Max Angelelli
Massimiliano Angelelli is a retired Italian racecar driver. He won the 2005 and 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2001 Six Hours at the Glen. He was also the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion in 2005 and 2013, as well as runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
Angelelli was co-founder of Wayne Taylor Racing, where he drove until his retirement in 2017. In 2020 he left WTR and began working at sports prototype projects for Italian manufacturer Dallara.
Career
His career began in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for fifteen years. His only championship win was the 1992 Italian Formula Three title. Following that win he also raced German Formula Three, Macau Grand Prix for Formula 3, FIA GT Championship, All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, and American Le Mans Series.Angelelli is nicknamed the Axe, coined by Leigh Diffey because he has a knack of closing up and "chopping" off seconds behind the leader quickly in a race to set himself up to make a clean pass for the win.
Angelelli had a banner year in 2005. Angelelli and teammate Wayne Taylor won the 24 Hours of Daytona and captured the 2005 Grand American Daytona Prototype championship.
Angelelli was selected to run in the 2006 IROC series in America, along with teammate Wayne Taylor, becoming the first tandem in IROC history.
Angelelli is also known for being the safety car driver in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna followed Angelelli's safety car for five laps before his fatal accident.
For the past several years, Angelelli has driven for the Wayne Taylor Sun Trust Racing Team in the Daytona Prototype class of the Grand Am Racing Series, a class that requires two drivers per car. He has teamed up with Ricky Taylor, the son of team owner Wayne Taylor.
For 2013 Angelelli was again with Wayne Taylor Racing/Velocity Worldwide but Taylor's son Ricky had left to pursue another driving opportunity. This left a driver vacancy on the team which was quickly filled by Taylor's younger son Jordan. Together Jordan and Angelelli made a potent combination and won the final Grand-Am Driver's Title, narrowly beating Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas who had won the championship 4 of the previous 5 years.
In 2017, Angelelli announced that he would compete in his last career 24 Hours of Daytona for Wayne Taylor Racing alongside the Taylor brothers and Jeff Gordon. The team went on to win the race.
Motorsports career results
24 Hours of Le Mans results
American Le Mans Series results
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Points | Ref | |
| 1999 | Doyle-Risi Racing | LMP | Ferrari 333 SP | Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 | SEB 6 | ATL 4 | MOS 5 | SON 10 | POR 9 | PET Ret | MON Ret | LSV 8 | |||||||
| 2000 | Team Cadillac | LMP | Cadillac Northstar LMP | Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8 | SEB 6 | CHA | SIL | NÜR | SON | MOS | TEX | ROS 8 | PET 7 | MON 7 | LSV | ADE | 22nd | 62 | |
| 2001 | Team Cadillac | LMP900 | Cadillac Northstar LMP01 | Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8 | TEX | SEB | DON | JAR | SON Ret | POR | MOS 4 | MID 7 | MON 4 | PET 4 | 11th | 82 | |||
| 2002 | Team Cadillac | LMP900 | Cadillac Northstar LMP02 | Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8 | SEB 11 | SON | MID | AME | WAS 4 | TRO | MOS 3 | MON 3 | MIA 2 | PET 3 | 11th | 118 |
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series results
| Year | Team | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points | Ref |
| 2004 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Riley Mk XI | Pontiac LS6 5.5 L V8 | DAY 5 | MIA 5 | PHX 1 | MT 13 | WGL 2 | DAY 1 | MOH 8 | WGL 3 | MIA 2 | VIR 1 | BAR 2 | CAL 4 | 4th | 329 | |||
| 2005 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Riley Mk XI | Pontiac 5.0 L V8 | DAY 1 | MIA 1 | CAL 2 | LGA 4 | MON 6 | WGL 6 | DAY 2 | BAR 1 | WGL 1 | MOH 3 | PHO 2 | WGL 1 | VIR 4 | MEX 2 | 1st | 439 | |
| 2006 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Riley Mk XI | Pontiac 5.0 L V8 | DAY 29 | MEX 9 | MIA 11 | LBH 8 | VIR 2 | LGA 1 | PHO 4 | WGL 3 | MOH 4 | DAY 4 | BAR 2 | WGL 2 | SON 4 | MIL 14 | 3rd | 431 | |
| 2007 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Riley Mk XI | Pontiac 5.0 L V8 | R24 3 | MEX 3 | HOM 2 | VIR 1 | LGA 15 | S6H 3 | MOH 4 | DAY 2 | IOW 7 | BAR 3 | MON 1 | WGL 2 | SON 4 | SLK 18 | 3rd | 395 | |
| 2008 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Dallara DP01 | Pontiac 5.0 L V8 | DAY 5 | MIA 14 | MEX 18 | VIR 17 | LGA 8 | WGL 3 | LEX 10 | DAY 20 | BAR 6 | MON 6 | WGL 7 | SON 1 | NJ 2 | MIL 2 | 6th | 328 | |
| 2009 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Dallara DP01 | Ford 5.0L V8 | R24 4 | VIR 13 | NJ 2 | LAG 3 | S6H 2 | LEX 8 | DAY 1 | BAR 14 | WGI 12 | MON 1 | MIL 2 | HOM 7 | 3rd | 325 | |||
| 2010 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Dallara DP08 | Ford 5.0L V8 | R24 6 | HOM 6 | BIR 12 | VIR 3 | LRP 1 | S6H 2 | LEX 9 | DAY 9 | NJ 3 | WAT 2 | MON 3 | SLK 3 | 2nd | 332 | |||
| 2011 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Dallara Corvette DP | Chevrolet 5.5L V8 | R24 5 | HOM 3 | BIR 11 | VIR 4 | LIM 1 | S6H 1 | ELK 3 | LAG 3 | NJ 2 | WAT 1 | MON 2 | LEX 11 | 2nd | 353 | |||
| 2012 | SunTrust Racing | DP | Corvette DP | Chevrolet 5.0L V8 | R24 14 | BIR 5 | HOM 1 | NJ 1 | BEL 20 | LEX 9 | ELK 7 | S6H 11 | IMS 3 | WAT 4 | MON 5 | LGA 7 | LIM 1 | 6th | 343 | ||
| 2013 | Wayne Taylor Racing | DP | Dallara Corvette DP | Chevrolet 5.5L V8 | DAY 2 | COA 10 | BAR 1 | ATL 6 | DET 1 | LEX 6 | WGI 10 | IMS 15 | ROA 7 | KAN 1 | LGA 1 | LIM 1 | 1st | 339 |