During its history,Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories ofmotorsport, includingGrand Prix motor racing,Formula One,sportscar racing,touring car racing andrallies. They have competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries (usually under the nameAlfa Corse orAutodelta) and private entries. The first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of A.L.F.A., the40/60 HP had 6-litre straight-4 engine. Alfa Romeo quickly gained a good name in motorsport and gave a sporty image to the whole marque.

Alfa Romeo started motor racing almost immediately after it was founded. A.L.F.A. ventured into motor racing in 1911, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in theTarga Florio with two24 HP models.^[1] The marque's first success came in 1913 when Nino Franchini finished second in the Parma-Poggio Berceto race with a40/60 HP.^[2]Giuseppe Merosi built a very advanced racing car in 1914, which was named "Grand Prix".^[3] In 1920,Giuseppe Campari won the race atMugello with a 40/60 HP,^[4][5] whilstEnzo Ferrari was second inTarga Florio in the same year.^[6] A year later, Giuseppe Campari won at Mugello again.^[5]Ugo Sivocci won the 1923Targa Florio andAntonio Ascari took second, both with anRL.^[7] Sivocci's car was painted with thegreen cloverleaf on a white background that was to become Alfa's symbol on their sportiest models.^[8]

In 1923, the automobile designerVittorio Jano went fromFIAT to Alfa, designing the engines that gave Alfa racing success into the late 1930s.^[9] In 1925, Alfa Romeo triumphed at the firstAutomobile World Championship in the history of motorsport, winning theEuropean Grand Prix atSpa and theItalian Grand Prix atMonza.^[10][11][12]

In 1932, Jano designed the sensationalP3 which won its first race driven byTazio Nuvolari at theItalian Grand Prix, as well as 5 more Grands Prix that year between Nuvolari andRudolf Caracciola.^[13] In 1933, Alfa Romeo became insolvent and was transferred toEnzo Ferrari's teamScuderia Ferrari,^[14] but the P3 continue to win a variety of races that year, including theItalian andSpanish Grand Prix.^[15]

In 1934,Louis Chiron won theFrench Grand Prix, but theP3 started to lose its edge while the GermanSilver Arrows began to dominate.^[13] However, the P3 still managed to rack up some Grand Prix wins.^[16] 1935 was even tougher as the P3 was simply outclassed by the Silver Arrows, butTazio Nuvolari gave it one of its most memorable victories by winning the1935 German Grand Prix at theNürburgring.^[13][15][17]

Notably,Tazio Nuvolari won the 1930Mille Miglia in a6C 1750 after having overtakenAchille Varzi just three kilometres from the finish line with the headlights off at nighttime, having driven that way to let Varzi believe that he was well ahead of Nuvolari.^[18][17] Alfa Romeo's cars won theTarga Florio six times in row in the 1930s and theMille Miglia every year from 1928 to 1938 except for 1931.^[19][20]

The8C 2300 won theLe Mans 24 Hours from 1931 to 1934.^[21] In 1938,Clemente Biondetti won the Mille Miglia in an8C 2900B Corto Spider;^[20] notably, Biondetti will win the first edition of Mille Miglia post-war (1947) with another 8C 2900B.^[20][22]

Alfa Romeo participated inFormula One, both as a constructor and engine supplier, from1950 to1987.

The works Alfa Romeo team dominated the first two years of theFormula One World Championship, using the pre-war158/159 Alfetta, but withdrew from Formula One at the end of1951.^[23][24]

During the 1960s, minor teams such asLDS,Cooper, andDe Tomaso used the Alfa Romeostraight-four engines.^[24] In the early 1970s, a V8 Alfa Romeo appeared inMcLaren andMarch cars.^[24]

TheBrabham team used Alfa Romeo engines from1976 to1979, foreshadowing a return by Alfa Romeo as a constructor from1979 to1985.^[24]

Alfa Romeo also supplied engines to the small ItalianOsella team from 1983 to 1987. For the 1987 season, Alfa Romeo made a deal to supply engines toLigier, but both deals were cancelled whenFiat took control of Alfa Romeo.^[24]

In November 2017,Sauber signed a multi-year technical and commercial partnership contract with Alfa Romeo, therefore renaming to Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team for the2018 season.^[25] On 1 February 2019, Sauber announced that it would compete in the 2019 season asAlfa Romeo Racing,^[26] although the ownership,racing licence, and management structure would remain unchanged.^[27] Alfa Romeo ended their partnership with Sauber at the end of the 2023 season, where Sauber will compete as theAudi factory team in 2026.^[28][29]

Alfa Romeo has also supplied engines toFormula Three cars.

