Sandro Cortese

Alessandro "Sandro" Cortese (born 6 January 1990) is a German former motorcycle racer, who last competed in the 2020 World Superbike Championship for Team Pedercini. Cortese won his first world title in the Moto3 class, in , and his second in the Supersport World Championship, in .

Cortese contested every race from his Grand Prix début in until the 2016 French Grand Prix, where he missed the race due to a knee injury.

Career

Early career Cortese was born in Ochsenhausen, West Germany, as the son of an Italian father and a German mother. He started his career at the age of nine on pocket bikes and was European Pocket Bike champion as well as German Mini Bike champion. He competed in the German IDM Championship in the 125cc class, finishing 10th. He took second-place finishes in Qatar and Portugal, before taking his first Grand Prix victory – in his 109th start – in the Czech Republic, having battled with Johann Zarco in the closing stages of the race. Cortese eventually ended the season fourth in the championship.

Moto2 World Championship Cortese moved up to the Moto2 class as a Moto3 champion in 2013. He joined Dynavolt Intact GP as the sole rider of the team. In 2014, Cortese recorded his first podium finish in Moto2 at Brno. He remained at the team until the end of 2017 season.

Supersport World Championship After failing to secure a ride for the 2018 Moto2 season, Cortese signed a deal with Kallio Racing to race in the Supersport World Championship, aboard Yamaha YZF-R6. He won two races at Aragon and Donington Park, securing eight podium finishes and becoming the champion of 2018 Supersport World Championship in his maiden season.

Superbike World Championship Cortese promoted to Superbike class for 2019 season, signing for GRT Yamaha World SBK team, where he finished 12th in the standings. The following year, he moved to Team Pedercini, where he switched bikes from Yamaha to Kawasaki. He crashed in the first race of Portimao round, suffering multiple injuries which he would recover from after eight months. He did not participate for the rest of the season, and his place was taken over by Roman Ramos, Valentin Debise, and Loris Cresson respectively.

Retirement Nearly three years after his crash at Portimão, Cortese announced his retirement from motorcycle racing on his own Instagram account. He credited local emergency medical efforts for saving him from paraplegia but noted that his body has never fully recovered from the accident. Cortese is due to start a job at one of his former sponsors, Gutmann Gruppe. He currently lives in Berkheim and continues to work for Gutmann Gruppe.

Career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Supersport World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts 2018 Yamaha AUS THA SPA NED ITA GBR CZE ITA POR FRA ARG QAT 1st 208

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 2019 Yamaha AUS AUS AUS THA THA THA SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR USA USA USA POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ARG ARG ARG QAT QAT QAT 12th 134 2020 Kawasaki AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA SPA FRA FRA FRA POR POR POR 19th 14