Antonelli Motorsport is on the charge in both the Sprint and Endurance championships during a fiercely competitive Italian GT season. Team principal and founder Marco Antonelli is pleased with the team’s progress and the current line-up, while also outlining ambitions to discover and develop new racing talent.
The Italian GT3 team can aim for the championship in both categories and have collected important highlights already: a win at Imola during the first Sprint round, the Endurance pole position and P3 in Misano, and P2 in Vallelunga. Antonelli is a happy team boss. “We are happy, because we scored good results and are in a good situation!” the Italian tells GT REPORT.
“I think we can fight with our rivals for the championship in both categories. The Italian GT is very strong because there are a lot of cars, more than forty. We have good results so far,” he confirms, satisfied with the work delivered by the different line-ups AKM Motorsport spreads out across both cups.
‘It’s my dream and goal to work with new talent’
Antonelli and Mercedes are obviously well-connected, looking at the many years they have been fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Where BMW likes to let its works drivers join in some rounds, Antonelli Motorsport prefers to choose drivers that are available for the complete season.
“I mean, they [AMG Performance Drivers, ed.] are usually busy in GT World Challenge, I think. At this moment, we are very happy with the drivers we have. For me, it’s important that the team is in a good position, to make results with good drivers – and they don’t have to be Performance Drivers.
If we go ahead like this, I think we will finish the season first, and then see and evaluate for the next part. It’s my dream and goal to work with new talent and discover new talent in other categories,” Antonelli continues. “I think we already improve this situation for the future by bringing in new drivers. I want to help drivers that I find very talented.”
Antonelli Motorsport has a ‘sister team’: ‘We stand together’
Next to finding new talent, Antonelli Motorsport also supports a new team during its inaugural Italian GT championship. Stratia Motorsport, founded in 2025 by racing driver Antoine Bottirolli, aims to become independent eventually – but will receive help from Antonelli’s team for now.
“We help them a lot, because we know that it’s very difficult to enter a championship, especially in GT3 series. The owner is a very good guy with a lot of passion,” he says, referring to Bottirolli. “I think he can do a very good job. We support him as long as he wants our support, and of course, we stand together.”
Antonelli Motorsport can help their ‘sister team’ with technical support and experience, as they have been racing the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for many years now. Stratia Motorsport will become experts in the AMG chassis right on time, as Mercedes-AMG Motorsport is developing the successor to their GT3 car.
Antonelli expects to race with the car in 2028. “I think it will be the same car next year, and then the new car will be ready in 2028, as they want to give everyone the same opportunity. When the new car is homologated, it will be ready for all customer racing teams of Mercedes.”