In Europe, Alfa Romeo won fiveFIA European Formula 3 Championship and fiveFIA European Formula 3 Cup as well as a plethora of national championships inItaly (11),France (7),Germany (2),Switzerland (5),Sweden, andAustria (2). Among these, the1979Piercarlo Ghinzani victory at theItalian Formula Three Championship driving a Euroracing March 793 with a 2 litre Alfa engine,^[30] the four consecutive Italian titles between 1981 and1984,^{[31][32][33][34]} andMichele Alboreto's 1980 victory at theFIA European Formula 3 Championship with aMarch-Alfa Romeo.^[35] Noteworthy was the adoption of theTwin Spark engine 1987 which fostered this success.^[36]

In South America, Alfa Romeo won 4Formula 3 Sudamericana titles, 7Mexican Championships, 1Brazilian Championship, and 3Chilean Championship.

From 2019 to 2020, aTatuus T-318 powered by an Autotecnica Motori tuned Alfa Romeo 1.75 L 4-cyl turbocharged engine producing 270 metric horsepower (200 kW) was used in theFormula Regional European Championship, theFormula Regional Asian Championship, and theW Series.^[37][38]

After the great success of the one-make championship Trofeo Alfasud, in 1987 Alfa Romeo launched the new Formula Alfa Boxer racing car which had an engine derived from the33 and theSprint.^[39]Amato Ferrari won the debut championship in 1987, followed byMirko Savoldi in 1988 andAlessandro Zampedri in 1989.^[39]

In 1990, this engine was replaced by a more powerfulQuadrifoglio Verde engine. In 1992, a European Championship (Formula Boxer Europe) was launched and the choice of chassis was liberalised. The last Formula Alfa Boxer series season was held in 1995.^[39]

From 1989 to 1991, Alfa Romeo participated in thePPG Indy Car World Series.^[40] The 2648 cc, turbocharged V8 engine produced 720 bhp.^[40] In the1989 season, the engine was mated to a chassis specially built byMarch and prepared byAlex Morales Motorsports, withRoberto Guerrero at the wheel. Guerrero only managed a best of 8th place atDetroit, before both driver and engine moved ontoPatrick Racing for1990, again with a March chassis. That season proved to be an improvement, as Guerrero finished 16th place in the points standings, with a best finish of 5th place. The next year would be Alfa's last. The team switched to aLola chassis, andDanny Sullivan took over the drive, finishing 11th in the points, with a best finish of 4th. In the end, Alfa Romeo would finish its Indy Car project without scoring a single podium, pole position, or race win.

Alfa Romeo cars have also been used in rallying, mostly by private teams.^[41]

In the 1950s,Alfa Romeo Giulietta won the 1957Tour de Corse and the 19581000 Lakes Rally,^[42] as well as theAlpine Rally in 1956 and 1958.^[43][44] The victories inAlpine Rally were replicated in 1963 (Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ), 1964 (Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ), 1966 (Alfa Romeo GTA) under the management of the racing departmentAutodelta,^[45] making Alfa Romeo the most successful car maker in this competition.

Racing versions of theAlfetta GT and GTV were built by Autodelta in the 1970s, initially with an aspirated engine from the earlier GTA, for homologation underFIA Group 2.^[46] In this form, they were rallied with moderate success in 1975, winning the Elba and Costa Brava rallies overall, as well as winning the Group 2 category in the Tour de Corse.^[46][47] In 1980, the Alfetta GTV Turbodelta was already homologated inFIA Group 4, since the required numberof production cars had been built. A racing version campaigned in rallies, but once more the effort was abandoned after a single season, despite scoring a win at the Danube Rally.^[48]

In 1986,Alfa Romeo GTV6 was one of the fastestGroup A rally cars.^[49] However,FIA reclassified it as aGroup B car at the end of 1986, changing it from a winning car to a car that was much less competitive.^[49] The GTV6 placed 3rd in 1986Tour de Corse.^[50][49] In 1987, withGreg Carrbehind the wheel, the GTV6 was the last rear-wheel drive car to win theAustralian Rally Championship.

On March 6, 1963, Alfa Romeo's racing departmentAutodelta was established to run Alfa Romeo's sportscar programme, directed by ex-Alfa Romeo and Ferrari engineerCarlo Chiti.^[45] Competing with theAlfa Romeo TZ, the team began to collect some remarkable wins in its 1.6 category,^[45][51] including in the 1964 Coppa F.I.S.A.,^[52] the 196412 Hours of Sebring,^[53] the 48thTarga Florio,^[54] the 1964Nürburgring 1000 km,^[55] and the1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1967, Carlo Chiti and the Audodelta team designed a new 90-degreeV8 engine for theirAlfa Romeo Tipo 33 sportscar and ultimately aflat-12 engine for theAlfa Romeo 33TT12.^[45] These cars were raced in theWorld Sportscar Championship from 1967 to 1977, winning theWorld Championship for Makes in 1975 with the 33TT12 and theWorld Championship for Sports Cars in 1977 with theAlfa Romeo 33SC12.^[56][57] The company developed aGroup C prototype in the early 1990s, codenamed theSE 048SP, but this never raced.^[58]

Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2 during training on the 1000-km race at theNürburgring, 1967.

Nanni Galli training with 33/3 at theNürburgring in 1971.

Andrea de Adamich withAlfa Romeo 33TT12 in 1974 at theNürburgring.

