Valentino Catalano

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Valentino Catalano
NationalityGermany German
Born (2005-11-02) 2 November 2005 (age 18)
Westheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
European Le Mans Series career
Debut season2022
Current teamRLR MSport
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number15
Co-driverHorst Felbermayr Jr., Austin McCusker
Starts6 (6 entries)
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish15th (LMP3) in 2022
Previous series
2022
2021
2020
Le Mans Cup
ADAC Formula 4
French F4 Championship

Valentino Catalano (born 2 November 2005) is a German racing driver who currently competes in the Prototype Cup Germany with DKR Engineering.[1]

Early career[edit]

Karting[edit]

Catalano started karting at the Motorclub Haßloch at the age of 5.[2] In 2018 he won the X30 Junior category of the ADAC Kart Cup with RMW Motorsport after finishing fourth in the ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf.[3][4]

Formula 4[edit]

In 2019 Catalano begin testing in a privately owned Tatuus F4-T014.[2] In 2020 he began competing in single-seaters, driving in the French F4 Championship.[5][6] Having been part of the junior class given his age, the German would dominate, taking wins in every race for the juniors' standings, whilst finishing on the overall podium four times.[7][8] With him finishing inside the top ten throughout each event, Catalano ended up fifth in the FFSA Academy classification.

For the 2021 season, a move to BWR Motorsports would be in order for the German, who would be driving in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship.[7][9] However, Catalano ended up splitting up from the team after merely two rounds, in which he had scored a best finish of fifth.[10]

Sportscar career[edit]

2022: LMP3 debut[edit]

Catalano made his sportscar debut in 2022, driving in the LMP3 category of the European Le Mans Series.[11][12] Teaming up with Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Austin McCusker at RLR MSport, the German experienced a testing campaign, as three retirements meant that he would finish 15th in the drivers' standings.

2023: First win[edit]

At the start of 2023, Catalano paired up with Tom van Rompuy at DKR Engineering for a campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series.[13] The second race in Dubai saw an impressive performance from the pairing, with an aggressive fuel strategy paying off to give Catalano his maiden victory in car racing.[14][15][16][17] He then went on to compete in the 2023 Prototype Cup Germany with the same team and Robin Rogalski as his teammate.[1] He took his maiden victory in the series Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and finished the season fourth in the standings.[18][19][20]

Karting record[edit]

Karting career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Position
2017 ADAC Kart Masters — X30 Junior 3rd
2018 ADAC Kart Masters — X30 Junior 3rd
ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf — X30 Junior RMW Motorsport 4th
Sources:[21]

Racing record[edit]

Racing career summary[edit]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2020 French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 21 0 0 0 4 144 5th
2021 ADAC Formula 4 Championship BWR Motorsports 6 0 0 0 0 10 18th
Drexler Automotive Formula 4 Cup 2 0 0 0 2 33 4th
2022 European Le Mans Series - LMP3 RLR MSport 6 0 0 0 0 18 15th
Le Mans Cup - LMP3 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2023 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3 DKR Engineering 4 1 0 0 1 43 4th
Prototype Cup Germany 12 1 3 2 4 130 4th
2024 Prototype Cup Germany Gebhardt Motorsport
Prototype Winter Series - Class 3 3 0 0 0 0 6.67 14th

* Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results[edit]

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

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points
2020 NOG
1

8
NOG
2

2
NOG
3

7
MAG
1

6
MAG
2

7
MAG
3

7
ZAN
1

6
ZAN
2

5
ZAN
3

3
LEC1
1

4
LEC1
2

5
LEC1
3

6
SPA
1

6
SPA
2

6
SPA
3

5
LEC2
1

3
LEC2
2

6
LEC2
3

6
LEC3
1

8
LEC3
2

3
LEC3
3

10
5th 144

Complete European Le Mans Series results[edit]

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

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2022 RLR MSport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 LEC
Ret
IMO
6
MNZ
Ret
CAT
8
SPA
Ret
ALG
7
15th 18

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results[edit]

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

Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 Pos. Points
2023 DKR Engineering LMP3 Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 DUB
1

6
DUB
2

1
ABU
1

5
ABU
2

Ret
4th 43

Complete Prototype Cup Germany results[edit]

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

Year Team Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2023 DKR Engineering Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 HOC
1

6
HOC
2

2
OSC
1

3
OSC
2

1
ZAN
1

6
ZAN
2

2
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

Ret
ASS
1

5
ASS
2

8†
NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

Ret
4th 130
2024 Gebhardt Motorsport Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 SPA
1
SPA
2
LAU
1
LAU
2
ZAN
1
ZAN
2
HOC
1
HOC
2
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
SAC
1
SAC
2
* *

* Season still in progress.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Fünffacher LMP3-Champion bereichert Prototype Cup Germany | Prototype Cup Germany". adac-motorsport.de (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Valentino Catalano vom Jugendkart über Kartrennen mit 14 Jahren zur Formel 4". Motorclub Haßloch (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Koblenzer RMW-Motorsport-Team tanzte sehr erfolgreich auf vier Hochzeiten gleichzeitig « kartpress.de – Official Website". Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ "ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf zeigt packenden Kartsport – Kart-Magazin.de – More Than Speed" (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  5. ^ "F4 Academy: Nogaro opens the festivities with a quality grid". Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  6. ^ Wood, Ida (24 July 2020). "Daniel Ligier, Loris Cabirou and Valentino Catalano join French F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. ^ a b Allen, Peter (5 March 2021). "French F4 junior champion Catalano makes ADAC switch with BWR". Formula Scout. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Valentino Catalano vom Jugendkart über Kartrennen mit 14 Jahren zur Formel 4". Motorclub Haßloch (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. ^ "BWR, cooperating with Nico Rosberg, lines up with Valentino Catalano and Taylor Barnard". KartXpress. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  10. ^ Wood, Ida (17 September 2021). "Dunne fastest on F4 return in ADAC practice, Catalano drops out". Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  11. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (14 February 2022). "ELMS Reveals 42-Car Full Season Entry List". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  12. ^ "2022 ELMS LMP3 News: Eurointernational, United, RLR & Inter Europol | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  13. ^ Goodwin, Graham (7 February 2023). "Asian Le Mans Series Confirm Full Entry With Most Drivers Named". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  14. ^ Dagys, John (12 February 2023). "Inter Europol Wins Sunday Dubai Race After Siegel's Late Pass – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Superb Siegel Caps Off Inter Europol's 'Spin & Win' In Dubai | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Motorsport - Autorennen: Valentino Catalano ist der jüngste Sieger bei der Asian Le Mans-Series 2023". Wochenblatt Reporter (in German). 2 March 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Valentino Catalano bei der Asian Le Mans Series 2023 erfolgreich". Motorclub Haßloch (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Valentino Catalano: "Beide Titel sind das Ziel" | Prototype Cup Germany". www.adac-motorsport.de (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Prototype Cup: Catalano und Rogalski mit Debütsieg / Sportwagen - SPEEDWEEK.COM". www.speedweek.com (in German). 28 May 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Schwieriges Rennen gut beendet". www.usinger-anzeiger.de (in German). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Valentino Catalano | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.

External links[edit]