Rinaldo Capello

Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello (born 17 June 1964) is an Italian professional racing driver. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Bentley in 2003 and Audi in 2004 and 2008. Capello is a two-time American Le Mans Series champion, a five-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner, and the record holder for most wins at Petit Le Mans, having won five times. Capello has also raced in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the FIA World Endurance Championship, DTM and the Italian GT Championship.

Career

Born in Asti, Capello started his racing career in 1976, driving go-karts, but did not move into single-seaters until 1983, starting in Formula Fiat Abarth. 1990 saw Capello's first major championship victory, winning the Italian Superturismo Championship in a Volkswagen Golf. He won the championship again in 1996, but in an Audi A4 this time.

1997 saw Capello's first major endurance victory, at Vallelunga, in the Vallelunga 6 Hours, driving a Volkswagen Golf again. Capello was selected for the 2000 Le Mans race by the Audi Sport Joest team, driving the Audi R8 - the team finished in third place.

Capello was one of Audi's six drivers for its first race under Team Joest, the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring. Alongside compatriot Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson, they took the first podium for Audi in endurance racing, finishing third in the Audi R8R. Returning to the track in 2000, Capello took second overall, beaten only by the sister Audi R8. Capello would go on to win the race the following two years, in 2001 and 2002. Capello would return a further seven times, both with Bentley and Audi, taking four overall podiums and three wins, in 2006, 2009 and 2012. Capello currently sits second all-time in overall wins at Sebring, with five outright victories. Alongside Tom Kristensen, he is the only Audi driver to have won the race in all four generations of Audi sports prototypes. The R8, R10, R15 and R18.

Due to a shift in focus for Team Joest, Capello drove for Team Bentley in 2003. Alongside long-time teammate Kristensen and Englishman Guy Smith, they won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, giving Bentley a first victory at the French circuit in 73 years.

With the end of the Bentley project, Capello returned to Audi and more specifically to Team Goh for the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans. Alongside Japanese driver Seiji Ara and Tom Kristensen, Capello would once again stand atop the podium as the trio beat the fellow R8's of UK Team Veloqx and Champion Racing, marking the third time in five years that Audi had finished 1-2-3 at Le Mans.

Capello would not return to Le Mans until 2006, where he finished 3rd overall in the new R10 TDI. In 2007, the trio led the race for an extended period, but an issue with the left rear wheel in the 17th hour of the race saw Capello lose control on the run down to Indianapolis, and he hit the barriers, ending their race.

2008 saw Audi return to the French classic as underdogs, due to increased competition from natives Peugeot. Heading into the race, the fastest Audi in qualifying was over five seconds slower than the pole-setting Peugeot. The first half of the race was dominated by the Peugeot trio, with the 'Lion' consistently lapping over three seconds faster than the Audi's. However, a drastic change in weather conditions and the onset of rain in the second half of the race swung the momentum in favour of Audi, and a clever pit stop/tyre strategy for Audi meant the no.2 R10 would go on to take a famous victory for the German manufacturer, and a third and final win for Capello. The 2008 race is documented in the film Truth in 24.

Capello also won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2002 and 2012. He holds the record of most Petit Le Mans victories, with five in total, having won in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008, all of these victories coming for the Audi Sport North America and Team Joest squads.

Capello was vice-champion of the 2000 American Le Mans Series, winning 6 races. In both 2006 and 2007, Capello finished as champion alongside Britain's Allan McNish in the Audi Sport North America run R10.

Capello officially retired from prototype racing in 2012, while leading the FIA World Endurance Championship after hinting that he may not return to Le Mans in 2013. Audi's statement confirmed that Capello would continue to race in GT3 with the Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