Starting from the 1960s, Alfa Romeo has won many touring car titles. TheAlfa Romeo GTA won theEuropean Touring Car Championship (ETCC) in 1966, 1967 and 1969.^[59] The laterAlfa Romeo GTAm won further ETCC titles in 1970, 1971 and 1972.^[59] Among other victories, the GTA won the inauguralSports Car Club of America's Under 2 LiterTrans-Am championship in1966 withHorst Kwech and Gaston Andrey at the wheel.^[60] repeating the feat in the1970 season.^[61] TheAlfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 won four consecutive European Touring Car Championship titles between 1982 and 1985.^{[62][63][64][65]} TheBritish Touring Car Championship was won in1983 byAndy Rouse driving an Alfetta GTV6 and again in1994 byGabriele Tarquini with anAlfa Romeo 155.^[66][67]

In1993, theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) series was won byNicola Larini with anAlfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti, also achieving the all-time record wins of championship races in a season (11).^[68] The successor of the 155, theAlfa Romeo 156 won theEuropean Touring Car Championship four times in a row from 2000 to 2003, withFabrizio Giovanardi andGabriele Tarquini.^{[69][70][71][72]}

From 2007 to 2009,Alfa Romeo's cars (159 and147) won in Eco Diesel categories (Class G and H) of theBathurst 12 Hour race on three consecutive occasions.^[73][74][75]

In recent years, several different drivers and teams have competed with theAlfa Romeo Giulietta in variousTCR Touring Car series worldwide:

• Matteo Leone, Riccardo Missiroli, Andrea Bacci, Andrea Mosca, andGianni Giudici in the2016 Italian Touring Car Championship.^[76][77]
• Fabio Marchiafava, Loris Cencetti, and Philippe Ménage (competing with the Charleroi on Tracks team) in the2016 TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship.^[78]
• Mario Ferraris,^[79]Petr Fulín,^[80]Andrea Belicchi,^[81] andMichela Cerruti^[82] (competing with the Mulsanne Racing team) in the2016 TCR International Series.
• Márk Jedlóczky^[83] (competing with theUnicorse Team) andShota Abkhazava,Davit Kajaia,Dušan Borković, andMichela Cerruti^[82] (competing with the GE-Force team)^[84] in the2017 TCR International Series.
• Giacomo Altoè, Joakim Darbom, Tommaso Mosca, andLuigi Ferrara (competing with the V-Action Racing team)^[85] and Andrea Bacci^[86] and Andrea Mosca^[87] (competing with the Etruria team) in the2017 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship.
• Gianni Morbidelli,Luigi Ferrara,Kevin Ceccon andFabrizio Giovanardi (competing with the Team Mulsanne) in the2018 World Touring Car Cup.^[88]
• Rob Austin (competing with the DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing team) in the2018 British Touring Car Championship.^[89]
• Adriano Bernazzani and Edoardo Cappello (competing with the Otto Motorsport team)^[90] and Kevin Ceccon (competing with the Team Mulsanne)^[91] in the2018 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship.
• Alex Popow,^[92] Alex Papadopulos,^[93]Mark Kvamme,^[94] Trenton Estep,^[95] and Ryan Nash^[96] (competing with the TMR Engineering and Consulting Inc. team) in the IMSA2019 Michelin Pilot Challenge.
• Roy Block^[97] and Tim Lewis Jr.^[98] (competing with the KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering team) in theIMSAMichelin Pilot Challenge from 2019 to 2023. For the 2024 season, William Tally replaced Roy Block.^[99]

In addition, Tecnodom Sport used theAlfa Romeo MiTo in the2016 season of the Italian Touring Car Championship.^[100]

TheAlfa Romeo GTA during the 1966Trans-Am Championship, driven by Horst Kwech and Gaston Andrey.

Michael Kopf driving theAlfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 at Hockenheimring, during the 1984DTM series.

TheAlfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti, the 1993 DTM season winner withNicola Larini, at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

TheAlfa Romeo 156, driven byJames Thompson, during the 2007WTCC round at Curitiba.

TheAlfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, driven by Massimiliano Mugelli, during the2019 TCR Italy Touring Car Championship atMisano.

Alfa Romeo has won the following major trophies and championships:^[36]

• Owen, David (1985),Great Marques: Alfa Romeo, Octopus Books,ISBN 0-7064-2219-8
• (in Italian)Sannia, Alessandro (2010),Alfa Romeo. 100 anni di leggenda, Gribaudo,ISBN 978-88-7906-972-4
• (in Italian)Tabucchi, Maurizio (2010),Alfa Romeo 1910–2010, Giorgio Nada Editore,ISBN 978-88-7911-502-5

• Alfa Romeo's victories at Spider AlfaRomeo at theWayback Machine (archived 12 November 2020)(in Italian)

• Alfa Romeo in motorsport
• Grand Prix teams
• World Sportscar Championship teams
• 24 Hours of Le Mans teams
• Auto racing teams established in 1913

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