For a driver with as prestigious and successful a CV as Andrea Bertolini, it would be easy to think that he had many years of Le Mans experience under his belt. However, this month’s 90th anniversary of the world’s greatest sportscar race will only be the Italian’s second participation. He will be driving the No.66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia in the super-competitive LMGTE Pro category, the only entry in the class to use Dunlop rubber.
An official Scuderia Ferrari F1 development driver and official test driver of the Maserati factory, Bertolini has won more GT1 titles than any other driver and is one of only seven Italians to get his hands on a motor sport world championship crown.
Andrea will benefit from that experience to lead his two relatively inexperienced team mates – Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal from Saudi Arabia (who has actually made one more Le Mans start than Bertolini!) and Khaled Al Qubaisi from the United Arab Emirates – in the twice round the clock event. The Emirati may not have competed at Le Mans before, but brings with him a win in the 2013 Dubai 24.
Andrea acknowledges that, against factory teams from Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche and Viper, the task ahead won’t be easy: “I think it will be difficult for us because our class is fully Pro, but I am excited about the race all the same. I’m happy to be sharing the JMW car with my new team mates and it will be interesting to be there with Dunlop.
“We have a lot of tyre testing to do but it will be a great opportunity for me to try and improve our performance. I think that if it rains the advantage could come to Dunlop and we could be very strong.
“I am racing with JMW in the European Le Mans Series and am really happy with the team as it’s very like a family. There’s a great atmosphere and that’s very important going into a big event like Le Mans.”
Fiona Miller
Photo: ANDREA BERTOLINI
