Valentino Catalano
German racing driver (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valentino Catalano (born 2 November 2005) is a German racing driver. He won the 2024 Prototype Cup Germany alongside Markus Pommer and became the 2025 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge champion.[1][2]
| Valentino Catalano | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | |
| Born | 2 November 2005 Westheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Prototype Cup Germany career | |
| Debut season | 2023 |
| Current team | Gebhardt Motorsport |
| Categorisation | |
| Car number | 70 |
| Co-driver | Robin Rogalski, Markus Pommer |
| Former teams | DKR Engineering |
| Starts | 24 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Poles | 6 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2024 |
| Previous series | |
| 2023–25 2022 2021 2020 (rookie) | Prototype Cup Germany Le Mans Cup ADAC Formula 4 French F4 Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2025 2024 | IMSA VP Racing SCC Prototype Cup Germany |
Early career
Karting
Catalano started karting at the Motorclub Haßloch at the age of five.[3] In 2018, he won the X30 Junior category of the ADAC Kart Cup with RMW Motorsport after finishing fourth in the ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf.[4][5]
Formula 4
In 2019, Catalano begin testing in a privately owned Tatuus F4-T014.[3] In 2020 he began competing in single-seaters, driving in the French F4 Championship.[6][7] 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.[8][9] 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 Catalano, who would be driving in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship.[8][10] However, Catalano ended up splitting up from the team after merely two rounds, in which he had scored a best finish of fifth.[11]
Sportscar career
2022: LMP3 debut
Catalano made his sportscar debut in 2022, driving in the LMP3 category of the European Le Mans Series.[12][13] Teaming up with Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Austin McCusker at RLR MSport, Catalano experienced a testing campaign, as three retirements meant that he would finish 15th in the drivers' standings.
2023: First win
At the start of 2023, Catalano paired up with Tom van Rompuy at DKR Engineering for a campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series.[14] 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.[15][16][17][18] He then went on to compete in the 2023 Prototype Cup Germany with the same team and Robin Rogalski as his teammate.[19] He took his maiden victory in the series Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and finished the season fourth in the standings.[20][21][22]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| 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:[23] | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
† As Catalano was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.
Complete French F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Asian Le Mans Series results
(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
(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 | 13 | 14 | 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 C |
SPA 2 C |
LAU 1 1 |
LAU 2 3 |
LAU 3 2 |
ZAN 1 3 |
ZAN 2 5 |
HOC 1 DNS |
HOC 2 2 |
HOC 3 3 |
NÜR 1 4 |
NÜR 2 2 |
SAC 1 1 |
SAC 2 3 |
1st | 206 |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Le Mans Cup results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Gebhardt Motorsport | LMP3 | Duqueine D09 | CAT Ret |
LEC Ret |
LMS 1 10 |
LMS 2 3 |
SPA | SIL 10 |
ALG 4 |
12th | 22 |
* Season still in progress.