lit a candle 4h ago"It was always a dream for me to race in the U.S." Laguna Seca footage on loop tonight.
Their story
Cédric Sbirrazzuoli was a Monégasque racing driver whose career ran for more than twenty years, from Italian junior single-seaters to the biggest endurance races in North America. He was born in Monte Carlo on 20 August 1987 and died on 20 August 2026, his 39th birthday, after a long battle…
Cédric Sbirrazzuoli was a Monégasque racing driver whose career ran for more than twenty years, from Italian junior single-seaters to the biggest endurance races in North America. He was born in Monte Carlo on 20 August 1987 and died on 20 August 2026, his 39th birthday, after a long battle with cancer. His wife Martina wrote that he left at 21:10, the same hour he had been born.
Sbirrazzuoli began racing cars in 2005, contesting the Formula Azzurra and Formula Gloria championships in Italy. After two seasons in single-seaters he moved to closed-wheel racing. He raced part-time in Porsche Carrera Cup Italy in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 he made his first appearances in the FIA GT Championship with Pecom Racing and in the GT4 European Cup with AF Corse, the Ferrari team that became his racing home for much of his life.
His breakthrough came in 2010 in the Superstars GTSprint Series. Sharing an AF Corse car with Niki Cadei, he won at Monza and Algarve, then Hockenheim and Le Castellet, and finished third in the standings despite contesting only part of the season. He stayed with AF Corse for three seasons of the Trofeo Maserati World Series, winning the championship in 2011 and taking a win in Shanghai in 2013.
In 2014 AF Corse gave him his first GT3 opportunity, a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 in the GTC class of the European Le Mans Series alongside Adrien de Leener. He took third at the Red Bull Ring and finished eighth overall. In 2015 he raced the Blancpain Endurance Series for AF Corse, finishing second in Pro-Am at the Nürburgring, while also starting his long-held American dream with STR in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. He won both races on his debut weekend at Laguna Seca with Richard Antinucci and finished the year runner-up in Pro-Am. "It has always been my dream to race in America," he told Sportscar365 that June. "Laguna was one of my dream tracks. Winning there was a very good thing for me."
That season opened the door to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As a Lamborghini GT3 Junior driver he raced the Huracán GT3 for Enrico Bertaggia's Dream Racing in GTD in 2016 and 2017, taking a best result of sixth at Petit Le Mans in 2016. He raced Pirelli World Challenge with DXDT Racing and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia in 2018, then returned to Super Trofeo North America in the Pro class with Paolo Ruberti in 2019, winning at Virginia International Raceway and Jerez.
The following years took him around the world. He contested the Bathurst 12 Hour with T2 Racing in 2020 and the 24 Hours of Spa with Dinamic Motorsport. He returned to AF Corse in the Italian GT Championship in 2021 and in 2022 had one of his strongest European seasons, winning twice in the Pro-Am class of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch and Zandvoort with Hugo Delacour and finishing fourth in the standings. In total he contested four editions of the 24 Hours of Spa. He also worked as a driver coach; Justin Rothberg later called him "my first coach, who set me on this path."
The biggest result of his career came in 2024. After winning the Invitational class at the Bathurst 12 Hour with T2 Racing, he joined Conquest Racing as the third driver of its Ferrari 296 GT3 for the IMSA endurance rounds alongside Manny Franco and Albert Costa. The trio finished third at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, second at the Six Hours of The Glen and then won the GTD class at the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Over the 2024-25 winter he raced the Asian Le Mans Series with AF Corse, Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo, taking a podium at Sepang. His final races were the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sebring 12 Hours with Conquest. Across his IMSA career he made 19 starts in the WeatherTech Championship.
Away from the track, Sbirrazzuoli married his partner Martina in Monaco in June 2026, about two months before his death. He was survived by his wife and his parents.
Tributes came from across the sport. AF Corse called him "a very talented, determined and professional driver" and "an authentic, respectful and joyful person", adding: "Your race came to an end far too soon. Your memory will continue to race forever." IMSA, SRO Motorsports Group and the European Le Mans Series published statements, teams in Japan carried messages on their cars, and at the 2026 Petit Le Mans Conquest Racing ran its Ferrari in the livery he had won with two years earlier.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia; Sportscar365; Motorsport.com; RMC Sport; Le Figaro; AUTOhebdo; SRO; ELMS.
In their own words
“It has always been my dream to race in America. There are more opportunities over here. Starting this year was a good thing, and Laguna was one of my dream tracks. Winning there was a very good thing for me.”
Sportscar365 interview, June 2015
“It was always a dream for me to race in the U.S., because I think there is a lot of passion here for motorsport.”
Sportscar365 interview, July 2016
“If there's one race this season we can claim a top result, it's going to be this one. We're not going to waste the opportunity.”
Sportscar365, before the 2016 IMSA round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
“Your race came to an end far too soon. Your memory will continue to race forever.”
AF Corse tribute, August 2026
“My first coach, who set me on this path, Cédric... He passed away last week, so I really wanted to win for him.”
Justin Rothberg, GT World Challenge America, August 2026
Photos
2Cédric Sbirrazzuoli with AF Corse at the 2014 European Le Mans Series round at Silverstone
Apr 2014 · by People Forever
Sbirrazzuoli driving the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 at the 2022 Road to Le Mans
Jun 2022 · by People Forever
that Sportscar365 interview, I remember reading it