19/9/1964
Record updated 18-Sep-06
Enrico Bertaggia failed to qualify for six Formula One grands prix with Coloni in 1989, and was in fact the slowest entrant in all six. He was entered for two Grand Prix with Andrea Moda in 1992, but the team was excluded from the first, and withdrew from the second, before Bertaggia left.
Enrico Bertaggia was born in Noale near Venice, Italy, and was a professional race car driver. The son of a hotel owner in Venice, he raced karts before going straight into Formula 3 in 1985 with a Ralt chassis.
He earned a drive with the Venturini team in 1986 but it was not until he switched to Forti Corse in 1987 that he really made an impression, dominating the Italian Championship.
He moved to Formula 3000 in 1988 still with Forti but returned to Formula 3 when it did not work out and won the Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix that year. In August he was given the chance to race in F1 by Coloni but he qualified only once. At the end of the year he won another major F3 victory at Macau but he was never able to revive his flagging career.
Bertaggia raced in Japanese F3000 in 1990, finishing joint 14th overall, with Christian Danner. He continued in Japan in 1991, but once again without success.
He was entered for 2 Grand Prix with Andrea Moda in 1992, but the team was excluded from the first, and withdrew from the second, before Bertaggia left.
In 1994 he tried his hand a sports car racing coming 2nd in a 4hr enduro at Vallelunga with Andrea Fuchs in a Callaway Chevrolet Corvette, having started from pole.
He continued to be a part of the Callaway project in 1995 and finished 9th at Le Mans with Unser and Frank Jelinski in their Supernatural Corvette.
In 1995, Bertaggia tried the German super touring series in a Ford Mondeo but only managed to collect 16 points to come 33rd overall.
1996 was a disappointing year, failing to start at either Le Mans or the Daytona 24hr race.
In1997 he made a single outing at Daytona in a Callaway C7R with Boris Said Jr, Ron Fellows and Unser again netted a lowly 54th place after an early retirement.
1998 he drove a Riley & Scott Mk III at Daytona for the Intersport Wheelworks Racing team, but the car retired with a fire at night. He then raced a Kremer K8 Porsche with Alfonso de Orleans and Tomas Saldana he came 7th in a 1000km race at Monza. They then pre-qualified 38th at Le Mans but they did not show on race day.
Bertaggia linked up in the International Sports Racing Series in 1998 with the GLV Brums team to join Giovanni Lavaggi in a Ferrari 333SP at the Nurburgring, but they spun out. In 1999, Bertaggia joined Stephane Ortelli, Claudia Huertgen and Robert Nearn to come 25th at Daytona in a Roock Racing Porsche 911 GT2.
He also raced in the German Porsche Carrera 911 GT3 series, with a car run by Kadach Tuning. Bertaggia was on the pace right from the start. He won at the Norisring, and going into the last round at the Nurburgring he had a shot at 2nd in the series. But then he was adjudged to have jumped the start and was called in for a stop-go penalty, crushing all hopes he had of coming runner-up overall. With 96 points, he ended up in 5th place in the standings.
Continued with the Porsche racing into 2000 switching to the International Porsche 996 GT3 Supercup, in a Carsport-AMAG car run by Axel Plankenhorn.
Despite early disappointment, such as a crash at the Rascasse at Monaco, Enrico recovered, and with a fine 2nd place at Indianapolis he came 10th overall with 67 points. Other notable results included 5th at Imola and 6th at Spa.
In 2001, Enrico returned to the German Porsche Carrera Cup with the Farnbacher Motorsport team.
Currently, Bertaggia is a driving instructor at the Centro Internazionale Guida Sicura school in Italy, joining many other road racing and rally stars to teach others advanced driving skills in Alfa Romeos.
He is married and lives in Monaco.