Stephane Ortelli was born on 30 March, 1970 in Hyeres, in the south of France. He began racing when he was only 14, running in the Provence Cote D’Azur Karting League; he was champion the first year, in 1984 and also in 1985 and 1988. In 1985, Ortelli won the Laborde International Trophy for Karting and his career as an international racing driver started to accelerate.

In 1991, he was the French Formula 3 B Champion, driving a Dallara-Mugen-Honda to 7 wins in 10 races;  in 1993, in the Peugeot 905 Spider French Championships, Ortelli put up six pole positions in 8 races and won two. In 1995, He was French Touring Car Overall Winner in the “Independents Trophyâ€� category, notching 5 wins in 9 races in a BMW-Oreca.

Ortelli is notable for his superb and very consistent results in long distance racing,  achieving over 20 wins and 40 podium finishes since 1996 in Endurance and GT Racing in circuits as diverse as FIA-GT, LMS, BPR, ALMS, and Grand Am. He has won the Spa 1000KM (GT1, 2006); Overall Winner at the Silverstone 1000KM and GT1 Winner at Sebring  in 2005. Stephane also won the Monza 1000KM and Spa 1000 KM (LMES, 200_, GT2); Monza, Donington, and Spa 24 Hours (N-GT-FIA, 2004); Brno, Donington, Spa 24 Hours (2003); Brno, Jarama, Anderstorp, Spa 24 Hours, Enna, Donington, Estoril (2002), Leguna Seca (1997) ,and Brands Hatch (1996).

His relentless international schedule has created some very impressive statistics—particularly in consideration of the classes in which Ortelli races. He is the 1st Overall FIA-GT Performer (for 70 races entered since 1997) for points (355), class podium finishes (35) and pole positions (11) and 2nd all-time performer for class wins (15). In the Porsche SuperCup Series (58 races entered since 1988), Ortelli has created an enviable legacy of 8 wins, 28 Podium finishes, 12 pole positions and 12 lap records.

Stephane Ortelli’s experience, consistency, and speed on the race track have made him one of the most desirable racing and development drivers. He has worked as a test driver/development driver for Audi, Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, Saleen, Volkswagen (sportscars and GT cars), BMW, Peugeot, Renault, Seat (touring cars) and Techno (Karting).

Ortelli comes to Risi Competizione with a 2nd in GT2 at the recently conducted 24 Hours of Spa in a Ferrari F430GT (paired with former Risi Competizione driver Matteo Bobbi and current Risi Competizione pilot Jaime Melo) and with a win in the GT1 class (7th overall) driving the Saleen S7-R at the 1000KM of Spa.