only to Matsuda and Yuki Tachikawa, he will leave the series as one of its most successful and likeable drivers.

He certainly ranks comparably with other international drivers who made their name in Japan this century. A direct comparison with the likes of Andre Lotterer, Loic Duval, Benoit Treluyer and Nick Cassidy is difficult, since all won both Super GT and Formula Nippon/Super Formula, while Quintarelli’s stint in the single-seater championship yielded just a single win across four seasons. But his longevity in GT cars – he turned 45 this year – earns him some extra points. 

What perhaps separates Quintarelli from some other foreign-born drivers is the way he has embedded himself in Japanese culture. Now residing in Yokohama with his Japanese wife and two kids, the Italian has become so fluent in the Japanese language that he works as a commentator for Super Formula on local TV. 

Another common Japanese trait that he showed all his career is loyalty to his employer, having stuck with Nissan ever since it first offered him a contract in 2008. It meant quitting Formula Nippon – where Nissan has no presence – in his 20s while at his physical peak, since any deal with a Honda and Toyota team would have required him to switch allegiance in Super GT too.

Apart from Nissan, Quintarelli also remained faithful to Michelin, which has been pivotal to his success amid Super GT’s intense tyre war. When the French manufacturer joined the series in 2009, it was keen to make a mark after withdrawing from Formula 1 two years prior. Quintarelli served as its development driver and those many hours of private testing helped Michelin become the only manufacturer to regularly take on Bridgestone in the last 15 years.

But nothing speaks more about Quintarelli’s loyalty to Japan than turning down a chance to race in F1 in 2007. Having previously completed a short run at Silverstone with Midland, the rebranded Spyker team called him when it needed a new driver from the 11th round in Hungary. But with there being several clashes between F1 and Super Formula, Quintarelli chose not to upset his then-team Inging and remained in Japan.

Quintarelli tested for Midland at Silverstone in 2006, which could have led to a race seat for the team when renamed Spyker in 2007 – but loyalty to his Nippon team kept him in Japan

Photo by: Elliot Patching / Motorsport Images

What Quintarelli achieved in his career is exceptional, but it’s his work outside of the track that really earns him the tag of a sporting great. After the deadly Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, he stayed in Japan to contribute to the relief efforts in the region. His charitable efforts were recognised by his home country, which awarded the Official of the Order of the Italian Star in Tokyo in 2016.

The same year, when Italy was hit by a series of earthquakes, he again stepped in to help support the people affected by the natural disaster.

So when Quintarelli jumps out of the famous ‘red car’ after his 137th Super GT start at Suzuka 300 next month, Super GT will be bidding farewell to a remarkable driver – and above all a great human. His career may be coming to an end, but his legacy will be felt for years to come.

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

Photo by: Masahide Kamio