Racing record

Career summary Series/Event Years Races Wins Podiums Best season result Open Wheel Racing Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix 1987-1988 2 0 0 Italian Formula Three Championship 1985-1990 49 1 5 4th place (1988) Endurance Racing FIA World Endurance Championship 2012 3 1 3 5th place (2012) Intercontinental Le Mans Cup 2011 4 0 1 - 24 Hours of Le Mans 1998-2012 14 3 11 1st overall (2003, 2004, 2008) 12 Hours of Sebring 1999-2012 11 6 10 1st overall (2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2012) Le Mans Endurance Series 2004-2011 8 1 7 3rd place (2010) American Le Mans Series 1999-2011 66 36 55 LMP1 Champion (2006, 2007) GT Porsche Supercup 1993-2003 2+ 0 1 - GT World Challenge Asia 2022 N/A N/A N/A - Italian GT Championship 2009-2015 84 6 28 3rd place (2010) Porsche Carrera Cup Germany 1992 5 1 1 12th (1992) Touring Cars World Touring Car Championship 1995 2 0 0 11th place (1995) Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2004-2005 12 0 0 20th place (2005) Super Tourenwagen Cup 1994-1995 11 0 1 7th place (1994) Superstars Championship Italy 2006-2007 3 0 1 11th place (2007) Italian Superturismo Championship 1991-1998 110 14 50 1st place (1996)

Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1994 ROC Competition Audi 80 Quattro Competition AVU WUN ZOL ZAN ÖST SAL SPA NÜR 7th 32 1995 A.Z.K. Team Schneider Audi A4 QuattroZOL1 ZOL2 SPA1 SPA2 ÖST1 ÖST2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAL1 SAL2 AVU1 AVU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 32th 19

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Gulf Team Davidoff GTC Competition Thomas Bscher Emanuele Pirro McLaren F1 GTR GT1 228 DNF DNF Audi Sport Team Joest Michele Alboreto Laurent Aïello Audi R8R LMP 346 4th 3rd Audi Sport Team Joest Christian Abt Michele Alboreto Audi R8 LMP900 365 3rd 3rd Audi Sport North America Laurent Aïello Christian Pescatori Audi R8 LMP900 320 2nd 2nd Audi Sport North America Johnny Herbert Christian Pescatori Audi R8 LMP900 374 2nd 2nd Team Bentley Tom Kristensen Guy Smith Bentley Speed 8 LMGTP 377 1st 1st Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Seiji Ara Tom Kristensen Audi R8 LMP1 379 1st 1st Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI LMP1 367 3rd 3rd Audi Sport North America Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI LMP1 262 DNF DNF Audi Sport North America Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI LMP1 381 1st 1st Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R15 TDI LMP1 376 3rd 3rd Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R15 TDI plus LMP1 394 3rd 3rd Audi Sport North America Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Audi R18 TDI LMP1 14 DNF DNF Audi Sport Team Joest Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 377 2nd 2nd

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1999 Audi Sport Team Joest Michele Alboreto Stefan Johansson Audi R8R LMP 310 3rd 3rd 2000 Audi Sport North America Michele Alboreto Allan McNish Audi R8 LMP 360 2nd 2nd 2001 Audi Sport North America Michele Alboreto Laurent Aïello Audi R8 LMP900 370 1st 1st 2002 Audi Sport North America Johnny Herbert Christian Pescatori Audi R8 LMP900 346 1st 1st 2003 Team Bentley Tom Kristensen Guy Smith Bentley Speed 8 LMGTP 362 4th 2nd 2006 Audi Sport North America Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R10 TDI LMP1 349 1st 1st 2007 Audi Sport North America Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R10 TDI LMP1 353 4th 2nd 2008 Audi Sport North America Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R10 TDI LMP1 351 3rd 1st 2009 Audi Sport Team Joest Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R15 TDI LMP1 383 1st 1st 2011 Audi Sport Team Joest Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R15 TDI plus LMP1 327 4th 4th 2012 Audi Sport Team Joest Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Audi R18 TDI LMP1 325 1st 1st

Complete Petit Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points 2004 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC EST ADR LAU NOR SHA NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC NC 0 2005 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC LAU SPA BRN OSC NOR NÜR ZAN LAU IST HOC 20th 0

1 - A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, China.

Complete Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points 2008 Audi Sport Team Joest LMP1 Audi R10 Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) CAT MON SPA NÜR SIL 5th 27 2010 Audi Sport Team Joest LMP1 Audi R15 TDI plus Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10(Diesel) CAS SPA ALG HUN SIL 3rd 57 2011 Audi Sport Team Joest LMP1 Audi R18 TDI Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6(Diesel) CAS SPA IMO SIL EST NC 0

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points 2012 Audi Sport Team Joest LMP1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro Audi TDI 3.7L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) SEB SPA LMS SIL SÃO BHR FUJ SHA 5th 77